With Dick Reynolds’ retirement, the door is now open for a new athletic director and head men’s basketball coach at Otterbein.
As of Thursday, March 1, there is a total of 93 applicants. Vice President of Student Affairs Bob Gatti expects this number to grow to more than 100 by the time the deadline hits. He said he hopes the process will be completed by March 30.
“It’s a very optimistic, aggressive deadline,” Gatti said.
Reynolds coached the men’s basketball team for 40 seasons, and during that time he earned the position of athletic director.
“It’ll be hard to replace someone who’s been here for 40 years,” said Connie Richardson, assistant athletic director and women’s head basketball coach. “He got coaches to not be tunnel vision, and we will miss that.”
She said she hopes the new athletic director will come in with new ideas to strengthen the foundation of the Athletic Department, as well as understand what Otterbein is about.
What does the athletic director at Otterbein do, and what does it take?
According to the Otterbein website, the athletic director is the chief administrator for all athletic programs. He or she supervises professional development and performs evaluations of the coaches in the Athletic Department.
In addition, the athletic director prepares and monitors budgets for the teams along with initiating and being responsible for fundraising. He or she also coordinates the use of all athletic facilities and represents Otterbein at a district, regional and national level.
The list of duties does not end there. An athletic director is also in charge of developing athletic policies and has the responsibility of informing the athletic faculty and athletes of the NCAA rules and regulations. He or she works with athletic coaches varying from the dance and cheerleading coaches to the baseball coaches.
Attention to detail, communicating with team members, interacting with other colleges and customer service skills are also a part of the job description.
“We expect the new athletic director to have demonstrated leadership skills and managerial experience,” President Kathy Krendl said. “We also will look for someone with extensive budget experience, as well as strong interpersonal skills to facilitate building relationships with faculty, staff, students and alumni.”
Reynolds echoes Krendl’s thoughts and said he hopes the new athletic director comes in with new ideas. He said he wants to see someone who can continue pushing the athletes to do the best they can through great coaching, as well as manage a budget so that athletes are provided with good facilities.
The search committee, headed by Gatti, includes Richardson, men’s lacrosse coach Colin Hartnett, student trustee and athlete Taylor Harle and several other faculty and alumni.
The process is underway for finding a new athletic director. Once the resumes are in, the candidates will be narrowed down based on whether or not they meet Otterbein’s set of requirements, as well as their past experiences.
Individual interviews are the next stage of the process. These may be conducted over Skype for those who are too far to travel, as well as regular meetings.
After the interviews are completed, the finalists will be brought before the campus committee, who will then have a chance to meet and interview them.
There will be an opportunity for open group meetings of student athletes, coaches and anyone on campus who is interested. Those who attend these meetings, which will be located in Clements classrooms or the “O” Club room, will evaluate the applicants afterward.
“We really value the input of the students and athletes,” Gatti said.
