What does ASU need to pick new athletic director?
The most important figure on the Arizona college sports scene in the coming year is one we don't yet know. Confusing? Not really.
Arizona State is still looking for an athletic director following the resignation of the controversial Ray Anderson five weeks ago with three years left on his contract.
Jim Rund, ASU Senior Vice President for Educational Outreach and Student Services, has been serving as the interim athletic director, but a school spokesman said a hire is expected this spring. This is a hire the national search committee, and specifically, President Michael Crow, cannot afford to get wrong.
Why is this role pivotal?
ASU is on its way to the Big 12, as is its state rival Arizona. Navigating that transition is perhaps the most important reason the hire is significant. The Sun Devils were also late to the game when embracing the NIL concept, a major reason it saw many athletes bolt for other universities with a far better handle on that part of the changing landscape in college athletics.
The new hire also needs to be a figure that can engage and energize the fan base and the boosters, much like Kenny Dillingham has since he was named the head football coach a year ago. That's been something that had been lacking though much of Anderson's nine-year tenure, particularly toward the end of that tenure when Anderson's Herm Edwards hire went terribly wrong and resulted in the school being under and an NCAA investigation that has yet to be resolved.
What about the bottom line?
Better decisions need to be made when it comes to finances if the ASU is going to thrive moving forward. The school paid Edwards $4.4 million as a parting gift when it could have fired him for cause as a result of the NCAA investigation — Anderson no doubt having a hand in that decision since his association with the former coach goes back nearly four decades.
And speaking of Anderson, he's getting the same salary as a professor in the law school that he would have drawn if he were to have remained athletic director. Same pay, less work. So, another financial decision is not in the best interest of the school or athletic program, which has further alienated the fan base.
Also on the new athletic director's to-do list
Desert Financial Arena is old and outdated. It needs work if the school is to compete in one of the marquee sports in college athletics and one in which the Big 12 is the dominant powerhouse. Sure, the school's non-revenue sports are thriving, but they don't move the needle in terms of the major college landscape.
The major sports need to deliver, and a new AD needs to see to it that those programs have the resources they need to compete at an elite level. Otherwise, the school will be stuck in mediocrity, much like it has been in the Pac-12.