A 'Big Ten recruit'

Every major college football program relies on rabid fans. The annual Ohio State-Michigan game sells out 101,568 seats of Ohio Stadium while the Washington Huskies fill the most scenic football venue in the country. Since UB Stadium is not quite picturesque, nor often packed to the gills, new Athletic Director Warde Manuel has an uphill battle to create a passionate fan base.

President John Simpson and his AD search team hope Manuel's strong background in money sports like football and basketball fits in with their UB2020 vision.

Although strong academics no doubt attract top students, it's no secret that winning sports programs do the same. At Ohio State students actually pay for season tickets to football games. UB gives prizes away and cannot sell out the student section. Buckeye fever is a reflection of how excited the students are about their sports teams.

In an effort to take UB into the nationally recognized athletic forum, Simpson first hired former NCAA president Gene Corrigan to analyze the athletic program and then hired Manuel as UB's new athletic director.

The Corrigan Report described UB athletics as unfocused and under-funded. While measuring how much focus he can bring to the department is difficult, his fundraising success is undeniable.

As assistant athletic director for the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor since 1998, Manuel is credited with raising over $30 million in his tenure. A good portion of that money went to a $12 million student athlete academic center. By comparison, UB's entire athletics program has a $14 million annual budget. As long-term power with name cachet, Michigan might be an easy sell, however his success bodes well for increasing UB's viability.

With a struggling Division I-A football program and Corrigan's suggestions that UB should cut some sports while updating its facilities, Manuel has a lot of tough decisions ahead of him.

"At the news conference (Corrigan) was asked which sports to cut and his answer was that in three or four days he couldn't make that decision," said Manuel in a preseason phone conversation. "I think it's going to take some time to look at whether or not cuts are even necessary. At this point I'm not going into the job anticipating that any cuts need to be made."

Manuel has years of experience at a major university, played college football at Michigan and worked primarily with the basketball and football teams during his time as an assistant athletic director, both of which are nationally ranked programs. His experience made him highly coveted, and UB appears to have won out in a hotly contested derby.

As UB wrestling head coach Jim Beichner said, "Our president went out there and signed a Big Ten recruit."

Where Manuel may fall short, is in his lack of experience with less mainstream sports. For example Penn State University might be known for its football program, but they also tout a top 25 wrestling team. Those smaller programs often complement the more popular football and basketball teams with revenue, usually offering more value per championship.

Manuel and the rest of the athletic department need to not only look at ways to improve our potentially big-ticket programs but also need to decide what teams will complement those programs and what teams are all together unnecessary.

UB athletics also has academic issues, an area in which Manuel appears to have a strong track record.

"The combination of athletics and academics can be a very good one," said Manuel. "I was very impressed with everything I've heard about (UB) and where they are academically. I hope to help the Athletic Department get to that level of excellence."

Manuel's ability to raise money for better facilities could also help fill a void for UB sports. Manuel said that the university's facilities were surprisingly "above par," but that the school needs an indoor training facility and updated weight-rooms. Corrigan agreed that UB needs better training facilities and highlighted these issues in his report.

Compared to most nationally recognized programs the facilities at UB are outdated. Not only do better training environments improve the athletes that are already here, better equipment also attracts better recruits.

When a coach is leading a top high school on a tour of the campus, appearance goes almost as far as a winning program. Half of obtaining the big name recruits is convincing them that UB will make them better. Without the right facilities, improvement becomes a much tougher selling point.

As a whole Manuel and his staff have years of work ahead of them. Manuel comes to UB with a solid background and a lot of hopes riding on his abilities. If in fact he is the right man for the job, UB 2020 will look back at UB 2005 as a turning point for the program.