UTEP, under that name or others has been competing in sports for over a hundred years. But, we have to keep in mind that a hundred years ago El Paso was the big city west of the Mississippi. There were street cars and lighted streets. The tallest building west of the Mississippi was in El Paso. The thing is, the cities east of the Mississippi weren’t in the middle of nowhere. The college would play other teams from other small schools located nearby and the YMCA teams and the high school teams of El Paso High. We even played teams such as Arizona and Texas Tech in the early days. Over the years, the wild west was tamed and cities grew in size in the west, and the entire population shifted dramatically on the left coast. History. I have no desire to get into history any more than to look at the AD’s to get an idea of their impact. Keep in mind that Bob Stull has had the position for a considerable portion of the entire history of the school at this point. I am going to start with the general idea that the tremendous changes that have taken place in the last fifty years will make it hard enough to get an idea of the impact of the AD. Maybe that is a point needed to be kept in mind going forward. Perhaps the most important thing an AD can do is prepare for the unknown and understand trends.
Since Bob Stull held the position for so many years, the general questions I would ask about a line of succession in AD’s at most schools perhaps, will end up being an evaluation of Stull’s tenure. It will also give us an idea of where we might go.
Let’s start with some main areas involved with the AD. Physical properties, hiring and firing coaches, and the student athletes themselves seems to be a good place to start. Oh, and the public. Stull brought about the Durham Center and the Sun Bowl makeover. That was huge, when it happened. The Foster Stevens basketball facility is very impressive, and Stull can take credit for that. The Hellen of Troy softball complex is a jewel, and his too. Many would also say that there is still so much left to be done. The Sun Bowl is old and some very basic things such as plumbing are showing their age. Kidd Field is no jewel, anymore. So, Stull has done a tremendous job of improving the facilities, but maybe how much had to be done and still remains may tell us a little about the school’s attitude toward that aspect of athletics. Keep in mind that the Sun Bowl wasn’t even UTEP’s not too awfully long ago. I said I was going to look at the last fifty years or so. Well, in the 60’s the last of the Flyin’ Miners football teams were finishing up, and the football team was about to fall off of the map. But, during that time, the Track and Field Team and the basketball team was establishing a regional dynasty that lasted for 25 years. That gave us the Haskins Center. It is still functioning, but it does have serious problems accommodating today’s technological needs. All in all, Stull did a lot in the area of facilities, but there is much to be done, and the condition of the facilities before Stull got here were either not UTEP’s problem(Sun Bowl), doing just fine(Haskins Center), or ignored. Now, it is important to mention that UTEP’s student population was less than half of what it is now. Senter will most certainly look to make improvements to the facilities. The two most noticeable would be to update the Haskins Center and the Sun Bowl. Since money comes from football more than basketball, AND football is so much more important in other ways, ie conference affiliation, community buy in, the representative of the school, athletically, I would have to rank this as number one, facility wise.
Hiring and firing coaches it seems to me should be the easiest part of his job. There are objectives set and measurable outcomes to be met. These things will need to be achieved to meet minimum expectations, and these will be shown as exceeding expectations, kind of thing.
As for the student athletes, most of that is beneath his level of management. I include this one too include Miner Village, which is connected to physical facilities. This one could be the unseen key to the future as it may play an important role in where the athletic programs are now. In recruiting athletes, training facilities are only one aspect the recruit is looking at when analyzing his experience and life for the college years. Off the field and on campus life, and off campus life are part of what they judge. While the AD can do almost nothing about the off campus life, he may be able to make an impact on the on campus life of the athlete. Here, since physical facilities are not a huge factor, perhaps there are other ways to improve the on campus life. Creative thinking needed, here.