RE: Coming Sunday
It takes only a few minutes for Brian Noland to establish his sports credentials.
East Tennessee State’s new president grew up just outside the nation’s capital, in Sterling, Va., and has followed a variety of East Coast teams. He’s a big basketball fan who has suffered for decades with the Washington Wizards — they’re still the Bullets to him — and says he’s in a football stadium somewhere most Saturdays in the fall. And, yes, he’s well aware that the game isn’t currently being played at his university.
The 44-year-old Noland sat down for an hour-long interview in his office last week and discussed a range of topics concerning ETSU athletics and their role in the community. The potential for football to return, the drive to build a new “convocation center” that would be home for basketball, and conference affiliation were among the highlights.
Noland comes to ETSU after serving for six years as chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. He’s also a former associate executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
He holds two degrees from West Virginia University and earned his doctorate in political science from Tennessee. So there’s a healthy mix of Big East and SEC influences — not to mention those beleaguered Bullets — that have shaped his views on sports.
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Q: Word has it that you’ve been mixing it up in pickup basketball games on campus. First, how is your jumper? And is your involvement an indicator of your general interest in sports?
A: Let’s talk about interest in sports, and then we’ll get to my game. One of the central aspects of any college or university is a rich and vibrant athletic program. For ETSU to achieve the things our faculty, our staff and the community want to achieve, we have to have a rich and vibrant athletic program. I’m as big a fan of college sports as you’re going to find. There’s not a Saturday in the past six years that I haven’t attended a game somewhere, be it at an institution south of Pittsburgh or an institution in the southwest corner of West Virginia.
I do my best to attend small-college basketball games, big-time college basketball games … I’ve been a college basketball fan for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I spent a lot of time going to Maryland games at Cole Field House and going to watch Patrick Ewing play for the Georgetown Hoyas. When I was at WVU, I spent the night outside on the concrete one year prior to them playing Pitt when Pitt was ranked No. 1 in the country. I still remember when Bimbo Coles came to the Coliseum and they held him scoreless and we chanted, “No points, Bimbo.”
As for my game, I’ve played basketball since I was a kid. I’m not very good at it, but I try hard. I’ve tried to stay active; it’s a lot of fun and a great stress reliever. I still go down to the Basler Center on random nights, just show up and play basketball. I enjoy it and will try to play for as long as my knees hold out.
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Q: So college basketball would be your favorite sport?
A: I enjoy basketball at all levels. I like the NBA … I cannot call my team their name, the Bullets. They’re not that other name. I remember when the fat lady sang. I went and watched Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, Bobby Dandridge, Kevin Grevey. I remember that team well. I’ve suffered with the Bullets for the past 30 years … we’re terrible. But I’m just a basketball fan. I’ve enjoyed watching the Bucs and am impressed with the caliber of student-athlete we have. I’ve enjoyed the success. We’ve been to the tournament two out of the past four years, and I’m confident coach Bartow will get us back in very short order.
We’ve got a rich basketball history. I remember watching ETSU play George Mason at the Patriot Center in the ‘90s, when we had Jennings and Dennis. I ran into Greg Dennis in Charleston — he still lives up in West Virginia — and know a fair amount about the history of our program, and I’m confident we’ll be able to meet the expectations that our coaches have, that I have and the community has.
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Q: After three months on the job, what are your overall impressions of the university’s athletic department?
A: I think we have an athletic department that is well-run. We have an athletic department that from my perspective exemplifies the best of the student-athlete. Every day you read the paper about the challenges facing athletic departments across the country. Today I was reading about the Petrino issue. You look at basketball programs where the litany is one-and-done, you look at programs where entire seasons have been erased because of recruiting difficulties. That doesn’t exist here. We run the type of program that institutions should run. The focus is on the student-athlete. Our GPA overall for student-athletes is higher than the undergraduate population as a whole. You know the awards that were directed toward Adam (Sollazzo) last week. So we run a good program, we run a program that focuses on the right things. But what I’m interested in is finding a way to take that foundation and turn it up a notch. We need to shed greater light on the front porch of the university. If that means adding on, if that means examining opportunities to push the university forward … I don’t quite have enough of a feel about our position conference-wise, but I know we’re going to look at any opportunity that furthers the institution.
We have a mixture of wonderful facilities, facilities in progress and facilities that are dated. The softball stadium, the soccer stadium, the Warren-Greene golf facility, some of our facilities are top-notch. Baseball will be great; I’m hopeful baseball can be a little bit more. I’m interested in partnerships between the university and the community that deepen that connection. And then there’s the Dome. We’re going to make a $4 million investment this summer on the roof. I’ve said publicly, I don’t know what the timeframe is but I’m hopeful that within five years we’re turning ground for a new convocation center. The Dome was a great building; it still is a great building for practice, for track, for intramurals. But for us to make the move as an institution that we need to make, we need a new convocation center. I’m utilizing the phrase ‘convocation center’ because it’s multi-purpose. For me, the most amazing day of the academic year is coming up in May, commencement day. We hold two commencements. We have a commencement speaker give the same speech twice. Why? Because we can’t fit the number of people in the Dome that we need to fit. We are approaching 16,000 students and I think by the end of the decade we’ll have 20,000. At an institution of this size, with the academic quality of ETSU, we have to turn things up several notches in the athletic department, and one of those notches is building a new building.
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Q: Football, of course, hasn’t been part of the mix here since 2003. Do you see its return as a high priority? If so, how soon will that be addressed?
A: Let me step back a little bit and talk about where we are as an institution. In 1986, President Beller at our 75th anniversary brought together a blue-ribbon group to examine the future for ETSU at the centennial. That group examined program offerings, infrastructure offerings, questions about enrollment size, what’s the future of the med school from an evolution perspective. I’ve spent a lot of time with Dr. Stanton, Dr. Nicks and others, discussing where we’ve been as an institution and where we could be as an institution. So we will formally launch by the end of this month a committee that will examine the future of ETSU in 125 that will be structured along a series of areas — what’s the mix of academic programs that we’re looking for; does that include additional Ph.D. programs; does that include a college of dentistry. Fiscal infrastructure, do we have the right mix of residence halls; how can we add additional green space on campus? What are the infrastructure needs of the institution, be it a convocation center, a performing arts center or residence halls? We’ll look at athletics, so there will be an entire task force devoted to athletics. What are the expectations of athletics within the mix of the institution? How can we utilize athletics to deepen student engagement and community involvement? What is our mix of programs? Should we add lacrosse? Should we add football? Are we in the right conference? What is the level of investment that we’re making? So within that total examination of athletics, we’ll look at football.
With anything we do in athletics, we’re not going to build a new building without the support of the community. We’re not going to have the program we need without the support of the community, and there’s no way we’re going to be able to have a conversation about football without the support of the community. ETSU cannot do this on its own. It’s going to take the community as part of the discussion and as part of the solution. I’m not saying we’re going to bring football back or not going to bring it back. But we’re willing to look at it because it’s something we need to look at as we examine where we want to be as an athletic department. There are great departments without football. Look at schools in the A-10. You can have a rich tradition from an intercollegiate athletic perspective without football. But then on the flip side, there are the schools with a diversity of programs. I’m familiar with WVU and Marshall, both of whom have the full gamut of intercollegiate athletics, both of whom are going through changes in conference affiliation. I have a sense of the investments those institutions are making. If we want to play in that ballgame, we need to be prepared to make the investments, and we’re not there yet right now.
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Q: There seems to be a notion, especially in the South, that any university worth its salt should play football. It’s ingrained in the culture. Is football important for the psyche of the athletic department here, as well as the public perception?
A: I would compare us academically with institutions of similar size, scope and complexity. The depth and breadth of our academics programs, and the quality of our programs, I don’t think folks have a sense of appreciation for the quality of the undergraduate and graduate experience here. How many people realize the College of Medicine is ranked No. 3 in the country for rural healthcare, top 10 for family practice care? We have exemplary programs here. Our students are coming to college to get a degree. Athletics is a chance to deepen student engagement and provide that sense of connection so that more students move along successfully toward that path of degree. But there are outstanding academic institutions in this country that don’t have football. You can be a great college and not have football. You can be a great university and not have football.
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Q: Would the university consider non-scholarship football?
A: That’s a question for the committee. I don’t want to get ahead of the work of the experts we’re going to bring to the table. There are some who say in order for us to be a great institution, you have to have a fully developed athletic infrastructure. There are others who say the same thing about our academic programs — in order to be a great institution, I’m a political scientist and I’d hope to see a Ph.D. in political science, but my interest isn’t what’s best for program X or progam Y. It’s what’s best for the university.
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Q: The athletic budget has risen significantly in recent years, to over $11 million, despite the fact that football is no longer around. Would its return necessitate scaling back the funding of other sports, or would financial support for football need to be in addition to what is already in place?
A: If it’s football, if it’s infrastructure, if it’s an examination of our affiliation, all of that will take additional investments. If you were to bring a program of football’s magnitude back to campus, there’s the associated Title IX costs, so you’re going to have to add additional women’s sports, or take away sports programs from the mix of our men’s sports. There’s not a lot to take away. So it will be an additional cost for the institution. This is well-vetted. There was a committee three, four years ago that looked at the return of football to the institution. So if we’re going to look at football, if we’re going to look at new capital infrastructure, if we’re going to look at alignment opportunities for the institution, all of those are going to require additional revenues. Part of those revenues are institutional, part of those revenues come from the community. We cannot do this on our own.
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Q: A major part of the dilemma in restarting football is where to play. How daunting a task would it be to raise funds for a new outdoor stadium, in addition to the facilities you’ve already mentioned?
A: I don’t have the answer to that question. When you look at the total infrastructure needs of the institution, our first priority — first priority — is a fine and performing arts center. There is nowhere on this campus for our students, our faculty or our community to attend performances. So if we have a large-scale performance, we’re doing it off campus. Our music faculty are performing in churches, in community venues, in performing arts centers in other institutions. So there’s nowhere here for us to celebrate the true heart of the institution; that’s our arts. That’s the first priority — to raise funds for fine and performing arts. From there, you have the convocation center because that’s a facility that not only benefits our athletic program, but it benefits the university as a whole and it benefits the community as a whole. If you start adding all these things up, we’re quickly approaching $100 million. And we’ve yet to talk about football.
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Q: There’s also a land issue, I suppose. Ideally, if football were to come back and a new stadium built, it’s better to do it on campus.
A: I understand the intensity that many have for football on campus. We’re going to look at it, but we have a responsibility to look at the institution as a whole. And, as I said, our first priority is funding a performing arts center.
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Q: Can you envision a situation where the university would commit to playing football indoors again?
A: Why repeat the failures of the past?
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Q: You’ve alluded to several venues that have been built in recent years. How have they enhanced the overall profile of ETSU athletics?
A: They provide us with the opportunity for our student-athletes to compete in an on-campus setting. I really think they position us to be competitive as we look to make that move as a department. If you were to take an institution such as James Madison University, UNC-Wilmington — pick an institution of similar size to us — there’s on-campus baseball, basketball facilities, soccer facilities, softball facilities. The athletic department has from my perspective put in place things on campus that are expected if we’re going to make that move. Now we have to put the investment where we need the investment the most, which is a convocation center. I’m excited about the new baseball facility. I wish it was ready for tonight, but we’re going to play nonetheless. I know there’s been a lot of criticism about the decision to play, but that was a players’ decision. Coach (Tony Skole) kind of sat down with the team and said, ‘What do you all want to do?’ Players want to play on a new field. I wish it was done, and you wish it was done. I hope that we can partner with Johnson City and look at opportunities for how we can utilize our resources to deepen community opportunities. I’m glad those things have been ticked off the list because now we can focus all our energies on a convocation center.
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Q: A lot of these building projects have run behind schedule, and the baseball stadium further behind than others. Is that alarming, or just part of doing business with these grand projects?
A: It’s part of the nature of capital construction. In my prior position, at one point the state had $250 million worth of capital construction under way, with shortages in materials, escalating steel prices. We had a building that fell behind schedule because folks kept stealing the copper. Things happen when you’re building. Things happen when you’re building a home, things happen when you’re renovating your kitchen. I don’t think they anticipated — and I wasn’t here when that was occurring, so I can’t cast judgment — but I don’t think they anticipated the volume of rock they hit on the baseball stadium. My concern, I want to learn from the past and not recreate the mistakes of the past. We all wish that it was done, but when it’s done I think we’re all going to be extremely proud of the facility. I can’t speak to the moving parts of the time delays, but I do appreciate that within the construction business time delays are inherent in the process.
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Q: By convocation center, we’re talking about a building that would be home for basketball?
A: Yes, a multiple-purpose facility. Could be concerts, commencements, community events, basketball. But a multi-purpose facility.
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Q: Does it have to be a partnership with the city? What is it going to take to move that forward?
A: Anything of this size, in order for it to be successful, the probability of success is increased if we are able to partner with the city and the community as a whole. That runs everything from placement to programming. And we’re going to look at any venue through which we can expedite the opening of a facility. I’ve sat down with Coach Mullins and we’ve gone through prior discussions conversations of external funding. I’m aware of conversations that have occurred about bringing a hockey team to town and utilizing that to help construct the arena. The problem is that a lot of these conversations were gaining steam and then the bottom fell out of the economy. So now we’re on an up-tick. But I firmly believe that in order for us to make a move as an institution that we need to make, that’s deep in student engagement, deep in engagement with the community, all of that is centered around two facilities — fine and performing arts, and a convocation center. They both strike the town-gown relationships, that sense of community that we can build on.
The Dome at a certain time was a beautiful building, but it’s a terrible place to watch a basketball game. You’re going to see some improvements for the fall. It is what it is; it’s our home. So how can we make some cosmetic improvements to the Dome, whether it’s courtside seating, other courtside opportunities. I’m familiar with other institutions that have tarps and curtains to change the look and feel, but if that’s our home … I lived in an old house. It had creaks and was unique, and sometimes a little bit of paint and some lighting changes the look and feel. So what can we do to enhance the game-day experience in the Dome? Because we have to enhance the experience to attract more students, to get community members to come out and support our student-athletes. But also for recruiting. In order for us to recruit the quality and caliber of individual we’re looking for, we have to make some improvements to the game-day experience. So we’ll do that in the short term. But in the long term — and long being five years — I dream of the building coming out of the ground in five years.
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Q: ETSU has been a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference for seven years now, but a lot of the fan base still has a negative impression of the league, mostly because it’s so far flung and the membership seems to change by the year. There simply hasn’t been many full-fledged rivalries develop for the fans, outside of Belmont, and it is preparing to leave at the end of the school year. Are you also weighing other options, perhaps even a return to the Southern Conference, where the Bucs resided for a quarter-century?
A: The landscape of college athletics is extremely fluid. Much of this is driven by football, much of it is driven by the revenue of television contracts. But the concept of regional rivalries, particularly in college football, has gone out the window. I grew up watching eastern football. I remember the Mountaineers playing Maryland, Penn State, Pitt, Syracuse, Boston College, Virginia Tech. That doesn’t exist anymore. You have the Big East that now includes Boise State. Somewhere we’ve lost sense of reality within the conference landscape. There’s discussions within Conference USA and the Mountain West about a national super conference. The ACC runs the gamut from Boston to Miami. The SEC is different than it used to be. Where I’m going with that is the changes are now rippling down to the mid-majors. So you’re seeing movement in the A-10, you’re seeing movement in the Colonial, you’re going to see movement in the Southern Conference. The landscape is moving around us and we need to be positioned as an institution to ensure that we secure a position that maximizes our ability to put a spotlight on our programs and to grow ETSU. And we’ll look at anything, be it a convocation center or anything that enhances the opportunities for our students and for the community.
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Q: Have you spoken with Southern Conference officials?
A: I have not had formal conversations with any conference, other than our own. I’ve been here three months and am still learning the one-way streets in town. But we are constantly on the watch for any opportunity that advances East Tennessee State University and the region as a whole.
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