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One objective of the 7-member task force involved in the athletic director search is to find someone who wants to be at East Carolina and deal with issues relating to the program's growth.

Consultant Chuck Neinas presented a list of about a dozen candidates to the task force which discussed the prospects earlier this week.

Sources indicate four top targets have been identified and if the process is completed smoothly, an announcement could be made within two weeks.

Iowa State AD Bruce Van De Velde may be the most prestigious of the lot based on his present position. Van De Velde has overseen a program characterized by impressive graduation rates, a degree of facility improvement, improved fund-raising during his tenure and stepped up performance by its football team in the very challenging Big 12 Conference.

Like new ECU chancellor Steve Ballard, Van De Velde is an Illinois native.

Toledo AD Mike O'Brien has also made inquiries about ECU and Georgia Southern AD Sam Baker has a strong relationship with Chuck Neinas, who was retained as consultant in the second phase of the ECU search.

Neinas, incidentally, had the lowest bid among those considered for the consultant role at $32,000. Bill Carr, whose ties are in the Southeast, as opposed to Neinas' Big 12 background, bid $40,000, but his offer also included a strategic plan for the overall development of the athletic program.

The task force presumably stopped laughing long enough to reject a bid of $150,000 from a Chicago firm that was interviewed.

Ballard isn't planning to cheap out on the new AD's salary if the right person receives a consensus of support from the task force. Ballard has indicated he may nearly double the annual salary of the previous AD, Mike Hamrick, which was $180,000.
Interim AD Nick Floyd currently is being compensated at an annual rate of $250,000.