Long Beach State Athletics!: Re: And the winner is/was: Smitheran

Of course I have not met him.

Yes, going by bio. I'm really not sure of what you are driving at with your question.

If someone had a position where they were responsible for marketing, development, donors, etc., I would expect they'd have that info out there in some form.

But maybe not, maybe he's got a wealth of experience.

I do not think anything stated about him is negative. It goes more to what the VP determined, which it's hard to tell what was emphasized in the selection, that sort of detail we'll never get.
It's interesting because the of the new structure and layer Jane added between her and teh AD.

there are now two 'unknowns'. The VP (Apel) and the AD. that's simply a lot of unknowns about the leadership of Athletics going forward. Hopefully Smitheran exercises better common sense in communications and marketing for the University than the silliness that occured under Jane/Fee.

I do think one has to commend Jane/Ted for the fee increase. THat's a positive. At least that mitigates flailing on branding and MBB and pissing off alumni/fans the last 6 years.

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Have you met him or are you just going by the bio? People are different in person than on paper.

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1) A bit of a surprise, it seems, given some of the expectations, especially given diversity desirements.

2) was the USD lady really the most qualified female applicant? Gosh I hope not, just seemed odd. just seemed would have gotten 'more substance' in the final group.

2) Maybe seems to be a 'known' quantity. Definitely knows way around an Athletic Department.

3) at 49-50 years of age, a hire that could make Beach his last stop, which could be good

4) His expertise is something Beach is already excellent at - Compliance and supporting Student Athletes. Seems the Beach AD was already solid with teh nuts and bolts in those areas.

5) He inheriting great coaches. Why we have won Commie Cups while ADs have changed. The coaches are the ones closest to compliance, success, & student-athlete happiness.

6) Development and marketing. This is a big unknown. Does this guy know how to sell a product and get out of the office and beat the bushes. That'll be the most interesting thing. Nowhere on his resume. Keeping existing boosters/fans/alums happy is one thing. Adding to that and working with the NIL equation is a huge challenge.

7) What role will Apel take? He is the de facto leader of the athletic program, so that could be good if he's part of getting out there for support, marketing, etc. Assume Jane has relegated herself to attending games now.

8) Seems like an ok guy. What he's good at, Beach already does well. So remains to be seen what he'll ADD to athletics that won a Commie Cup with a temp.