ODU Makes AD Splash!

[TexasTerror]

Big time hire by ODU...

While WKU is not exactly great at football anymore, the rest of their athletic program has had a GREAT deal of success. This AD actually oversaw their move to FBS from FCS, plus numerous facility upgrades. ODU is in good hands...


The search is over, Old Dominion is ready to introduce it's new athletic director.

As you may have heard, Dr. Jim Jarrett is retiring as athletic director at Old Dominion after 40 years.

And he will be replaced by Dr. Wood Selig, currently the athletic director of the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Dr. Selig, a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee, spent 11 years at the University of Virginia, and has been at Western Kentucky for a decade.
His teams have won 65 Sun Belt championships during his reign.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/mobile/WAVY_Sports_ODUAD_20100218

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Um, a basketball AD that was instrumental in running the Harbaughs out of WKU and damaging football is not exactly a splash. Watch out ODU!!!!

[TexasTerror]

Um, a basketball AD that was instrumental in running the Harbaughs out of WKU and damaging football is not exactly a splash. Watch out ODU!!!!

Where's some of those old WKU posters that used to be around here? I am sure they can shed some light on this hire by ODU.

Selig comes from a historically strong WBB school and is going to another WBB school that has lost its luster somewhat.

[DFW HOYA]

How long was the search? At Georgetown, 10 months and no news.

[Tribe4SF]

I guess with Wilder already at the helm of the football program, ODU didn't need to worry about Selig's abilities to hire a football coach. He seems to have put together the financial side of things for WKU's FBS move, but as a football guy, my eyebrow rises when I look at the worst FBS team in the division, and attendance that dropped to 14,000 last year. Hard to justify the $50 million investment in the stadium when your team goes 0-12 in its third year of transition, and your final home game of the year draws 4,500 people.

[Monarch Nation]

On the other hand, having made mistakes during the transformation from FCS to FBS (if ODU chooses to go that route) he certainly would know the pitfalls and how to avoid them. It comes down to whether Selig is a man who learns from his mistakes, or repeats them.

[TexasTerror]

Editorial on the hire..."first glance, an outstanding hire"


At first glance, an outstanding hire

Old Dominion’s new athletic director grew up a half-mile from the Hampton Boulevard campus, attended nearby Larchmont Elementary School and sneaked into the field house with his buddies to watch Oliver Purnell and Dave Twardzik play basketball for the Monarchs.

Indeed, ODU could not have selected anyone more rooted in its sporting past than Wood Selig.

From http://weblogs.dailypress.com/sports/teelblog/2010/02/at_first_glance_an_outstanding.html

[TexasTerror]

Another article on the hire...


Wood Selig left Norfolk years ago, but he never really left Old Dominion.

"Growing up in the shadows of Foreman Field, it's hard not to follow and maintain contact with the successes of ODU athletics," Selig said.

Selig's connection with the Monarchs teams he grew up watching will be much stronger now.

Selig, 48, the athletic director at Western Kentucky for the last 11 years, officially was named ODU's AD Friday. He succeeds Jim Jarrett, who will retire in June after 40 years with the Monarchs.

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-spt_selig_0220feb20,0,2072905.story

[Monarch History]

Only time will tell but I feel very strongly that Selig was a good hire by ODU.

[Syntax Error]

Not to belabor the point but I saw this today: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/141496020

The announcement of Selig's departure comes 102 days after he and Ransdell announced the firing of former football coach David Elson. WKU has since hired former star quarterback Willie Taggart as Elson's successor.

Since the beginning of WKU's football transition to the NCAA's highest class, the Hilltoppers are just 9-27 overall and 1-23 against fellow FBS opponents.

Selig and company also saw a 17 percent decline in football season ticket sales since the FBS transition began. In addition, walk-up ticket sales declined by nearly 50 percent from the 2008 to 2009 seasons.

"When our program should be white-hot right now at the beginning of our transition, that's when you expect to see season tickets skyrocket, you expect to see walk-ups skyrocket, you expect to see student crowds overflowing the student area," Selig said during a November news conference to announce the firing of Elson. "And when that's not happening, you really have to sit back and ask why and have we lost the confidence in the community in our program and our transition." ...

He was criticized by some WKU fans for skipping the Hilltoppers' victory in the 2002 Division I-AA national football championship game in order to attend a previously scheduled family trip.

[Monarch Nation]

Not to belabor the point but I saw this today: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/yb/141496020

We got it. Thanks. Somehow I still think we'll struggle along.

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We got it. Thanks. Somehow I still think we'll struggle along.

I don't think ODU will "struggle along" as you say - to the contrary, I think ODU will flourish. Just keep an eye on this Selig, he has a football-killing past.