Montana athletic department hiring consulting firm

[CSN Log]

06-22-2010 06:28 PM

MISSOULA — The University of Montana plans to hire an outside firm to assess its athletics department and gather information that will help guide the program for the next five to 10 years.

Athletics director Jim O’Day says he’s hoping the assessment can start within the next few weeks, with results available in late fall. Private money will be used to pay the $15,000 to $25,000 cost of the study. A contract hasn’t been signed yet.

Read more » (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2010/06/22/montana-athletic-department-hiring-consu?blog=2#more6620)

More... (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2010/06/22/montana-athletic-department-hiring-consu?blog=2)

[TexasTerror]

Could you legitimately say that this is the first step during the current college realignment cycle for Montana to give a good look at moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision?

Has the school undertaken any other analysis or studies over the last few years as far as a move to FBS?

[TexasTerror]

Here's another article from the Missoulian (http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_f9850cc8-7dbb-11df-ae97-001cc4c002e0.html) regarding the consultant(s)...


The University of Montana is looking off campus and beyond state borders for some advice about its athletic programs.

With funding from private donations, UM is hiring a consulting firm to asses the internal strengths and weaknesses of Grizzly athletics as compared with peer institutions.

"Everything right now in the NCAA is so volatile, and we've been talking about doing something like this for over a year. We thought it was a good time to see how we stack up with peer institutions," said Jim O'Day, UM director of athletics.