van der Merwe presser reaction

So Derek van der Merwe will be the new AD at BG.  He had the presser today, I think everyone will agree that he won the presser but now the real work begins.  So did the last two.

He checks a lot of the boxes I think you want.  

• I think it's important the people we hire have experience working in under-resourced environments. He has worked at CMU and Austin Peay.
• He has a MAC background, which I also like.  (His participation in the fat punter game for CMU will require some kind of ritual cleansing, but that can be scheduled).
• He also has P5 experience, which I think is important as well.
• He has development experience, even leading overall University advancement at Austin Peay.
• He is not just a development guy, which I also think experience has taught us is needed.
• He has been an AD.
• You can see why he was an attractive candidate.  Of course, the bridge between attractive and successful is the challenge.

He has an interesting background.  He grew up in South Africa in a missionary family.  He didn't play much football in HS and was more interested in the violin.  Decided to play his senior year, walked on at CMU, and then was Academic All-MAC for the Chips.

Again, he said all the right things.  We need to overachieve.  The key is people (as opposed to just money). Great opportunity, community.  He's seen the Falcon "Army" when they are successful and he wants to engage with them/us.

He also said something like "the greatest opportunity comes from great turmoil."

Which is something I believe, too.  It's just a slogan on a poster in the conference room unless it gets put into action, which is really hard.  Because a lot of pain and suffering come from great turmoil, too.

I think everyone's consensus is that the next AD needed to be someone special and a little transformational.  With the challenges we face, an ordinary look-at-my-resume, easy-hire drone isn't going to move the needle the way people expect.  As always, time will tell.

David Briggs asked Dr. Rogers what I believe is the key question. Will BG increase it's financial commitment to athletics?  Dr. Rogers didn't answer yes or no, indicated BG's relatively strong institutional financial position and used a lot of buzzwords. I believe a content translation would be "yes but I don't want to set any expectations yet."  I have heard that BG is preparing to do just that.  I don't think money is all you need, but if you are severely underfunded you are always trying to be Carl Lewis and most times you won't be.

I don't understand why no one asks him when he will start.  He said he was going to live in "this community" and time will also tell if he means Perrysburg.

So, day one looks good.  Wishing him good luck and success.

Update:  From the comments, someone noted that he is the Director of Athletics and Recreation and asked whether that was too much for a guy trying to be the AD.  It certainly is not unheard of at BG. During COVID, Moosbrugger was named Director of Athletics, Recreation and Wellness.  Ron Zwerlein was Director of Athletics and Recreational Sports.