Blacknbengal
Well-Known Member
ASU's new AD down to business
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
On Monday, Richard Cosby officially took office as the new athletics director at Alabama State. On Wednesday, he already sounded like a man under pressure.
"I have a lot of things that need to be addressed here," he said. "I haven't even had a staff meeting yet. I've only been here three days."
The bulk of the pressure on Cosby so far seems to be coming from supporters for a three-year-old proposal that would give ASU an on-campus football stadium.
It's something Cosby agreed needs to be addressed.
"I know the students and alumni here want a stadium," he said. "That's something that I plan to look at and see if it's a feasible option for this university. I'm sure most people want the stadium but is it a viable option for this university? I don't know. It's something I'll have to look into."
However, Cosby said it wouldn't be a decision made any time in the near future.
"We need to look at different plans and see what might be the best," he said. "Some others may not want a stadium. All I'm saying is that right now, I plan on looking into the different options and coming up with a plan for the best course of action."
The proposal for the stadium was first introduced by former Board of Trustees member Donald Watkins. At the time, Watkins' plan was to build the stadium entirely from private funding.
Cosby said he had not seen Watkins' plan and had no idea if he would ever look into it.
"If President (Joe) Lee would like for me to see the plan then he'll give it to me," Cosby said. "As of right now, I don't know anything about the plan or if I'll ever see it. I've only been here three days."
For now, Cosby said he has no idea just how realistic an on-campus stadium is for ASU.
"I'll have to look at several different factors to evaluate just how feasible building a stadium on campus is," he said. "One of those would be land allocation. Do we even have the land available to us to build such a facility? It's something I don't know and won't know until I have the chance to look into it more thoroughly."
One obstacle in building the stadium has always been funding. That's an area a full-time AD should be able to help with, according to ASU head football coach L.C. Cole.
"That's one of the main responsibilities of an AD -- to go out and get funding for the different programs," Cole said a few weeks ago. "He can get people to commit money to your department to get things like a new stadium. Fund raising is where an athletics director plays a big role at a university."
Cosby grudgingly agreed that fund raising was important, but it's only one facet of his responsibilities.
"I've got to get started managing this program," he said. "We need to look into the compliance of all of our programs and make sure they're where they need to be. And just get things in order."
Seems to me that Cole and his new AD will have to sit down and talk or they will be bumping heads all along the way.
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
On Monday, Richard Cosby officially took office as the new athletics director at Alabama State. On Wednesday, he already sounded like a man under pressure.
"I have a lot of things that need to be addressed here," he said. "I haven't even had a staff meeting yet. I've only been here three days."
The bulk of the pressure on Cosby so far seems to be coming from supporters for a three-year-old proposal that would give ASU an on-campus football stadium.
It's something Cosby agreed needs to be addressed.
"I know the students and alumni here want a stadium," he said. "That's something that I plan to look at and see if it's a feasible option for this university. I'm sure most people want the stadium but is it a viable option for this university? I don't know. It's something I'll have to look into."
However, Cosby said it wouldn't be a decision made any time in the near future.
"We need to look at different plans and see what might be the best," he said. "Some others may not want a stadium. All I'm saying is that right now, I plan on looking into the different options and coming up with a plan for the best course of action."
The proposal for the stadium was first introduced by former Board of Trustees member Donald Watkins. At the time, Watkins' plan was to build the stadium entirely from private funding.
Cosby said he had not seen Watkins' plan and had no idea if he would ever look into it.
"If President (Joe) Lee would like for me to see the plan then he'll give it to me," Cosby said. "As of right now, I don't know anything about the plan or if I'll ever see it. I've only been here three days."
For now, Cosby said he has no idea just how realistic an on-campus stadium is for ASU.
"I'll have to look at several different factors to evaluate just how feasible building a stadium on campus is," he said. "One of those would be land allocation. Do we even have the land available to us to build such a facility? It's something I don't know and won't know until I have the chance to look into it more thoroughly."
One obstacle in building the stadium has always been funding. That's an area a full-time AD should be able to help with, according to ASU head football coach L.C. Cole.
"That's one of the main responsibilities of an AD -- to go out and get funding for the different programs," Cole said a few weeks ago. "He can get people to commit money to your department to get things like a new stadium. Fund raising is where an athletics director plays a big role at a university."
Cosby grudgingly agreed that fund raising was important, but it's only one facet of his responsibilities.
"I've got to get started managing this program," he said. "We need to look into the compliance of all of our programs and make sure they're where they need to be. And just get things in order."
Seems to me that Cole and his new AD will have to sit down and talk or they will be bumping heads all along the way.