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W BEHIND THE DESK BY BARRY ALVAREZ // UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS Latest AD meetings a productive exercise hen you gather for formal meetings with a group of athletic directors, you want to be able to bang around some things and talk about the issues with the other folks from the other conferences. Sometimes you'll leaving thinking, "Why did I even come? I didn't get any answers.'' That was not the case at our annual Division IA Athletic Directors Association meetings in Dallas. I thought they were very constructive. There was an unbelievably high turnout and a serious tone to the meetings. People wanted to be there and they wanted to have some say in discussing possible changes in governance. Seven of the Big Ten athletic directors got there Sunday and met over dinner. We just kind of threw some things around so we were all on the same page. On Monday and Tuesday, there were panel discussions on different topics, including the state of college athletics, and there were a number of different people speaking. We heard from an attorney on the Ed O'Bannon case; the SMU president, who's on the Knight Commission; and from the president of the faculty reps, who were meeting in the same Dallas hotel. NCAA president Mark Emmert spoke to their group Monday. We talked about the four-team football playoff structure that will 14 // VARSITY September 26, 2013 go into effect next season with Bill Hancock and we talked with the football recruiting subcommittee about some proposals. We also heard from Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and former CBS president Neal Pilson. Bob is a very bright guy and I really like to listen to his views on governance and his views on the future of the NCAA and college athletics ― how you handle it and what changes have to be made. BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY LAYERS TO OUR JOB, EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT GOING ON. YOU MAY THINK YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM, BUT EVERYBODY HAS ISSUES. YOU LISTEN AND SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER. The important thing right now is getting people on the same page in understanding that those in the arena ― the commissioners and athletic directors ― have to have more of a say. The presidents have oversight of it all and the bottom line is that it all comes to them. But you need more of a voice from the practitioners. Change has to come and everybody understands that. On Monday, we started the meetings at 1 in the afternoon and went to 6. I sat with Shawn and Sean, my old deputies; Nebraska's Shawn Eichorst and Northern Illinois' Sean Frazier. There are a lot of people you try to visit with. I always try to get with Oklahoma's Joe Castiglione and North Carolina's Bubba Cunningham. I spent some time with Bubba at Notre Dame. Because there are so many layers to our job, everyone has something different going on. You may think you've got a problem, but everybody has issues. You listen and support one another. It didn't surprise me that everybody wanted to know about the officiating of our football game at Arizona State. By the sounds of it, Michigan State apparently thought its game against Notre Dame was also poorly called. On Sunday, I got a chance to visit with Ohio State's Gene Smith. We have known each other for a long time. We really didn't talk much about our game Saturday night in Columbus. I will say this, I always liked going there; I always liked playing at Ohio State. They like their football and I think it's a fair stadium to play in. The fans are not on top of you like some stadiums. I always thought the way we played matched up with the way they played. Both of us played similar ― physical, field position-type games. We've both had changes, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.