Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.
Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/87083
Eichorst's time at UW has him prepared BEHIND THE DESK BARRY ALVAREZ • UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS I feel good about my alma ma- ter's hiring of Shawn Eichorst as the athletic director. He's a good fit. He's very down-to- earth and he will identify with the people in Nebraska. When Shawn was working here as my deputy, I tried to expose him to a lot of different things. I gave him a lot of duties and, in the long run, it has paid off for him. In a short amount of time, he has gained valuable experience having been exposed to big-time programs at Wisconsin and South Carolina before even taking the Miami job. Now there are some positives about being at a private institution like Miami where you don't have to go through the rigmarole or the politics that a public institution does. But he won't have to deal any- more with the financial struggles of a Miami when you don't fill the sta- dium for football and you're always hustling to raise money to keep up with facilities. He's going into a totally different situation at Nebraska. Right now, it's stable. A few years ago, it was unstable. That's why they brought Tom Osborne back. You can see how delicate all of these jobs are if you get the wrong fit and someone who doesn't under- stand the culture. The first thing I'd say to Shawn is win over the people on your cam- pus and in your state. It's very important to gain the confidence of the coaches and the current administrators. 12 » VARSITY OCTOBER 11, 2012 It's also important to win over the state and embrace what Ne- braska is all about. Shawn will do that. He's a very bright guy; he's very knowledge- able. There won't be any surprises. He used to come to Big Ten meetings with me. He will know the people in the room and the procedure and how to deal with the whole group. Our commissioner, Jim Delany, runs a good league. Everybody respects Jim and he keeps everyone informed on what's going on within the conference. At our director meetings, peo- ple get along. People try to work together. There aren't any bullies. Instead, people are making deci- sions based on what's in the best interests of the league. I can't say one thing surprised me when I moved from coach to athletic director. Looking back at the magnitude and all the layers you're dealing with, you start thinking of the people that are coming at you from all angles and the different things that trickle down to your desk. It can be overwhelming. As a football coach, I didn't have to worry about parking. I didn't have to worry about ticket prices. I worried about compliance, but not for 800 student-athletes and 23 sports. I wasn't worried about paying for buildings, either, when I was coaching. Now, there are things you learn as a coach. You learn to make deci- sions and you learn how to deal with issues. The first time you sit behind that desk as a head coach, the reaction is always the same. Every guy will always say, "You didn't prepare me for this.'' The same thing applies as an ath- letic director. There are just many more layers.