Ron Swanson
Full Member
Jeremiah Donati is a terrific guy and an excellent fundraiser, but he's not #2 in the Athletics department. Mainly because he's not employed by the Athletics department, he's employed by University Development (fundraising) and reports to the same people I report to in the division of University Advancement. He has dual reporting responsibility to the Vice Chancellor of University Advancement and the Director of Athletics. But Athletics doesn't pay his salary, Advancement does.
The same setup exists in every college at TCU. Each college has a Development officer that offices within the college and functions as part of the Dean's staff, but actually employed and paid by Development. So they also have dual reporting responsibilities to their college Dean and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Development. Development does most of TCU's direct major fundraising (including Athletics), but it is also partly a service and staff provider for the university's colleges and major programs.
As highly as I regard Jeremiah, and as much as I think he will be a more than adequate interim placeholder while TCU searches for a new AD, he will not be a serious candidate for the permanent position. He's a lawyer whose entire career has been spent as a sports agent or an athletics fundraiser. He has absolutely zero experience at athletics administration.
The thing you have to keep in mind is that TCU Athletics has now ascended to a place where it has become a coveted destination position for premier coaches and administrators everywhere. Those of you who think TCU is still in the poverty position of relying on untested external hires or promotion of inexperienced internal personnel are living way, way behind the times.
TCU's AD job opening will draw inquiries from some of the most experienced and celebrated AD's from across nation. We will have our pick of the available candidates. Hence, absolutely no need to rely on tenuous, chancy picks like celebrated legislator alumni, fundraisers, current subordinate athletics administrators, elevated coaches, and coaches wives.
Get real. We're way beyond all that.
I guess you haven’t read all the reports that he is going to be hired as the permanent AD