In with the new
Shedding
a new light
New athletic director Thomas
Boeh looks to keep the athletic department out of the dark and in the
open
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Joseph
Vasquez / The Collegian
Thomas Boeh comes to
Fresno after 10 years as Ohio University's athletic director.
"I was comfortable at Ohio. Too comfortable. I
was looking for new challenges." |
By Maggie Thach
The Collegian
Everything is out on the table.
At least, that’s how new athletic director Thomas Boeh wants to
run things now. Every decision, every change and every little tweak, he
wants people to know about it.
After a turbulent year in athletics which included letting go volleyball
coach Lindy Vivas, an extensive investigation and firing of the women’s
basketball coach Stacy Johnson-Klein and the unexpected resignation of
men’s basketball coach Ray Lopes; not to mention, past NCAA sanctions
from academic fraud during the Jerry Tarkanian era, gender-equity concerns
and a budget that never seems to be met, Boeh is looking to provide a
clean start, and keep it that way. For Boeh, a fresh start means having
coaches, players and fans on the same page.
“People are going to disagree but if we can agree on a mission,
that’s the first step,” said Boeh, who came to Fresno State
after a 10-year career as the athletic director at Ohio University. “I
hear different ideas and I take all of those into consideration. I’ve
never heard ‘we don’t aspire.’”
In order to get everybody striving toward the same goal, Boeh’s
first mission is to establish relationships and build a staff. He also
want to use the school radio station and Web site to show fans how the
athletic department is progressing and provide a place where they can
give feedback.
“He’s trying to meet and connect with people who has an interest
in the program,” said Steve Weakland, assistant athletic director.
“I think that’s the most important thing he’s done so
far.”
Boeh is still working to get a staff together. He has two positions to
fill but that should be done by October. As soon as the staff is put together,
plans will be made. To some degree, the program will be reconstructed
and small changes will be put in effect but nothing significant will be
done until a full staff is in place.
“If we put the right people in the right situation, we can overcome
the issues,” Boeh said. “Then we can create a plan. Sometimes,
the plan is not as important as the process to come up with it. Through
the process, we learn each other’s values and objectives.”
Boeh already likes the values and objectives of football coach Pat Hill
and newly hired men’s basketball coach Steve Cleveland.
“Despite the problems, when Cleveland was hired, I felt like Fresno
State was taking a step in the direction of leaving all those issues behind.”
Cleveland, who grew up in Fresno, left after an eight-year career at Brigham
Young University where he compiled a 138-108 record. His teams were consistently
ranked first in graduation rates among teams in the Mountain West Conference
while boasting a 3.0 team grade point average. Hill’s teams are
similar in success off the field.
In 1996, Hill took a football team that had the nation’s worst graduation
rate and eight years later, turned it into a program that has doubled
its graduation rate and produced 65 academic all-WAC players. The team’s
Academic Progress Rate is 18 points higher than the national average and
is the fourth best of Division 1-A football programs in the Western United
States.
“He has respect for others,” said Desiree Reed-Francois, associate
athletic director. “He’s straightforward and will give you
an answer even if you don’t like the answer. People are going to
respect him and want to work harder for him.”
Boeh compares himself to Hill. He is the coach of the coaches. Boeh thinks
Hill is so successful because he lets his assistant coaches run the show.
Hill only chimes in when a big decision is to be made. Boeh wants to do
the same thing.
“A large part of my job is to keep my view 40,000 feet from the
program and be a good manager of the senior staff,” Boeh said. “My
job is to look at the program and support what we do and my colleagues
across campus. We’re in this together.”
And as long as everybody is striving for the same goals and has the same
values of integrity, fairness and loyalty, Boeh says he thinks Fresno
State can set the precedent for the way things should be done in the Western
Athletic Conference.
Boeh has firmly established within the athletic department what his values
are. Now he wants everybody to know it.
“Thomas is exactly what the community is looking for and expects,”
Reed-Francois said. “He’s cleaning up things from the past.
It’s still a process but he’s candid and wants to be transparent.
That’s what he brings to the table.”
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