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

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.”