ORONO – James “Butch” Worley could be living in a cozy Dallas suburb, working as an attorney at one of that city’s most prestigious law firms.

Instead, he has spent the last seven years as the associate athletics director for administration at the University of Texas. The 40-year-old Texan was in Orono on Friday, trying to sell himself as the best choice for the UMaine athletic director’s job.

Worley, one of three finalists for the post, met with the media during his campus visit. He said the criteria he uses to evaluate prospective jobs include: the community setting; the institution and how its athletic department and AD are integrated into the educational experience; and whether the overall athletic program can succeed in the long term.

“I look at, what are the expectations, and what are the resources and the commitment made to achieving these expectations?” said Worley who was a finalist for the University of Idaho’s athletic director position in 1992.

“After being here a day and a half, I do feel it is the type of institution where I would have the opportunity to do some of the things that would be important to me as an athletic director,” he added.

Worley spent all day Thursday and much of Friday meeting with various university groups, including the AD search committee, president Frederick Hutchinson, athletic administrators, coaches, faculty and student-athletes.

Worley believes what sets him apart from other candidates is his varied experience, including stints in education and coaching, law, NCAA enforcement, and athletic administration.

“I see this as an opportunity for somebody with my diverse background to get involved with intercollegiate athletics at a leadership level,” Worley said.

Worley is not worried about UMaine’s struggle with NCAA compliance during the last year. He worked at the NCAA for two years, including seven months as the assistant director of enforcement. Worley was surprised to find the UMaine mistakes that have been made public were relatively minor.

“I’ve been in the business long enough to know that it’s not a question of if you’re going to have NCAA issues, it’s just a question of when and how you’re going to address them,” said Worley.

The university’s extensive effort to restructure its compliance system during the past year makes the AD position more attractive to Worley, who pointed to the cooperation between the athletic department and the registrar’s office and the financial aid office in addressing those issues.

“I really believe that what they’re doing can be a model for other top institutions at this level,” he said. “I mean institutions with limited resources and limited staffs. This institution is taking a somewhat unique, creative approach and I don’t think you see that type of cooperation on a lot of campuses.”

Worley said his priority would be to make the university’s athletic programs successful across the board at their chosen levels of play and to hire the best coaches to achieve that goal.

“An AD’s primary responsibility, in my view, is to recruit, hire and retain the best possible coaches you can, because that’s who is going to determine the success of the sports program,” he said.

Worley was a high school football and baseball standout in Leonard, Texas, a rural town of about 1,400 people. He was one of five people in his graduating class of 27 who went on to college.

“If it wasn’t for intercollegiate athletics,” Worley said, “I’m sure I would not have gone to college.”

James Worley

Age: 40

Title: Associate Athletics Director for Administration, University of Texas

Education: B.A. (political science-history), M.A. (education), Austin College, Sherman, Texas; Ph.D., Texas Tech School of Law

Job Experience: 1987-present, associate A.D. for administration at Texas; responsibilities include supervising staff, budgeting, compliance, event management, fund-raising, marketing and promotions, scheduling

1985-87: NCAA enforcement representative, NCAA Assistant Director of Enforcement

1983-85: attorney, Winstead, McGuire, Sechrest & Minick, Dallas, Texas

1977-80: teacher (government) and coach (football, track), Sherman High School, Texas.

Personal: married to Angie (Freeman); daughter, Whitney, 12; son, James, 9