UMaine suspends search for next AD

The University of Maine will not be getting a new athletic director, at least not yet.

UMaine president Frederick Hutchinson announced late Monday afternoon that the search process to find a new athletic director has been suspended until early next spring.

Walter Abbott will serve as the acting athletic director at UMaine through the end of his current contract that expires Dec. 31. Hutchinson has asked Abbott to consider staying on as the interim AD until the position is filled permanently.

In a news release, Hutchinson explained that neither of the remaining two finalists – James “Butch” Worley of the University of Texas and John “Jack” McDonald of the University of Denver – was the right man for the job.

“Throughout this process, the university has been looking for an individual with the right combination of administrative, academic, athletics and fund-raising skills necessary to do the job,” said Hutchinson, who made the decision after consulting with the 16-person search committee he appointed earlier this year.

“Though the search process attracted many talented people, I feel it is in the university’s best interests to postpone filling the position and instead reopen the application process sometime in early spring,” he added.

According to UMaine spokesman John Diamond, Hutchinson and university officials thought they had found their man in former Washington State associate AD Doug Woolard.

However, Woolard accepted the athletic director’s job at St. Louis University, close to his family in native Illinois, before Hutchinson could set up a final interview to offer him the Maine position.

“As far as I know, (Woolard) didn’t know that he was our preferred choice, because the president was prepared to have a final interview with him, which would be conducted over the phone,” to offer him the job, Diamond said.

Apparently, Hutchinson is not willing to settle for anything less than the perfect candidate.

“It is important to us that we get the right person, even if it takes longer than we originally anticipated,” Hutchinson said. “When we do reopen the search, a new pool of potential applicants will exist, and that will enhance the likelihood that we will find a candidate who meets our needs and expectations.”

Sunday’s revelation that the three finalists were out of the picture led to speculation that Abbott might be offered the job. Because Abbott withdrew his name from consideration in August, the university could not have named him the permanent athletic director.

“The university can’t fill a position when that person (Abbott) didn’t go through the search process,” Diamond explained. “He’d have to apply for the position just as all the other candidates did, and he’d have to go through the scrutiny of the search process in order to be appointed.”

In August, Abbott was among the final five candidates identified by the search committee that received 64 applications. Abbott withdrew, saying he would prefer the university find someone else who was a perfect fit for the job.

Abbott, who said he met with Hutchinson Monday, has not decided how long he will serve as the interim athletic director.

“I’m going to think about it and give (Hutchinson) an answer sometime before the 31st of December,” said Abbott, who would not speculate about the possibility of reapplying for the job when the search is reopened.

“At this time, I have no comment,” he said. “I’ll have to see what’s going on.”

Abbott provides the university with stability and leadership experience while it reorganizes its search.

“We feel good that we have somebody like Walt who has been leading the department for the last few months and we know that we will have him at least for the next few months, if not longer,” Diamond said. “That allows us to pursue the mission as we’d prefer to.”

The greatest concern for Abbott is the fact continuing as interim AD during the second semester would delay his return to teaching. Abbott, who has been on the UMaine faculty for 34 years, is an assistant professor whose classes include Outdoor Leadership, Coaching, Ethics and Principles of Coaching, and Personalized Fitness.

“I couldn’t do both, no way. It’s just too much,” Abbott said of trying to be the AD and teach classes.

Abbott’s fall teaching duties are being handled by a substitute.

Diamond said the fact Hutchinson is scheduled to undergo heart bypass surgery on Nov. 3 did not play a role in the decision to postpone the search.

“It doesn’t have any affect, because to readvertise the position at this point and to start the process of scheduling on-campus interviews, that would take us right into the holiday season for the closing period for applications,” Diamond explained. “That was another of the factors that played into the decision to wait until the spring.”