UMaine taps Paul Bubb to serve as interim AD

He hasn’t been told how long his interim director of athletics title will be attached to his name, but the University of Maine’s Paul Bubb admitted that he desires to have the ‘interim’ replaced by the ‘permanent’ title.

Bubb, the senior associate athletic director at Maine since November, was named the interim director of athletics by University of Maine President Dr. Peter Hoff on Friday.

He will assume the role upon Sue Tyler’s June 30 resignation.

“I would definitely like to be the [permanent] athletic director. When I was approached about becoming the interim athletic director, I said I also wanted to be considered a candidate for the permanent position,” said the 45-year-old Bubb.

“This is the type of program I want to be associated with. This is a great opportunity and I appreciate it. I’m so excited about it,” Bubb said. “I like the size of the school, it’s the land grant [state] school for the state of Maine, it has nationally-recognized sports programs and it also has broad-based programs. This was the type of opportunity I was looking for but I didn’t expect to find it until three or five years down the road.”

Bubb said he has been extremely impressed by the camaraderie between the coaches as well as the student-athletes at Maine. He said that was particularly evident recently when the men’s soccer program and men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs were on the chopping block due to budget cuts.

Several coaches and student-athletes in other sports spoke in favor of keeping those programs at a public forum.

Hoff agreed with the Athletic Advisory Board’s unanimous recommendation to keep the sports.

“The way the coaches and student-athletes came together was unlike anything people had seen before,” said Bubb. “These are people I want to be associated with.”

Bubb has held athletic administration jobs at Southern Illinois, Drake, Cal State-Northridge and Boise State. He was the AD at Cal-State Northridge from 1995-98.

At Maine, he has been in charge of the department’s fund-raising, marketing, promotions and media relations.

The department is in the process of hiring a director of athletic development as well as a director of marketing and promotions.

Bubb said his priorities include increasing ticket sales for football and men’s and women’s basketball and “expanding the base of support.

“The people in the state are very proud of the university of Maine,” observed Bubb who feels the university needs to reach out to the $50 and $100 donors as well as the wealthier donors.

He also said he is excited about the prospects for several of the Maine teams this coming season.

In a press release, Hoff said, “Paul brings a variety of attributes that will help the UMaine athletics department continue to move forward while we undertake the process of looking for a permanent athletic director. His combination of experience and knowledge of the department make Paul highly qualified to lead the Black Bears during this period of time.”

Hoff also announced that Rick Sanders, the former director of sports marketing at Montana State University, has been named the interim assistant athletic director for external affairs.

“I have known Rick a number of years and he will be a good addition to the staff,” said Bubb who pointed out that Sanders will bring a lot of experience and expertise to the position.

Sanders has served as president and commissioner of the America West Hockey League, general manager of that league’s Bozeman Ice Dogs and assistant GM of the Birmingham Barons AA baseball team.