I had most of a column written about the day Marshall spent without an athletic director. Bob Marcum's reign ended Tuesday, and as of Wednesday afternoon an interim replacement had not been named.
Then, just as I was about to finish writing, word came down that someone had been named to the position on.
David Steele is a name many people might not recognize, but he's the guy, at least for now, in charge of Thundering Herd athletics.
Steele has been with the university since 1995 and most recently his responsibilities were (according to a release from the university) overseeing business operations, budgeting, video and concessions and assisting Marcum with football scheduling. His official title had been Associate Director of Athletics for Administration and Business.
In these tough economic times and in an athletic department that is strapped for cash, I can't think of a better candidate than the guy who knows the books inside and out.
I recently spoke to Steele about the economic crunch and how Marshall's athletic department has been dealing with it. In regard to football, Steele said scheduling has and will continue to play a key role in maintaining the budget for athletics.
"In cases where we might have flown in the past, we're looking to see if it's possible to bus," Steele said in the June telephone interview. "This is something everybody is doing nationally, and we are no different."
Steele also talked about how Conference USA institutions, and specifically Marshall, stack up nationally compared to larger universities and conferences.
"Regardless of the size (of conference), we are all facing challenges," Steele said. "We all want to fund the programs at a level that will keep us competitive. The larger schools from the BCS conferences might have more room to make adjustments, but every conference is unique in its own right. We are all facing challenges and looking at different ways to operate."
I also have another story to share about Steele.
Because of my duties as sports editor for The Parthenon last fall, I traveled to with the football team to cover the away games.
On the flight home one Saturday (I think it was the UAB game), my cell phone died. It was not a big deal until we landed and I discovered my ride had not arrived at Tri-State Airport to pick me up.
I panicked. I didn't really know anyone who was left at the airport and it was starting to get late. I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but many of my friends are hard to get in touch with or, to put it bluntly, are too drunk to drive on a Saturday night.
As thoughts of walking to the south side of Huntington from the airport raced through my head, I noticed one last person walking in the direction of the parking lot - David Steele. I was basically a stranger to him, but he was kind enough to let me use his phone to call my ride and even waited around with me until my ride arrived.
From that moment, I have thought Steele was a good guy.
The question now, however, is will he be the right guy for this job? And if he does an excellent job as the interim athletic director, will he be considered for the job on a full time basis? It will be interesting to watch this all play out in the coming weeks and months.
Tom Bragg can be contacted at bragg41@marshall.edu.
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