Updated with quotes from Benedict’s press conference at 11:20am
Late Monday evening, as we were readying to record a podcast, news broke that UConn had settled on a new athletic director to replace Warde Manuel.
The choice was Auburn’s Chief Operating Officer of athletics, David Benedict. You can read the press release from UConn here, but we’ll try to boil this down into what you really want, or need to know.
BACKGROUND
First, a brief introduction to Benedict. His duties at Auburn included running the day-to-day operations of the athletic department, no small task at a university with a gigantic and renowned football program (plus Charles Barkley). Before that, Benedict held a similar position at Minnesota, and various roles at VCU, Long Beach and Arizona State.
Benedict was only at Auburn for 18 months before accepting the UConn gig.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN
Following the announcement of Manuel’s departure, UConn established a search committee to find his replacement. According to the Courant, the university interviewed nine candidates and was so impressed with Benedict that it conducted two interviews within 24 hours and offered Benedict the job the next day.
In the hiring of both Manuel and university president Susan Herbst, UConn relied on an outside search firm — Parker Executive — that was also tasked with placing candidates before the AD search committee. Benedict was one of those candidates.
WHAT DOES BENEDICT BRING TO THE TABLE
On its face, this move appears to be about two things: football and money — the mana of college athletics. Benedict’s experience rests heavily on the financial side of athletic operations. His main task at UConn will be to fundraise, especially as the university as a whole endures budgetary problems, and several large athletic department expenses loom — a new hockey arena, and uncertainty over the future of the program’s two basketball homes. Benedict was in charge of planning and development for a $150 million renovation to Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium.
With most of the big coaching decisions wrapped up during Manuel’s tenure, Benedict can focus almost exclusively on fundraising for the next few seasons.
Benedict also brings experience running a big time football program, something UConn is desperate to possess. Benedict’s hire gives an air of credibility to the Huskies’ rebuilding process on the gridiron.
CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT
This will be everyone’s first question: How does Benedict’s hire affect UConn’s chances at conference realignment? In and of itself, probably not much. However, Benedict’s hiring should be seen as one part of a multifaceted strategy by UConn that appears aimed at securing an invitation to the Big 12.
Remember, football and money. The Huskies are in the middle of an advertising campaign declaring themselves the sixth borough of New York, a not-so-subtle hint at their reach in television markets. Also yesterday, the university took out a full-page ad in the Dallas Morning News in advance of the men’s basketball team’s trip to face SMU on Thursday, a not-so-subtle hint that they can succeed in the heart of Big 12 territory. Selecting Benedict as the new athletic director seems to be another spoke in the wheel of the same campaign, a not-so-subtle hint that UConn is invested heavily in their fledging football program and is willing to do what’s necessary to catch up to the rest of their hopeful-new-conference mates. Whether it works or not will obviously be contingent on the success of backroom negotiations and the whims of Big 12 university presidents, but it’s clear that UConn is going all-in.
As a brief note, should UConn again be left out of conference realignment, Benedict’s job will become even more critical as the athletic department will need to raise vast amounts of money to remain competitive on a national level without a big television deal to inflate their revenue figures.
UPDATE
UConn held an introductory press conference for Benedict this morning. President Herbst began by declaring “This is Super Tuesday at UConn, and we have a winner.”
The emphasis for Herbst and Benedict was placed on the monetary side of the department, as we speculated above. “Private giving, fan support and relationships with the corporate community are essential,” said Benedict.
He also stressed a commitment to maintaining the program’s competitive excellence, establishing stronger ties to the alumni community and improving the gameday experience for fans. “I want to make our gameday experience the best in the nation,” he said. “We need you to come out and support our student athletes. We need you to purchase tickets.”
The Q&A segment of the press conference focused exclusively on conference alignment, with Benedict predictably playing coy. “This is a Power Five program all day, every day,” he said. “We have success in winning national championships. We have a supportive president and leader and we have donors who are willing to support these unbelievable facilities.”
“From a conference affiliation standpoint, our job is to make sure we’re dominating whatever conference in which we’re currently competing.”
Benedict did mention by name both Ohio St. athletic director Gene Smith and Duke athletic director Kevin White, both of whom Benedict worked for at Arizona State early in his career.
When asked if UConn would be engaging in talks with other conferences, Benedict responded, “I look forward to having those conversations. I think it’s important for us to be good partners with our current conference.”
The last noteworthy line was when Benedict was addressing his wife and twin sons. He thanked his family for following his across the country during his career and promised his sons “we’re not going anywhere for a long time.”
Contract Terms
Benedict will earn $450K annually with possible bonuses adding an additional $100K.
