Fort Collins – Paul Kowalczyk isn’t offering any magic bullets for Colorado State’s budgetary and competitive challenges in the Mountain West Conference. As CSU’s new athletic director, he said he plans to stick around long enough to resolve the problems.
“It takes time and energy. There’s not an overnight, quick solution,” Kowalczyk said Tuesday. “There is a process, and I’ll begin that process shortly. It takes time. It takes relationship-building, but with patience we can get there.”
Kowalczyk, 48, who is in his sixth year at Missouri Valley Conference basketball power Southern Illinois, will take over at CSU on May 17. He was introduced Tuesday by school president Larry Penley as a man “who understands how to win.”
The new athletic director – CSU’s fifth in the past decade, most recently Mark Driscoll – agreed in principle to an incentive-laden, five-year contract that starts at $225,000 per year. Although Kowalczyk met with Penley and the search committee last week, he took the job sight unseen. Staffers didn’t know his identity until a morning meeting. Kowalczyk returned to Carbondale, Ill., without touring Hughes Stadium.
“The athletic program here has been successful to some degree, but I think we can be even better,” said the Ohio native and Kent State graduate.
Kowalczyk seemed relaxed at the podium during the news conference to announce his hiring, exhibiting a quick sense of humor. Asking about fundraising he turned to a reporter, saying, “Are you going to donate?”
Kowalczyk declined to name a top priority until he can evaluate the CSU athletic department.
“We have to take a look at where we are and where we want to go,” he said.
Before his departure, how- ever, he recorded a message to CSU booster club members and ticket holders for a massive telephone greeting campaign.
Kowalczyk, who has been at Southern Illinois since 2000 and spent nine years before that at Northwestern, is aware that CSU’s past two athletic directors lasted 2 1/2 and two years.
“When I hunker down, I’m committed,” he said. “It’s going to take some time. It’s a great location. It’s got an excellent staff. This is an exciting time to be here.”
Kowalczyk said he talked to Jeff Hathaway, who went back to the University of Connecticut in 2003, after staying at CSU less than two years.
“Every school wants an athletic director with a big red ‘S’ on his chest. The issue here is financing and revenue and fundraising in particular,” he said. “We were able to build a budget at Southern Illinois. I’m sure we can do it here.”
Penley has outlined a worst- case scenario of a 2006-07 academic year deficit of up to $1 million, part of an appeal to student leaders for a student- fee hike beyond the current $2.4 million support.
CSU’s $18.3 million budget trails the Mountain West according to numbers given to the student-fee review board. The budget is dwarfed by schools in BCS conferences, yet it is super-sized compared with Southern Illinois’ $7.5 million for a Division I-AA football program and 17 other sports.
Kowalczyk did not expect any difficulties in the transition between I-AA and I-A, noting the universal goal of putting fans in the stands and winning.
Penley said the search was kept secret for the benefit of sitting ADs who didn’t get the job. Kowalczyk was initially contacted by Chuck Neinas, who served as Penley’s consultant.
“After Penley first met with Paul, (the CSU president) turned to me and said, ‘I like this guy,”‘ Neinas said.
Kowalczyk file
A look at new Colorado State athletic director Paul Kowalczyk, who takes over May 17:
Alma mater: Kent State (bachelor’s of business administration in accounting and master’s in sports administration)
Previous stops: Southern Illinois (2000-06), athletic director; Northwestern (1991-2000), business manager of finance and personnel, then associate athletic director for external affairs; Kansas State (1989-91), assistant athletic director for business operations. Also worked at Portland State (business manager for athletics), and at Kent State while working on his master’s degree.
Family: Wife Peg
Staff writer Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
