AIR FORCE ACADEMY — An Air Force Academy official told members of the media Thursday that a national search that led to the hiring of James Knowlton as the academy’s new athletic director was a detailed, year-long process that went by the book.
Laurie Carroll, the academy’s director of manpower and personnel, said she witnessed the entire hiring procedure that she called a deliberate, multistep process.
Carroll said the search began with about 50 applicants who were narrowed down to the final four. They were interviewed by academy administrators, including superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson. Carroll said there were no women among the final four candidates. She also said that previous military experience was a factor that was considered.
“My job was to give the superintendent a problem,” Carroll said. “That problem was that she would have several extremely qualified candidates and she could only pick one. I did that.”
Knowlton, who is leaving as athletic director at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., to come to Air Force, didn’t attend the meeting. He’s scheduled to be officially introduced Wednesday, two days before Hans Mueh retires and leaves the athletic director post at Air Force.
“In the end, the decision was made on which candidate was considered the best fit for the academy at this time,” Carroll said. “The athletic director is a key member of General Johnson’s leadership team. The entire process focused on the superintendent’s intent on the direction going forward.”
Carroll said that candidates were not asked questions concerning the handling of potential future upheaval among the major conferences for football. Air Force competes in the Mountain West in most of its sports programs and has benefitted from Front Range rivalries with Colorado State, Wyoming and New Mexico.
At Air Force, Knowlton will oversee 27 NCAA sports that provide competition for 1,000 athletes each year. At Rensselaer, Knowlton was involved with 23 men’s and women’s sports, but only two in NCAA Division I.
Prior to his time at Rensselaer, Knowlton served in the administration at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was an interim athletic director for a time. He graduated from Army in 1982.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296, imoss@denverpost.com or
