FORT COLLINS — Joe Parker is in his second week on the job as athletic director at Colorado State, where many in the fan constituency hope the Rams eventually land in the Big 12, one of the five “power” conferences.
While Parker’s résumé includes stops at Big 12 schools Texas, Oklahoma and most recently Texas Tech, and at two other power conference programs, including his alma mater, Michigan, he said he hasn’t been given a mandate to get the Rams into the Big 12 and isn’t planning to lobby.
“President (Tony) Frank has been very clear that he wants to be respectful of the peers we have in the Mountain West,” Parker said at CSU’s McGraw Center. “We think it’s the right conference for us and it’s the right fit for us at this moment.
“I think we have the ability to be one of the dominant institutions in the Mountain West. You never know what the future’s going to bring, but we want to make sure by doing that, we’re the best version of who we can be. If there is opportunity in the future, we just want to be in position to at least have the right dialogue. But there’s been no mandate at all.”
Can that dialogue with the Big 12 — which currently has only 10 schools in the evolving conference landscape — start in the foreseeable future?
“I don’t think it can be started by us,” Parker said. “I think that’s something where you have to be invited to those conversations.”
Parker inherits the on-campus stadium project, mainly the brainchild of former athletic director Jack Graham and Frank, and said it remains on track to open in two years.
“The bonds have been issued, and it was a very successful offering, so the financial markets have responded and validated the approach that the university has there,” Parker said. “We’re in the deep design phase with our designers and consultants. We’re planning to start site work (soon). I’m not sure whether it’s May or June, but all that would lead to a comfortable, substantial completion date in the summer of 2017 for football that fall.”
With new autonomy standards taking effect for power conferences, and with “cost of attendance” stipends beginning, there is potential for a widening of the gap between the power conferences and the “group of five,” including the Mountain West.
“It’s a reality we have to embrace,” Parker said. “Those schools that are aligned in power five conferences, obviously the TV partnerships have responded in a way that they haven’t for the group of five. … But again, you just have to keep your focus where it needs to be, and I don’t think you should use resources for feeling you can’t line up and compete.”
Parker said CSU would be open-minded about adding sports that have been mentioned as possibilities, whether women’s lacrosse or anything else. He also mentioned possibly upgrading the women’s soccer facilities, especially if a significant donor for the project steps forward.
For the full conversation with Parker, see The Denver Post’s blog.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
