Friday, March 21, 2008 11:08 PM CDT
Burke's law: Horrible loser but coach's AD
BY BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- Swimming was not dropped as an Eastern Illinois sport Friday.
The newly selected athletics director did not give instructions to boosters for this spring’s fund drive, either.
Until mid-May, Barbara Burke is still the deputy director of athletics at Wyoming.
But she did not rule out getting a head start as Eastern’s athletics director, effective officially on July 1.
“I’m going to hit the ground running and try not to do too much too soon,” Burke said at Friday morning’s press conference announcing her as Eastern’s selection for the AD job.
After impressing enough people at Eastern during last month’s on-campus interviews to be named athletics director, questions changed from philosophical ideas to what she planned to do.
While Eastern has to do most of this year’s fund-drive without Burke, Wyoming Athletics Director Tom Burman said his deputy director brings good financial management skills.
“Wyoming historically in our conference has been an underfunded program, and she has been able to find a way to do more with less,” Burman said.
Now Burke is to take over an Eastern program funding 21 sports, more than most mid-major programs of its kind.
Since Ray Padovan’s announcement that he was retiring after 42 years as Eastern’s men’s swimming coach, questions have surfaced about the future of one of the university’s four sports not included in the Ohio Valley Conference. Last year Eastern dropped wrestling, citing poor academic results according to NCAA Academic Performance Rates rather than any budgetary considerations.
“As far as I know at this point we’ll be looking for a swimming coach,” Burke said.
All EIU coaches might take this warning:
“I’ll tell you I’m a horrible loser,” Burke said. “You can ask my coaches.”
However, the former softball and basketball coach at Tennessee Temple, West Virginia State College, Indiana University Southeast, Cornerstone College in Michigan and Clearwater Christian College in Florida as well as a former two-sport standout at Western Michigan points to that experience as ways to help coaches succeed.
“I feel like I’m a coach’s AD,” Burke said. “I’ve been in their shoes. I feel like I know before they walk in the door what they are going to ask.”
Mary Wallace expressed no concerns as a women’s track coach under an athletics director who was a former softball and basketball coach.
“I think coaches leaving their sport of choice as soon as they become administrators see we’re all on the same team,” said Wallace, also EIU’s senior women’s administrator who was a member of the 15-person search committee choosing athletics director finalists.
Contracted to begin on July 1 at Eastern, Burke indicated she would actually get to work in early June.
At some point, she moves into the office where Ken Baker has served as interim AD.
A Charleston native began teaching physical education at Eastern in 1994 while also working as an NFL official, Baker became director of campus recreation in 2000 and now as an NFL replay official worked this year’s Super Bowl.
“My plans are to help with the transition and go back to the Rec Center and NFL and just be working seven days a week,” Baker said with a laugh.
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
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Kooky655 wrote on Mar 23, 2008 6:07 PM: