The Eilberg Lounge, perched atop the Case Athletic Center and overlooking Nickerson Field, was full of the big faces of Boston University athletics Wednesday afternoon, and they were all there to welcome the man who will now be perched atop the department.
Mike Lynch, the university’s current assistant vice president of development for athletics, was named the director of athletics of BU Wednesday in an announcement exactly one month after the former director, Gary Strickler, announced his plans to retire after 15 years at the position.
Men’s basketball coach Dennis Wolff. Women’s basketball coach Margaret McKeon. Women’s soccer coach Nancy Feldman. Assistant Director of Athletics for Communication Ed Carpenter. Even the cameras from Channel 7. Those were just some of the names that gathered to see the man who would take the reins of the department Strickler has transformed while at the helm.
Executive Director of Athletics Jack Parker made the announcement before welcoming BU’s new top dog to the podium, stating that Lynch will become the new athletic director when Strickler retires on July 1.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity,” Lynch told a small gathering of media and department insiders. “There are a lot of great things happening here at Boston University. Under Gary Strickler’s tutelage, we’ve put together a really strong, broad-based program that I’m really looking forward to bringing to greater and greater heights.”
Parker said the hiring was an easy decision.
“In talking to Gary Strickler … and Executive Vice President Joe Mercurio about people we’d be looking for to replace Gary, we all came up with the same name,” Parker said. “It was easy for us to arrive at that. He’s impressed us all with his abilities. He’s impressed us all with his work ethic.”
He’s had the opportunity to do so as the assistant VP of development for athletics, a title he earned when he arrived at BU in April of 2000. In more understandable language, Parker said Lynch has been instrumental in fundraising for Agganis Arena and its accompanying Student Village project, an ambitious undertaking that Lynch said cost around $250 million.
After Strickler announced on March 1 that he would retire in July, such a quick announcement of a replacement led to speculation that it would indeed be someone from inside the university.
“We are ecstatic that we have someone who knows the department so well, that brings so many varied experiences to the job and someone who I will be able to work with so closely,” Parker said in a press release.
The athletically built Lynch explained that his passion for collegiate sports comes from his own experience playing baseball at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., where he was an All-American pitcher his senior year, leading him to time in both the Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox organizations.
He’s not only seen college sports from a player’s perspective, but he coached the Union College baseball team for four years, turning the Dutchmen from a 3-22 squad into an 18-13 playoff-bound group. He also has experience from an administrative standpoint, as he left a post as the University of Miami’s assistant athletic director for development to come to a similar fundraising position at BU.
He’s been a player, coach and administrator from Florida to New York, but it’s clear that he’s already become a full-fledged Terrier. Lynch said all the right things for the media and showed where his loyalties lie, wearing a scarlet tie beneath his black suit. He even came up with a reason why BU is so unique.
“Right now, it’s the commitment that the university has shown to the athletic program,” Lynch said. “I don’t think there are many universities in the country right now that are showing the type of commitment that Boston University is to the importance of athletics as part of a campus experience.”
He certainly picked as good a time as any to get such a job. The Terriers have won the last two America East Commissioner’s Cups for the best all-around program in the conference. Plus, many of the 23 varsity sports use brand-new facilities (softball, crew, track and tennis) or will soon move into Agganis Arena (hockey, part-time for men’s and women’s basketball).
But there are two major questions that are at the top of the list in many discussions about the boys and girls of Babcock Street.
When asked about the possibility of baseball or football programs returning, Lynch did not rule either one out, saying that he would “take a look” at what is best for the school after he has some time to evaluate where the program stands.
As for a step up to a more competitive conference than the America East?
“We are actively looking at any opportunity of making the program more visible,” he said, admitting that a conference jump is certainly a viable option in that regard.
But it sounds like Lynch, who plans to visit with the coaches before July 1 and try “to get a sense for some of the things they want to accomplish,” has the same philosophy as the department – that rather than turn into a Division I sports factory, BU values the individual experience of its student athletes.
“We want to win championships, we want to have a program that people recognize, but probably more importantly, I want to make sure the student athletes excel in the classroom,” Lynch said. “I think part of my job is really to help young men and women to become better people. To me, that’s the bottom line of this position.”
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