Coaches pick Bill Martin as 10th athletic director

By Lisa Koivu

Daily News Editor

After serving as the interim-athletic director since the forced resignation of Tom Goss almost five months ago, Bill Martin was chosen by University President Lee Bollinger to continue on as head of the Athletic Department for the next five years.

The decision came after the majority of the head coaches of the 25 varsity sports on campus sent a petition to Bollinger, asking for Martin to retain the job.

"About two to two and a half weeks ago, the coaches got together and put a petition in followed by the staff saying 'please stay'," Martin said at the press conference announcing his appointment.

"That really personally stunned me. I was shocked by that. It made me pause and think about this. I paused and reflected, said if these folks really want me that bad, maybe I better take a hard look at this," he said.

Martin was not among the three finalists presented by the search committee to Bollinger.

Psychology prof. James Jackson chaired the committee, which included, among others, head football coach Lloyd Carr and Denise Ilitch, president of Olympia Development Inc..

"We looked at hundreds of people. Bill Martin wasn't a candidate," Jackson said.

In a press release, Bollinger said he gave careful consideration to all of the candidates, but decided Martin was the best person for the job.

"The search committee's work has been very important to this process. They presented to me three very strong finalists," Bollinger said. "However, they served in an advisory capacity to me and in the end, the decision was mine. I could not make this appointment with the confidence that I have if not for the committee's terrific work."

Jackson said the committee was not surprised that Bollinger did not pick one of its final three candidates.

"The search committee was an advisory committee. We understood our role and we recommended people, but it was Bollinger's decision. He made the decision with full information," Jackson said.

The committee looked for candidates with a wide range of skills.

"We were looking for someone who had some experience. As for criteria, we were interested in someone with a sense for business, someone interested in intercollegiate athletics, someone with vision and leadership capabilities, and who could take the department on in the next couple of years," Jackson said.

Martin is a University alum., President and founder of First Martin Corp., an Ann Arbor real estate, construction and management firm, a member of the Fales Committee of the U.S. Naval Academy, president of the United States Sailing Foundation and is on the board of directors of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Men's cross country coach Ron Warhurst said he first asked Martin if he would feel comfortable with the athletic department making a recommendation for him.

"It was a letter of recommendation. It's a typical thing, in this kind of situation - they never go to the people who will be affected," Warhurst said. "We decided it would be nice if we wrote a letter of recommendation indicating we would like to recommend from within the department.

"I said to Bill 'how long would it take you to straighten this place out?' and he said 'probably 18 months or so," Warhurst said.

"I think in the beginning he was just going to do an interim. As he got more support, he started feeling attached to it," he added.

Men's basketball coach Brian Ellerbe said he is very supportive of Bollinger's choice.

"I think it's a great move. As a matter of fact, I'm a little surprised it took as long as it did. I think they looked around all over, when what they were looking for was right in front of them the whole time," Ellerbe said.

"Bill's a guy who very much likes a lot of changes and wants to take things head on until they work themselves out," he added.

In an unprecedented move, Martin said he will donate his first years salary of $250,000 back to a special fund in the athletic department.

"Lee (Bollinger) was not necessarily happy with that, but fortunately in my past life it was very rewarding financially, and I would rather have the first year's salary for this position go back into an athletic director's pool that I can use to enhance our 25 sports," Martin said.

Over the past months, Martin has outlined many of the changes he would like to see happen within the athletic department. Most recently, the University Board of Regents approved a plan to add 400 seats to Yost Ice Arena.

"Yost is just a very magical place. Being able add more seats and making more available to students will just enhance that whole collegiate hockey experience," Martin said.

Martin is also looking into raising basketball, football and hockey prices, adding skyboxes to Michigan Stadium, advertising on the stadium's scoreboard and relocating Ray Fisher Stadium to a spot next to the Varsity Tennis Center.

"We're going to be very conservative, recognize the traditions of Michigan and move forward financially," Martin said.

University Regent Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor) said she will definitely approve Martin's appointment at the Regents meeting this month.

"I was very supportive of him becoming the interim athletic director. Everything I have seen suggests he will make a spectacular athletic director," McGowan said. "He will be great for both men's and women's sports."

(Left) Bill Martin meets the press and describes his goals after being named athletic director five months after his hiring as interim-athletic director.