ALAN VERLANDER on Wednesday was introduced as the new COO of Gator Bowl Sports' events division on Wednesday, and he will be "charged with securing almost any event that will ... help make Jacksonville a sports destination," according to Garry Smits of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Those events "could range from a neutral-site college football game to the Florida high school football playoffs to youth soccer tournaments." Verlander comes to the new organization after serving as Sports & Entertainment Dir for the city of Jacksonville. He previously was Jacksonville Univ. AD. Gator Bowl Sports President & CEO RICK CATLETT said of Verlander, "He was an athletic director ... so he knows college sports. He was our marketing director and he worked for Host Communications, so he knows how to sell. And he’s got government experience." City of Jacksonville Dir of Communications DAVID DECAMP said that the city "would name an interim director of Sports and Entertainment 'in days,' then launch a search for a permanent director" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/12).
