Michigan President Mark Schlissel today announced that the university will launch a national search for its next AD. Schlissel appointed a search advisory committee and said that Turnkey Search will assist with the effort, which will begin immediately. Jim Hackett, who has served as interim AD since October '14, is not a candidate for the position. He has agreed to continue in his role until a permanent successor is in place. Softball coach Carol Hutchins will serve on the search committee alongside other university execs/students. She is the only UM coach on the committee (UM). Former Boston College AD Gene DeFilippo will lead the search for Turnkey, which has been in the search business for 20 years, but only in the last 18 months moved into the college search space. DeFilippo, a former NACDA President, spent 15 years at BC and also had a stint as Villanova AD. He will work with Turnkey Search Senior VP & GM Carolyne Savini. The search firm also has a strong connection to the university through President & CEO Len Perna, who has his undergraduate and law degrees from UM (Michael Smith, Staff Writer).
BLUE MAN GROUP: In Detroit, Jesse & Snyder in a front-page piece write Hackett's "biggest remaining task, should he remain through the football team's bowl game, might be determining coach Jim Harbaugh's deferred compensation" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 12/2). In Detroit, Angelique Chengelis in a front-page piece notes Hackett "has not been a hands-on manager, opting to give much of the workload" to Exec Senior Associate AD/Chief External Relations and Design Officer Chrissi Rawak and Exec Senior Associate AD & COO Rob Rademacher, who is "handling the latest athletics facilities project." The department also "has had a recent assist" from former Oregon State AD Bob De Carolis, "who had previously worked" for UM and returned to Ann Arbor to retire. Hackett "made clear in July that De Carolis would not be considered a candidate" for UM AD, "but instead would help Rademacher" (DETROIT NEWS, 12/2). Chengelis also writes under the header, "Four Candidates To Be UM Athletic Director" (DETROIT NEWS, 12/2). ESPN.com's Dan Murphy reported UM had been "planning for Hackett's departure for the past month, but Hackett wanted to wait until the conclusion of the football team's regular season to make it official" (ESPN.com, 12/1). In Michigan, Nick Baumgardner noted during Hackett's time as interim AD, he "navigated Michigan's departure from its apparel contract with Adidas while negotiating" UM's 15-year, $169M deal with Nike, "which will begin next August" (MLIVE.com, 12/1).
