OT: UWM Puts AD George Koonce (Former Packer) On Leave

[Thunder Muscle]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/panthers/91777589.html

Interesting. I wonder what will come of this. Any UWM students/alum know anything?

[LarryHarris]

Koooooooooooooooooooooooonce...

[trwi7]

Sounds like he's not coming back. More info on why in the link.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/91843964.html

[MajorDad]

perhaps koonce just wasn't as big of a fund raiser as they had hoped. perhaps he placed too much emphasis on building winning teams and not enough emphasis on building a profit. a big part of an Ad's job is the ability to raise money. i've seen some successful coaches in Alabama fired for the sole reason that some prominent alumni voiced that if they weren't fired, he would stop donating money to the school.

it sounds like koonce was doing a great job with his coaches. I realize in today's economics, Universities are more interested in trimming costs and creating profit verses having good teams. I just can't picture koonce as a financial accountant type of guy. in today's economic world, TT would make a tremendous University AD should he decide to leave the packers. .

[Mags FTW]

If you put any stock into the comments om the article, it just sounds like he was in over his head.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

On the Marquette board, there were rumors of personal problems and being unfit for the job. And don't think it's UWM bashing, he is really respected in the MU community.

[Thunder Muscle]

I also gathered that he was in over his head.

[crkone]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/95417959.html

George Koonce, athletic director at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who had been placed on administrative leave in April, told the school on Wednesday that he was resigning his position.

The resignation will take place at the end of the month. His one-year contract as athletic director at a salary of $175,000 was due to end on June 30.

In a letter written to the university on his behalf, Koonce said his resignation was related to the death of his wife, Tunisia, to cancer last October. Koonce said the death put him in the position of being the principal caretaker for his two children, ages 3 and 12.

A university statement said Koonce felt that, because of his personal circumstances, he did not feel he would be able to continue managing the athletic department.

"We are sorry for the personal loss George and his family have suffered, and we extend our sympathies during his time of healing," the university said in its statement. "We also wish George well in all of his future endeavors."

Until Wednesday, UWM officials had declined to comment about Koonce’s case, other than to say that his leave “was related to a personnel matter that is confidential at this time.”

Talks between the university and Franklyn Gimbel, a prominent Milwaukee attorney whom Koonce hired, began in recent weeks.

Since he went on leave, rumors have been rampant about Koonce’s tenure as athletic director and his personal behavior.

Koonce was an eight-year starter with the Packers in the 1990s and was a member of their Super Bowl title team after the 1996 season.

Koonce was the Packers' director of player development in 2006-'07 and worked as a special assistant to the athletic director at East Carolina, his alma mater, from 2003 to 2006.

He joined the Marquette athletic department in June 2007 after earning a master's degree in sports management from East Carolina.

By all accounts, Koonce’s tenure at UWM was rocky. With a growing budget deficit that could balloon to as high as $8 million when the fiscal year ends June 30, Koonce was asked to find ways to trim the athletic department budget and raise more money for the program.

Koonce’s efforts to trim staff backfired in January, according to sources close to the department. That month, the sources said, Koonce approached Rob Jeter, the men’s basketball coach, and Sandy Botham, the women’s coach, and asked them both to trim three positions. Both were unhappy with the request, and protested. Ultimately, no positions were cut from those sports.

Neither Jeter nor Botham would comment.

Koonce also struggled with fund-raising, which was supposed to be a large component of his job. University officials could not be reached on exactly how much money Koonce was able to bring in for the department, but sources involved with the department said that fund-raising was a problem, especially during difficult economic times.

Through April 30 of this fiscal year, the department had raised $266,738. In the last fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, the department raised $722,142.

Koonce had expressed support for what he called a student-led drive to bring the UWM men's basketball team back to campus, either in a revamped Klotsche Center, or a new arena. It was not immediately clear what Koonce's resignation will mean for that effort.

Seems like it was mutual in that he wanted to be with his kids and they didn't like the fact he was horrible at raising money and trimming the budget.