by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Alan Verlander became Jacksonville University’s seventh full-time athletic director last March and said the institution is putting past problems behind it and that he foresees many positive changes for Dolphins’ athletics.
The university participates in 18 intercollegiate sports and has a $6 million athletics department budget to make things happen.
“With that size budget, JU athletics is a big business,” Verlander said at Monday’s Rotary Club meeting. “I realize that part of my job is to grow the pie. We’re one of the smaller institutions in Division I. Trying to compete with the budgets and the facilities the other schools have just in our conference alone can be a challenge. Everything has been upgraded and we have a staff that really believes we’re going places.”
Verlander also said JU athletics can have a positive impact for Jacksonville beyond the campus.
“Every time our teams go on the road, the word ‘Jacksonville’ is getting out there. We’ve become a branding institution for the city. I think we had gotten away from that in the past. It’s time to rebuild that relationship with the city, not just in terms of athletics, but with the university as a whole,” he said.
Verlander gives a lot of the credit for JU’s turnaround to Dr. Kerry Romesburg, who became the university’s president last July.
“Things are going well. We’re improving in everything we’re doing. It’s all about leadership,” he said. “Now we have a president who will begin to run the budget in a positive way. We won’t have deficit spending, so we’ll be able to increase our budgets. We also have a solid fundraising effort that will enable us to do some exciting things in the next couple of years.”
Verlander understands that JU will never get the kind of exposure that the University of Florida and Florida State generate. However, a good athletics program at JU is still important.
“Even though JU isn’t talked about every day in the paper or on SportsCenter, there is pressure. Winning has never been the most important thing at JU and it isn’t today, but I’ve told our coaches it’s darn important. There’s a reason they keep score and wins better be over .500,” he said.
“Our fundraising people also know that we’re going to raise money or we’ll find people who want to. The same thing goes for compliance. We’re going to do those things with love and leadership that says, ‘Let me help you. I’m a part of this just like you are.’”