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College Sports in the Carolinas

Don't miss Al Myatt's profile of new ECU Chancellor Steven Ballard in the 2004 Bonesville Magazine.

View from the East Friday, October 1, 2004 By Al Myatt

Holland set on leveraging program's assets

©2004 Bonesville.net

In recent years, the Pirate Nation has been about as divided as the candidates on Thursday night's presidential debates.

First there was the divide between former East Carolina athletic director Mike Hamrick and ex-football coach Steve Logan. Hamrick, of course, dismissed Logan in December of 2002 following that lengthy cold war.

Now there is considerable discussion in the Pirate camp as to whether the program has been better off with a coaching change.

ECU is 1-14 since Logan's exit with a severe test at Louisville on Saturday (3 p.m., WITN-TV 7).

The issue of national leadership will be resolved of course on Election Day, the first Tuesday in November.

The EC (Electoral College) will then act in January. Another EC (East Carolina}has already endorsed a new leader with virtual unanimity. That would be incoming athletic director Terry Holland, who will stride into his office on the third floor of the Ward Sports Medicine Building even sooner — this Monday, in fact, October 4.

It's widely hoped that Holland will heal rifts that have developed over the last five years.

Holland's administration will proceed initially with caution.

"The main thing is I will start learning what is going on," said the former Davidson and Virginia men's basketball coach and AD. "My first rule is 'Do no harm.' I'll be working to determine our strengths and weaknesses and evaluate things.

"I want to get to know the place very well and figure out our strengths. As a coach I think I did a good job of determining my team's strengths and playing to those strengths. And that's what we want to do at East Carolina — determine where our strengths lie and accent those strengths."

Holland will have to get the most out of ECU's resources, which are limited in comparison to neighboring ACC schools.

"We know certainly that the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) schools have a huge gap on the rest of us," said the Clinton native. "The nomenclature is football in origin but it applies in basketball as well. Fortunately, Conference USA will be keeping shares for an extended period from the NCAA Tournament generated by Louisville and Marquette and others who are leaving the league.

"Then you look at what Troy was able to accomplish at Missouri (win this season in football) and Southern Miss (at Nebraska). In spite of the fact the BCS schools take so much of the money and exposure, it's amazing they don't beat the other schools all of the time.

"But you realize that money isn't always the determining factor. You see the same thing with the power conferences in basketball through the years."

And speaking of power conferences, Holland spent considerable time last weekend with Syracuse AD Jake Crouthamel as UVA hosted the Orangemen in football. No one had to educate Holland on the reality that Crouthamel could be a valuable ally if ECU is ever considered in a future realignment of Big East teams.

"We have Syracuse on the (ECU football) schedule in the future and we want to maintain that relationship," Holland said.

Holland wanted new challenge

When Holland stepped down as AD at Virginia, he became a special assistant to UVa president John Casteen.

Earlier in the summer, it was announced that Holland planned to leave the UVa payroll at the end of August. His recent term at Virginia was devoted to raising funds for a long-needed new basketball arena.

"I'd done a lot of good things as AD and I wanted to focus on one last project that was close to my heart," Holland said. "Although we're two years away from using it, the upper deck is already in place (on the Cavaliers' new basketball arena). Then I started thinking maybe I don't want to retire."

Holland had spoken with Kentucky coach Tubby Smith about possibly working in fund raising on a new practice facility for the Wildcats, figuring that project might occupy him for six months to a year.

Then Chuck Neinas got in touch. Neinas was hired by ECU's AD task force to screen high profile candidates for the position which became vacant in August of 2003 with Hamrick's departure for Nevada-Las Vegas. The $32,000 ECU doled out to retain Neinas appears to have been well spent.

Initially, Holland discussed going to ECU on an interim basis as AD, evaluating the department and making recommendations about the best courses of action for the future — another short term possibility.

But ECU chancellor Steve Ballard and Steve Showfety, vice chairman of the board of trustees, steered conversations about the AD position with Holland to a fulltime basis.

"They said a year ago that would have been a great idea but they had been operating with an interim leader (Nick Floyd) for an extended period and didn't want to go that route," Holland said.

The more Holland thought about making a longer commitment to the Pirates the better the 62-year old liked the idea.

"It's a great situation," he said. "There are great people there who really want to have a good program and we want to build a program that will last. When I announced I would step down from the assistant to the president at Virginia, I said I would consider taking a position for five to seven years."

That statement proved prophetic as Holland agreed to a 5-year contract at ECU, beginning at $276,000 annually.

Alma "Mama"

ECU isn't Holland's alma mater. That distinction belongs to Davidson, where the slender CEO once starred in hoops. But Holland's ties to the Greenville institution predate his own college experience.

"I got a great education at Davidson and they gave me my first coaching job," Holland said. "I felt I owed them a debt when they needed someone with my experience to come in and be the AD there.

"I didn't go to East Carolina but my mother did and so did a lot of the people who taught me and gave me a chance to go to college. Now I can help people's sons and daughters who have been good to me."

Holland is aware of ECU's passion for athletics, its successes over the years and its current struggles.

"It's not like I'm taking on something that can't be done," he said. "Because we've been there."

Holland has sold his house in Charlottesville. He and wife Ann are looking for a home in Greenville.

"We've got a place for the short term," he said. "I'm just looking forward to getting there and getting to work."

He has a lot to do, starting Monday, but most everyone agrees he's the man who can do it — pull ECU back together and raise the Pirates to desired heights in college athletics.

Hail to the Chief.

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02/23/2007 12:46:38 AM
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