SAC Athletics in danger?

In May of 2011 Dr. JoAnn Nestor resigned as the Saint Anselm College Athletic Director. In the short time that Dr. Nestor held the position, she was able to make a large impact on the athletic department. Due to the success the athletic programs have exhibited, this position will be a difficult one to fill.

The search to fill this position began in the summer months when a committee, chaired by the Associate Dean of Student Affairs Andrew Litz, reviewed the qualificatios of several applicants. The position remains empty, however, even though the Fall athletic season is already underway.

The search has been postponed until January of 2012. Fr. Jonathan explained that "we want to make sure we have the best possible pool of candidates and decided after the search had begun that we needed to get a larger pool than we had, although there were some very qualified candidates in the first pool. Also, I think we wanted to step back and take a look at how the college sees athletics in the total picture of the Saint Anselm experience."

Saint Anselm College provides many ways for students to become involved on campus. Athletics not only gets the students involved, but also engages families, alumni and even the Manchester community. Fr. Jonathan supports the importance of athletics to the college. He stated, "I think it's a really important position for us because there are so many students who are involved in athletics either on the intercollegiate level or on the intramural, recreational level. It's really important for us to get the right person in that position. Dr. Nestor was a wonderful find for us, she got the department reorganized, and we have a turf field now. We do want to make sure to have the very best possible person we can for this job. I think the interim director is perfectly capable of managing the department. I think it's the case that to get a more permanent director is obviously a need that we recognize."

Following the resignation of Dr. Nestor, Tyler Fleming, the interim director, has been placed in charge of the department. Fleming started as the interim director of athletics in March of 2011. With the schedules for the year already made and the fall season going strong, Fleming's goal is to "keep everything above water and moving forward" and "keep everybody focused."

When asked whether Fleming would consider applying for the position of the athletic director, he stated, "I really haven't given it any thought whether I'd do it permanently. The certain aspect of my role is kind of keeping things going, but at the same time trying to get as much accomplished as we can during this time period. I came in as an associate athletic director and I still consider that to be my job."

Fleming believes that while Saint Anselm athletics is still looking to accomplish much, the department is in an excellent position for the new director to take over.

Many of the other members of the athletic department agree that Fleming is carrying his new responsibilities very well. Patrick Murphy, the head coach of the football team, supports Fleming, but is also looking for some stability in the athletic department. He stated, "Tyler Fleming has done an excellent job. It's my hope at this point that, again, the administration allows us to perform in a consistent environment and leave him in place. They hired Tyler Fleming as the associate director for a reason: he's good at what he does, and they felt he has that potential. Well let him run with it. If we get to that point and things are going smoothly, don't rock the boat."

Coach Murphy believes strongly that consistency in staff is what makes not only his team, but the athletic department as a whole, successful. The position of athletic director has an important impact on all of the coaching staff and teams.

Coach Murphy stated, "for us, it's our relationship with that position, knowing what we're going to get, and having that level of consistency, which, really, since Ed Cannon left, hasn't been there."

The search will continue again in January and will hopefully result in the discovery of a candidate that is a sound fit for Saint Anselm College. The role of the athletic director is significant for a college that has so much pride in their student-athletes and the students who are involved in other athletic activities on campus.