MY TRANSCRIPT OF BLAKE JAMES TELECONFERENCE TODAY:
"I was thrilled to be notified
today that I’m going to be able to continue on on a permanent basis. Having
served as the athletics director for the last four months it was an interview
process that’s probably been longer than most, but one that was a great
experience and that I have valued tremendously and obviously look forward to
continuing to move this program forward.
I think we have great days ahead. We have a great staff,
great coaches and I’m looking forward to bringing us back to the top and
enjoying all the benefits of being here in Miami and being at the U."
When you were given the interim tag, you said you had to get
up to speed quickly as to where things are in the NCAA investigation. Could it be
construed that when you did get up to speed, you still wanted the job?
"I would want this job no matter what the situation was.
Without commenting on the NCAA situation, obviously I’m excited about where our
program is going and what I think the future is for this program. With that
said, I think to be fair this is a job that I’ve wanted for my 20 years in this
business and so regardless of anything out there, I’d be excited to be on the
phone today representing the University of Miami as its new athletics director.
It’s hard for me to answer that question because we can’t comment on the NCAA
process.
The ncaa investigation is not a concern of mine in terms of
this job.. I look forward to helping our institution through the process and
bringing us to the place where I know all our fans want us to be for ACC and
national championships."
5 ½ years In Maine, how did that help
you prepare for this day?
"It was a huge benefit. The Univ of Maine program is a
big part of the state of Maine.
So to be able to sit in this chair for five years, and while the AP wasn’t
necessarily covering everything going on, the television stations, the radio
outlets, the media markets there followed the news of the Maine athletic
program very closely. So to have those challenges that all of my counterparts
around the country face on a daily basis, to be able to handle those for 5 ½
years gave me the necessary experience to step into this one, where the spotlight
is probably greater and the magnifying glass is probably greater than any other
program in the country. But again, I’ve had the benefit of having to deal with
very similar issues for five-plus year."
What were you expecting when you came back from Maine?
"It’s funny you asked that question. I was texting with Kirby
Hocutt earlier today. Kirby is the one who brought me back here. As I said to
Kirby, when I took the job here I hoped this day would come. I wasn’t looking
for this to be a stepping stone to somewere else. I really took it with the
idea that someday I’d be sitting in this chair. I didn’t imagine the path that
I would follow to get her but again, this was the job I came here for. And if
it wasn’t something that worked out, I wanted to be in the Miami market. I wanted my kids to be able to
grow up in this community and be a part of the community here. My wife and I
really enjoy living in South Florida and this
is where we wanted to be. I’m thrilled the opportunity worked out for me a little
over two years later to be in the athletic director’s role."
Is there anything you can say about the baseball team and
Biogenesis clinic and if you’ve been approached by MLB?
“I would defer to our comment on our situation yesterday. As
we’ve said before, there’s an ongoing investigation with that situation and I
wouldn’t comment beyond that."
Anything you’d like to instill that you did at maine that you look
forward to doing as an AD? Something we haven’t seen? Or status quo?
"I think
things are always changing. So I wouldn’t say there’s anything particular at Maine – different
places, different programs. We need to win acc championships. All of us can look and see
how many we’ve won and say, we need to win more than what we’re winning and so
to do that, we need to provide our coaches with the resources and support they
need to be their very best and our student-athletes with the support they need
to be their very best. Without getting into real specifics, those are the
things we need to do. I’m confident that with the group of coaches we have here
that we’ll be able to bring ACC championships back to Coral Gables.
"If you’re winning championships in the ACC, then you’re in
the position to win national championships in any of those sports. I think that’s
ultimately what we want the goal to be. We need to be winning championships. I
think those days are coming in the future. Obviously we have a great ride going
in men’s basketball right now and we’re excited where Coach Larranaga has that
program. We’ll continue to do what we need to do to have all of our programs in
a similar position."
On being the permanent AD:
"The way I look at it is when I took over on Oct.
4 I was in the role of the athletic director and it was important for me at
that point to be in the role of athletic director and do the things that I felt
we needed to do as a program. Because if we’re standing still and I was just
there to, I guess, keep the boat from steering off path, then I wasn’t doing
the job and I don’t think I would have put myself in the position to have this
opportunity now today. So I don’t think there’s anything in particular that I
would do differently than what I’ve done in the past other than I think I’ll be
a little more aggressive in terms of really setting up a long-term strategic
plan for where we’re going to go.
You don’t want to establish a long-term strategic plan
unless you really plan on being somewhere long term, and I would tell everyone
I plan on being here very long term and many great days ahead at the U."
I know you’re very much in touch with the fans and the
community and people are happy about that. How important do you think that is
for an AD?
"In my opinion I think it’s something that’s critical. For us
to be in communication with the fans is something that I feel as a program we
need to do. Again, credit to our communication staff. I think they do a good
job of getting info out. I think they do a good job of pushing me to get info
out. Additionally, I think it’s a situation where when you look at the U of M,
we don’t have the ability to just go out and raise dollars by saying, hey send
your ticket invoice in along with your donation, and thank you.’ It’s something
where I think we have to get very aggressive. You hear people use the Canes
Family slogan quite a bit and I think in many ways that’s true. We’re a small
private school, we’re a family in many ways and everyone is important in the
family. So as the head of the family it’s important for me, in my opinion, to
have a real open line of communication and a real open access to all members.
So, whether it’s the person that has been with the program
forever and maybe is writing a big check or a person who is new to the program
writing a big check that they’re there. At the same time, maybe the person who can’t
afford to write a check at all and wants just to buy tickets or come out. You
know having them have access also. Obviously you can only talk to so many
people in a day, or tweet, or email, but to me, it’s important that I’m as
accessible to as many as possible and that includes everyone on the call and I
hope you guys continue to feel that way."
Baseball and NCAA stuff: Has the NCAA opened up an
investigation or are they just monitoring?
"What I would say is we’re doing our part with the
investigation. I wouldn’t be able to comment on what the ncaa is or isn’t doing,
that’s something they determine... from our side we’re addressing the issue and
looking into it and moving forward and beyond that I wouldn’t be able to
speculate on what the NCAA is or isn’t doing."
Re the Interview process, how many times did you sit down with
interviewers?
"On Oct. 4 president
Shalala notified me that I was going to be serving as the acting athletic
director and really for me the interview process began on that day. Over the last
four months and four days I guess there have been a number of situations that
are real-life situations. Many times you try to play out interviews and try to
present scenarios in interviews. The
benefit for president Shalala here was she got to see how I responded in those
situations. So at the end, yes, there was a formal interview process but really
the interview was a 4 month and 4 day process, not a one day and one meeting
process."
Do you plan to stay long term?
"I plan to be here as long as
they’ll have me here. This is where my wife and I wanted to be. This is where
we wanted to raise our children. And this is the job that I’ve always wanted.
My plan is that I’ll be here until I retire. I’m hoping that’s a good 20 years
down the road. I’m 43 right now, so 63, 65 – I guess I’d like to get at least
to that point and beyond that I think it would just be an enjoyable ride to the
end. I have no intentions of leaving.
When I took this job with Kirby my hope was that at some
point Kirby would decide it was right for him to move on and this opportunity
would present itself. I wouldn’t have predicted the timeline or the path to get
here, but this was the one that I wanted.
I haven’t signed, finalized the agreement yet, but it will
be a five year deal."
Was there any point you felt uneasy, like you were making
decisions and walking on eggshells almost as if you were auditioning while
trying to lead at the same time? How did you balance that?
"In college athletics, you’re on the stage everyday. And
whether it’s for four months, you never know when the end is going to come. I
think it’s very similar to what coaches do. This isn’t a job you get and you
have it from 7 to 3:30 and you punch in and punch out and take an hour for
lunch and operate that way. This is a job that goes nonstop. You don’t know
when the calls are going to come or when the events are going to happen and
it’s something you just have to be ready to go at. I looked at it on oct. 4 as
the job was starting on that day and I felt if I did everything that I needed
to do and I knew I could do that this day would happen. It was hard for me to
predict when that would be, but I’m happy that it happened today and if wasn’t
until four more months I would have continued to operate as I have been for the
past four months. I guess I will say, though, that I’m thrilled that it became
a more permanent situation today, but those are things than can change. You
have to continue to make good decisions and lead the program to where it needs
to go."
Who is the new UM RBs coach?
"I don’t think we’ve determined
that yet but I know we’re working on that and I’m sure we’ll get it finalized
here real soon."
When is an on-campus football stadium going to be built?
"In all seriousness, as I said before, there
isn’t anyone who would enjoy an on-campus stadium more than I would, but it’s
not a realistic situation to even discuss. We don’t have the land for it, and
if we did have the land, there just isn’t the infrastructure in this place.
We’re playing in a first-rate facility that is in the process of only getting
better and I’m confident that we’re putting our student-athletes into a premier
facility in the country and with the new additions we’re going to put our fans
into an environment that will be even better. I’m not going to say it’s going
to ever create anything what the Orange Bowl was, because those were special
days and games that I would go to at the OB but I think it’s going to create a
much different environment and an atmosphere that will much more closely
resemble the atmosphere we had at the Orange Bowl."
SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
