Just as the race to win the 2008 presidency is heating up, the search for Mississippi State’s next athletic director will also intensify. Two legitimate candidates have recently emerged from the fishbowl of names: Birmingham-Southern athletic director Joe Dean Jr. and current MSU associate athletic director Greg Bryne.
On Feb. 14 the state College Board approved a recommendation by MSU President Robert “Doc” Foglesong extending current athletic director Larry Templeton’s contract for only one year.
Foglesong said the search for Templeton’s replacement will officially begin on July 1.
Dean, a 1977 graduate of MSU, is in his eighth season as the athletic director at Birmingham-Southern College.
He has been credited with moving BSC into NCAA Division I and is currently in the phase of moving the college into Division III competition.
He also has helped the athletic program add six new sports.
While at MSU, Dean lettered on the basketball team.
He received the first ‘Babe’ McCarthy Award for leadership, scholarship and citizenship.
He was also voted on the 1976 Academic All-SEC team.
Dean has also provided color commentary on SEC basketball games for Lincoln Financial Sports and Fox Sport South for the past 12 years.
“I am a MSU alumnus, and I’m proud of that,” he said. “But because of my job as athletic director here at Birmingham-Southern, I can’t comment any further on [being a candidate].”
Bryne, who came to State last May, is in charge of the Bulldog Club, the organization responsible for providing scholarships for student-athletes.
Bryne has worked with other athletic departments including Kentucky, Oregon and Oregon State.
“I am very respectful of Larry, and I am appreciative of the current job I have here at Mississippi State,” Bryne said. “So with that being said, I have no further comment.”
Fundraising skills, the ability to communicate well and an energetic personality are just a few of the characteristics older Mississippi State fans want their new athletic director to possess.
Students, on the other hand, want someone who will be more respectful to them.
As MSU moves forward in the process of searching for a new athletic director, many names are beginning to swirl on the various message boards and blogs.
Some fans want someone from within the Bulldog family, while others don’t want someone from the South at all.