Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412120054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Jim Copeland showed you can go home again, but maybe you can't stay.
Copeland's resignation as Virginia's athletic director became official Friday, and the Charlottesville native and former Cavaliers football star was named to the same post at Southern Methodist University.
After a news conference in Dallas, Copeland spoke with Virginia reporters on a telephone conference call and said that when he was first contacted by SMU two months ago, he had no interest in moving and told his wife, Susie, that he had ``gotten the craziest call.''
However, the Mustangs' search committee wanted Copeland. Eventually, SMU sent three officials to Charlottesville to woo him. ``They were very persistent,'' said Copeland, 49, who has been given a five-year contract at $145,000 annually, about $20,000 more than his annual UVa salary.
He expects to start work at the Dallas school on Jan.15. Copeland said he would, if asked, make a recommendation on his successor at UVa. He refused to say who it would be.
Speculation already has begun. Name-dropping has included Davidson athletic director Terry Holland, the former Cavaliers basketball coach; Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine; North Carolina State AD Todd Turner; and Marshall athletic director Lee Moon, a Roanoke native. Braine, Turner and Moon all are former UVa coaches and/or administrators.
A source familiar with Copeland's situation and UVa's recent athletic past said the job is Holland's, if he wants it. He left UVa for his alma mater and athletic administration after reported friction with Copeland about the lack of a commitment to improvements for the basketball program at University Hall.
``I would obviously be flattered that people would consider me as a candidate for the job that is now open,'' Holland said Friday at Davidson, where UVa won in the NCAA soccer national semifinals. ``We all realize that a lot of things would have to happen before that would come to pass.
``I'd have to say I'm surprised. Right now I'm trying to evaluate exactly why Jim left. And I'd like to know a little more about the situation. I'm disappointed that we didn't have a chance to talk. He had mentioned having a conversation the last time I was that way to visit my daughter [Holland's younger daughter, Ann-Michael, who is in her second year at UVa], but it did not work out.
``I certainly want the best thing for the University of Virginia. Certainly, the people there know me; I know the people there. I'd like to think that is a decision that could be made quickly if there is a mutual interest. So, I say, `Let's wait and see.' The first move would normally be their move. I don't want to put any pressure on Virginia, like I'm the logical pick.''
Holland has a year-to-year contract at Davidson and said it would be difficult to leave before the end of the school year. ``I'd feel uncomfortable leaving some of the things we're involved with at this time,'' he said.
Copeland has been under fire from alumni for the Cavaliers' inability to land better than the ACC's fifth bowl bid in each of the past two football seasons. He also has been criticized for his handling of the hiring of Holland's replacement in 1990. Copeland eventually stayed in-house and hired former UVa guard Jeff Jones. And there was more alumni grousing when the seating arrangement was changed last basketball season at U-Hall, with some unhappy contributors losing courtside seats they'd occupied for years.
If the alumni and UVa fans found fault with Copeland, his superiors didn't. Copeland said UVa President John T. Casteen and UVa Executive Vice President Leonard Sandridge were ``surprised, but also supportive'' when he informed them he was heading to Texas.
``We accept Jim Copeland's resignation both with great regret that he is leaving and with gratitude for the seven years of exceptional leadership he has given to the University of Virginia's athletic program,'' Casteen said in a statement released Friday by the university.
``Jim's integrity is unparalleled. His commitment to doing the right thing has served the university well. This has been particularly evident in his work toward gender equity in athletics, in his constructive responses to the finding of NCAA violations, and in the success of student-athletes at the university.
``They have become known during his tenure not only for fielding nationally competitive teams, but for graduation rates and other academic accomplishments at historic high levels. We are greatly in his debt and we will miss him.''
He was appointed Virginia's athletic director in August 1987, succeeding Dick Schultz, who left to become the NCAA executive director.
Copeland said one UVa athletic staffer recently told him that he ``wasn't happy when things were going well'' in reference to the Cavaliers' success. He also acknowledged that he's ``a builder,'' and SMU is still trying to reconstruct its program from the death penalty in football.
It also will mark a return to the Western Athletic Conference for Copeland, who came to UVa from the athletic director's post at Utah (1985-87). He previously has been the AD at William and Mary from 1981-85, and was a finalist last year for the vacancy at Ohio State.
SMU moves into what will be a 16-team WAC when the Southwest Conference breaks up after next season. SMU will play in a division with Rice, Texas Christian - UVa's opponent in the Independence Bowl later this month - and Tulsa.
Asked if he might have stayed at UVa had he gotten salary or other inducements, Copeland said, ``I don't know. I didn't give them that opportunity.''
At SMU, he takes over an athletic department with 14 sports and an $11 million budget. UVa fields 23 sports for $14 million. Fund raising, perhaps the hallmark of Copeland's seven-plus years as UVa's athletics chief, will be his primary focus at SMU. The Mustangs raise only about $1 million annually.
Since 1989, UVa has spent $13 million improving and building facilities, and whomever succeeds Copeland will be part of the Cavaliers' new capital campaign that - besides leaving family, friends and an alma mater - made his decision to move more difficult.
``There are things that need to be done here that I enjoy doing,'' Copeland said of his new challenge. ``It was just too good a situation personally and professionally for me to pass up.''
Copeland said that when he returned to UVa as the athletic director - he had returned to his alma mater as a fund-raiser after his eight seasons in the NFL as a Cleveland Browns lineman - that he never expected to finish his professional career as the athletic boss at his alma mater.
``I told the search committee that then,'' Copeland said. ``That's just the life of an athletic director. I really believe people fit circumstances and needs at certain times.''
Since Copeland succeeded Schultz, UVa has won four national championships in men's soccer and two in women's lacrosse. The soccer team plays Sunday in another NCAA final against Indiana.
In addition, the men's basketball team has played in the NCAA Tournament six times and won an NIT. The women's basketball team, which averages 5,000 spectators at home games, has been ranked in the top 10 in six of the past seven years and made three Final Four appearances.
The football program has continued its success with six bowl bids in the past eight years, including this month's Independence Bowl. The student-athlete graduation rate during Copeland's tenure has been 89 percent.
- Staff writer Doug Doughty contributed information to this story.
by CNB