ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
As a search for a new Radford University athletic director began Thursday, the man who put the process in motion by vacating the post, Chuck Taylor, delighted his wife Cheryl by arriving home with flowers.
Taylor's renewed status as a romantic may not end there.
``I'm excited about the possibility of a ponytail and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle,'' he said.
Taylor was always the kind of guy who knew his way around under the hood of a fast car, but the last time he bought a bike, he had to stash it under the porch of Radford associate athletic director Greig Denny for a couple of weeks before he could figure out a way to break the news that he had it.
Maybe it's an image thing. Big bikes and an athletic director's job may not work out so well together.
As for the hair, forget it.
Such political considerations have governed Taylor for 23 years. Wednesday, the university Board of Visitors spared him more of the same when it granted his request to return to the classroom as a full-time professor of physical education.
Paul Harris, the vice president for student affairs, will be the point man in a search for a successor. A committee will be formed and the hunt will begin at once. Taylor will step down in May. Should a new AD not be hired by then, an interim one will be appointed, Harris said.
``I want to find out what people do between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. besides talk on the telephone, order athletic equipment, and schedule ballgames,'' Taylor said.
Taylor is known to have become increasingly frustrated with his job, particularly in recent years as the university endured declining enrollment and budget shortfalls.
More bad news was made public at the board meeting Wednesday when members were told that the university's overtures for admission to both the Colonial and Southern Conferences had been rebuffed.
The Big South Conference, of which Radford now is a member, faces an uncertain future. UNC-Greensboro said last year it was departing for the Southern, joining an exodus from the Big South that has included in recent years charter member Campbell as well as Towson State.
Speculation on Taylor's successor includes names with current or prior Radford ties.
``I'll throw my hat in the ring,'' Denny said.
Others whose names have come up include UNCG associate AD John Montgomery, a Giles County native and a former Radford student and athletic administrator; Duquesne associate AD Paul Hightower, a former Radford student and athletic administrator; Connecticut assistant basketball coach Charlene Curtis, a former Radford player and coach; Radford Athletic Association director Tom Lillard, another former Radford athlete and coach; Tennessee-Chattanooga associate AD Rick Thompson, a Radford graduate; Old Dominion administrator Kenny Turner, a one-time RU business manager; Big South associate athletic director Carl McAloose; and Radford men's basketball coach Ron Bradley.
Bradley said Thursday he wasn't interested. Curtis, Montgomery, and Lillard all said they had not been contacted and declined further comment.
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