By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Coaches, administrators and just about everyone else in Old Dominion's athletic department already knew what an awesome home the Sun Belt Conference will be for ODU.
But the clincher came when a six-member delegation from the Sun Belt Conference visited Norfolk on April 13 and spent the entire day not only confirming what all of us knew, but firing us all up for today, when ODU officially joins the 14-team league.
They explained league policies on everything from scheduling, to how fees are charged, and revenues distributed to game-day operations, compared notes on common problems and generally went out of their way to let ODU administrators know they are a collegial bunch who would rather listen to your problems than dictate solutions.
"It gave me an idea of what the future in the Sun Belt Conference is going to be like," Athletic Director Dr. Wood Selig said. "It's going to be very strategic, very systematic. "But there was more than that. The Sun Belt people kept asking, 'How can we help you? How can we be the best conference for our members?' That was so refreshing to hear. I felt like they're a real team."
It was an extraordinary day for all those involved. It's clear the league is led by a forward-thinking management group that constantly tries to push the edge of the envelope when it comes to competing with other leagues. Their aim is to get better, every day.
The Sun Belt is known as the "Fun Belt" for its exciting and high-level of play, especially in football. But it also describes how the Sun Belt office attacks each day. They joked and laughed, asked questions and yet laid out a concise and clear path about what awaits ODU. They seemed to create almost an immediate bond with their counterparts at ODU.
Beyond being smart and well-versed, they just seemed like good people.
"At the end of meeting, the conference group was standing at the back of the room, joking around and having fun and interacting with us," Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director Carolyn Crutchfield said. "It felt like they were a family. They seem to all get along really well and have great chemistry. I think it's going to be a great relationship for us."
It unavoidably created something of a contrast with Conference USA, ODU's home the last 10 years.
C-USA was in many ways good for ODU. It gave the University a chance to move up to FBS and to begin volleyball. Without C-USA, ODU would not have beaten Virginia Tech in football in 2018.
There were some memorable games and championships won. Conference USA will always be an important and valued part of ODU's history.
But the league was an amalgam of schools whose major common denominator was the desire to play football. Most schools were looking for a way to move up to a higher league. There were few natural, long-term rivalries. That's not anyone's fault. It was just the nature of the league.
The Sun Belt is more geographically compact than Conference USA and has members with decades-long rivalries. It also ranks among the best in the Group of 5 for football, baseball and men's soccer and is competitive nationally in every sport.
Sun Belt schools aren't necessarily looking to move up. They're trying to figure out how to make the league better. The basketball championships won't be played in the Dallas Cowboys indoor football practice facility with two courts separated by a giant curtain.
Instead, the Monarch men and women will compete in a renovated arena in downtown Pensacola, Florida, a great destination for student-athletes and fans given its proximity to the sugar-white beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.
A decade ago, the Sun Belt was considered a bottom feeder of Group of 5 football. When the new East Division makes its debut this fall, it will arguably be the best division among the Group of 5. How did that happen?
Conference USA expanded a decade ago by looking for programs in big markets. The Sun Belt instead looked for great programs with large and dedicated fan bases, such as Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern. Clearly, the Sun Belt's strategy proved to be superior.
So is its strategy for welcoming new schools into the conference. The Sun Belt Welcome Tour also made stops at Marshall and Southern Miss, which, like ODU, are moving over from C-USA, and James Madison, which is leaving the CAA.
"We never before experienced that kind of a visit from league officials," said Jena Virga, who heads the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, the university's athletic fundraising organization. "To be able to spend that kind of quality time was amazing.
"They wanted to know how they could help us, not how we could help them. That's something new. Throughout the day, the message was the same. I was so impressed."
ODU, Marshall and JMU will join Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State and Georgia Southern in what will be a powerful East Division in both football and baseball. The Sun Belt also provides something C-USA could not – an in-state conference rival in JMU.
Southern Miss joins Arkansas State, Louisiana, Louisiana Monroe, Troy, South Alabama and Texas State in the West.
The Sun Belt group included Commissioner Keith Gill, Deputy Commissioner Kathy Keene, Executive Associate Commissioner and CFO Bert Carter, Senior Associate Commissioner and Chief Communications and Branding Officer Nancy Yasharoff, Senior Associate Commissioner for Football and Broadcasting Travis Llewellyn and Associate Commissioner of Governance and Compliance Maura Smith.
Yasharoff has since left the staff, but turnover is rare at New Orleans-based league. Keene, Carter, Llewellyn and Smith combined have more than 60 years of experience with the league.
"What stood out to me was the continuity of their staff," said Bruce Stewart, ODU's Deputy Athletic Director and COO. "They had a cognizant direction. They've been together for a long time. They certainly appear open to change and to be able to adapt so that they can position membership to be able to adapt to the changing landscape of college athletics."
Gill has been with the Sun Belt a little more than three years but is among the brightest young stars in college athletics. He is the first African American commissioner of an FBS conference and is credited with increasing the league's media profile and spearheading the league's expansion efforts.
He also has connections with ODU administrators and coaches. He met ODU men's basketball coach Jeff Jones while serving as the athletic director at American University and Selig when Gill was the AD at Richmond. He constantly referred to Jones by his nickname, "J.J."
Gill graciously consented to allow me to be a fly on the wall during the meetings, beginning at 7:30 a.m. in the office of ODU President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D.
Gill could not make it to Norfolk – he was in New Orleans in quarantine with a case of COVID. He participated by Zoom, hoarse voice and all, and I listened while he, President Hemphill and Selig went over a ton of items.
They went over revenue sharing, the ESPN TV contact, changes the league hopes to make in enlarging its bowl game footprint and even league dues and exit fees. While I can't give numbers, know that ODU is in a better position financially than it was in Conference USA. It will also have a much better TV profile.
The Sun Belt long ago cast its lot with ESPN, and as the league improved, so did its TV contract. The Sun Belt and ESPN have a good relationship that reflects their long affiliation.
The league football championship game will be televised on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2. Every regular-season football and men's and women's basketball game will be on an ESPN network. ODU's football home opener against Virginia Tech will be on ESPNU, as will the league's women's basketball championship game. The men's basketball championship game will be on ESPN.
C-USA, again, went in another direction years ago, casting its lot with Fox Sports, BeIN TV, Stadium, Facebook, the CBS Sports Network and briefly, the NFL Network. As a result, it was often difficult to find ODU games on the dial.
ODU's overtime football loss at Marshall last season was broadcast on Facebook and even when you went looking on Facebook, it was not easy to locate.
"Our fans won't have to guess where our games are being broadcast," Selig said. "If you have the ESPN App, you have all of our football and basketball games."
President Hemphill, whom Selig credits for leading the process to join the Sun Belt, asked Gill detailed questions and was pleased with what he heard.
"What we heard this morning is very encouraging," President Hemphill said. "We can't wait until July 1."
Gill wanted to know if ODU has an Esports program and was pleased to hear the University has an Esports "arena" at the Webb Student Center. ODU also has two majors designed to attract high-tech students interested in Esports.
Gill said, "that's an area where we are exploring opportunities."
Like I said, forward thinking.
Gill also discussed academic cooperation between schools and noted that the provosts of all 14 members will get together at least once a year, as will faculty representatives. Dr. Austin Agho, ODU's Provost, and Dr. Stacie Raymer, ODU's faculty athletic representative will meet with the other 13 faculty representatives three times a year and academic support heads will meet monthly by Zoom and once a year in person.
Gill rattled off a number of academic awards the league gives out, including one for the top faculty member in the league.
At 9:30, Sun Belt officials joined a regular monthly meeting of the athletic staff in the Big Blue room of Chartway Arena.
They listened as coaches and administrators gave reports and held a question-and-answer session. They also listened while Selig lavished praise on them for their patience as ODU, Southern Miss and Marshall all negotiated an early end to their time in C-USA.
If it were up to C-USA, the trio would not have begun to play in the Sun Belt until the fall of 2023, but after protracted negotiations, all sides decided to part amicably.
"The Sun Belt was patient," Selig said. "They said, 'We'll wait for you.' And they did."
The rest of the day was filled with meetings, as many as four at a time, between ODU and Sun Belt officials, held at S.B. Ballard football stadium.
ODU football coach Ricky Rahne met with Gill, Keene and Llewellyn from the Sun Belt and Stewart and Selig.
At the same time, ODU's Raymer, Crutchfield and Dr. Ron Moses, ODU's executive senior associate athletic director for internal operations and student-athlete welfare, met with Smith to talk about academics, and Yasharoff met with Eric Bohannon, Jim Heath and Matt Wurzburger of athletic communications.
Carter met with Ken Brown, ODU's Chief of Staff, who oversees the athletic budget and Nicole Turner, Associate Athletic Director for Business and Finance.
Carter is a CPA and Brown is noted for his ability to get more with less out of every dollar. They huddled for more than an hour by themselves discussing budget issues.
Turner said Carter impressed.
"He's been the CFO for the Sun Belt Conference for 15 years which shows a lot of longevity in one Conference. He clearly had a lot of knowledge of conference business and finances."
"The meeting seemed more collaborative, the accounting was more clear cut. He told us exactly what was going to happen, exactly how the financial reconciliation was going to be broken down. There was less guessing as to how the reconciliation happens."
There were 15 meetings, too many for me to recount, but the first involving Rahne was typical. Gill, Keene, and Llewellyn explained how football works in the Sun Belt, from the 7-team divisions to the eight conference games. ODU will play two West Division opponents every year and by the end of year four, will have played all seven.
That differs from C-USA's non-division schedule – ODU played three games at UTEP but the Monarchs never played at Louisiana Tech and only once at Southern Miss.
"We want you to see every team as quickly as possible," Gill said.
"I like this a lot better," Rahne said.
He then learned that the Sun Belt and SEC have a close working relationship. John McDaid, a Harvard graduate and former director of officiating in three Division I leagues, is the director of officials for both leagues.
The SEC, Sun Belt and SWAC have an officiating consortium, although McDaid works only with the Sun Belt and SEC.
"People know that if they want to move up and become an SEC official, the Sun Belt is their path there," Gill said.
McDaid has an assistant, and they are just as responsive to Sun Belt coaches as they are to SEC coaches, Gill said.
"Travis and I have seen the officiating and everything else grow by leaps and bounds since we joined the SEC consortium," Keene said. "John McDaid is really impressive and just what they provide in the way of resources is impressive."
"And they are super responsive," Gill added.
Gill then spoke directly to Rahne.
"Coach Rahne, we try to be collaborative as a conference. If you have any ideas, things that you have seen, let us know what those things are. We're trying to get better every day.
"We want to get your input, your perspective, making sure you know this is a league that supports your needs. Please reach out to Travis or Kathy or me if you have an idea or just want to talk through things. Your observations can be helpful for us."
Responded Rahne: "I'm already really impressed with the organization you have. Even with you not being here, this was just a breath of fresh air."
Gill and his staff had meetings with every head coach in every sport and with leaders in every discipline.
"We've been receiving emails from their compliance office ever since we met with them," Moses said. "They'll say, 'Here's an update,' and their compliance person will break it down and say, hey, "here's the information and here's what we think it means.' Every time I check my email inbox, I get compliance information."
Danielle Cohea had only been on the job for two weeks as ODU's senior associate athletic director of compliance, conduct & regulatory affairs, but added: "Their compliance staff was amazing. She (Smith) has been super helpful, and they have valued our feedback."
Senior Associate AD, Facilities and Operations Rick French said the Sun Belt staff was even helpful in his area, where he helps run all of ODU's athletic facilities.
"I liked the positive energy and the thoughtfulness they put into the day," he said. "I felt a burst of energy from them that I liked. And their ideas on an event and facilities were helpful."
Eileen Graham, Selig's executive assistant, organized the event and thus may have had more contact with Sun Belt officials than anyone else.
"They were wonderful," she said. "I feel like they are very genuine, very personable. They were very open to changes. They made me feel like I was an important part of the day."
Once the meetings ended, several Sun Belt members took a tour of the campus with Greg Smith, associate athletic director for facilities and event management. It was then time for the Sun Belt staff to be impressed.
From the new $75 million chemistry building to the Monarch Way development across Hampton Boulevard from the main campus to ODU's athletic plant and the Quad residential complex,
Keene said "Your stadium and athletic facilities, and your campus as a whole, will be one of the best in the Sun Belt."
Scott Bailey, general manager of ODU Sports Properties, said that while Sun Belt officials were optimistic, that they were also realistic.
"They seemed sincere," he said. "Not only did they say a lot of good things, but they were sincere in what they were saying and the questions they asked."
In fact, Gill was honest when he opened a meeting with Jeff Jones and women's basketball coach DeLisha Milton-Jones.
"Our men's and women's basketball are not where we want them to be or need them to be," he said. "We've got to get better and we're going to work on that."
Casey Cegles, ODU's executive senior associate athletic director for development, returned to ODU after a nearly a decade's absence in October. Like everyone else, he left the meetings with a sense of anticipation.
"Having been here when we were in the CAA and having been here during the transition to Conference USA, I know our fans were really excited for this move," he said.
"Meeting with Sun Belt officials just confirmed that for me. This is just going to be a great move for us."