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Warde J. Manuel is director of athletics.
As you enter your second year as director of athletics at UB, what do you view as the most significant accomplishments thus far?
I feel we have made significant strides in a number of areas; however, we have not yet accomplished our ultimate goal of winning Mid-American Conference championships. On the positive side, we competed in a pair of MAC championships last year—in men's soccer and women's tennis—and you have to get into that position before you can win. We also are narrowing our focus as it relates to our student-athletes' academic performances. We have addressed their study-area space and the number of resources at their disposal, and expect better results in the future regarding retention and graduation rates.
You've made a number of coaching hires since your appointment, including new head football coach Turner Gill. What are your expectations of your coaches?
We expect our coaches to focus on recruiting and coaching, with a goal of winning conference championships. We want them to spend as much time as they can understanding what makes our student-athletes tick—both in the recruiting process and once we have them here on campus. They also must support other areas of student-athletes' lives, including academics and personal development, among other things, to ensure the experience student-athletes have is positive. I am excited about all the coaches hired this year—Andy Bashor of women's swimming, Sherif Zaher in men's tennis and, of course, Turner. The commonality between them is that they have competed and coached at an extremely high level, and I believe they will have success in recruiting quality student-athletes to our university. Turner's results in the past two weeks speak to the impact he has made on our football team.
The athletics department has undergone a logo transformation, as well as introducing a new look for the football team. Can you talk about that process?
The logo and change in football uniforms came together as one piece because it made sense, timing-wise, with Turner and me coming to UB. I was not altogether happy with the old "Bull head" logo, although I believe it served its purpose, or the representation on the helmet. Down the road as our football program grows in stature, you want your helmet to speak to your institution, thus adding the interlocking "UB" on the helmet. I also believed that the strength of a bull comes from its entire body, and that was not being represented in our old logo. In the end, however, a logo is just that-a mark. It doesn't score any goals, make any tackles or score any points. When we become the kind of program we are striving to be, that's when the strength of the bull really will be consistent with our program.
Much has been made of the football team's decision to play games at nationally recognized powerhouses like Auburn, Wisconsin and Boston College this season. What are your philosophies on non-conference scheduling?
Regardless of how it may have been portrayed in the media, our non-conference scheduling never will focus primarily on money. While that certainly factors into Division I-A football, and is part of the equation for conference members in the MAC, we consider overall impact on our football program, recruiting and finances. That was the case with this year's scheduling and will continue to be the focus in the future. For example, next season we will travel to Penn State for less money than we could have reportedly received to play other teams. However, Pennsylvania is an important recruiting area for us, and the Nittany Lions hold a significant interest to players in our program, as well as fans of our team.
What do you see as the key needs of the athletic department?
The biggest reason I am here is because I saw, particularly with President Simpson's vision, the opportunity for a great athletic program here at UB. President Simpson has been tremendously supportive of that goal, and he and I are working toward some long-term goals, like an indoor fieldhouse and a stable budget that puts us on equal footing with Mid-American Conference institutions. Coming to UB, I felt the three biggest areas of concern were our strength and conditioning area, the recruitment and retention of student-athletes, and an indoor practice space. I am extremely grateful for the contributions of Robert and Carol Morris, which have allowed us to begin work on the Morris Sports Performance Center, a 6,000-square-foot facility that will open in November. This, combined with our increased focus on academic outcomes, is helping us move closer to our goals.