By R.J. Anderson

R.J. Anderson is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at: rja@MomentumMedia.com.

Last year, University of Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi made national headlines when he lured Tubby Smith away from the University of Kentucky to take over the Gophers men's basketball program. It turned a lot of heads--especially considering the black eye the program was recovering from after a 1999 academic scandal.

But Maturi's story goes a lot further back. After 19 years as a coach and administrator at Madison Edgewood (Wis.) High School, Maturi joined the athletic department at the University of Wisconsin in 1987 and was promoted to Associate Director of Athletics in 1992. For the next four years, he helped a financially challenged athletics program return to profitability while overseeing 11 teams as well as the office of academic affairs.

Four years later, Maturi was named Director of Athletics at the University of Denver, where he oversaw the school's move from NCAA Division II to Division I. Maturi's next stop was Miami University (Ohio), where he was Director of Athletics for four years before leaving to take the reins at Minnesota.

When Maturi took over the Minnesota program in 2002, it was facing some very tough times. The department was leaking money and was projected to be $31 million in debt by 2008. Three sports were on the chopping block. And upper-level administrators had decided to combine the men's and women's athletic programs, which had always been separate entities.

Within a year, Maturi balanced the budget and saved those three teams. He merged the men's and women's departments more smoothly than anyone thought possible. And he has maintained broad-based success, as the Gophers have finished in the top 25 of the NACDA Directors Cup standings in each of Maturi's years as Athletic Director.

One of Maturi's boldest undertakings at Minnesota has been securing funds to build a $288.5 million stadium, which will bring the football team's home games back to campus. The huge initiative has required aggressive fundraising efforts and negotiating a $35 million corporate sponsorship with TCF Bank for naming rights.

Under Maturi, Minnesota has accumulated four national championships, 20 Big Ten Conference or Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season titles, and five postseason conference crowns. From 2003 to 2007, Minnesota placed 865 student-athletes on the conference's all-academic teams--the highest four-year total in school history. Maturi was recently named to the NCAA Division I Management Council and currently chairs the NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Committee.

In this Q&A, Maturi talks about his approach to leading an athletic department into a new era and turning things around at Minnesota. He also shares his thoughts on hiring coaches, buyout clauses, and academic reform.

DA: What is your leadership philosophy?
Maturi: The thing about this business is that you can't get too high and you can't get too low. I've been fortunate to have had some successes, but I've certainly had my share of disappointments, too.

I use John Wooden's definition of success: Self-satisfaction of doing everything you can to be as good as you can be. I live by that motto. It's the attitude I've had my entire life.

How do you approach each day?
I jog every day at 6 a.m., and during those runs I make most of my decisions. That's when I put things into perspective and evaluate the crisis of the day. It's also the time I remind myself what's under my control: I can control my attitude and I can control my effort.

What were the keys to combining the men's and women's athletic departments?
I knew it would be a challenge. The University of Minnesota had two successful departments, but they were philosophically very different.

To start, my primary focus was to get a feel for what our student-athletes wanted. I remember holding a meeting with student-athlete representatives from all 25 of our sports. Before those meetings, I don't think they had ever all been together in one place because there had always been two different SAACs. At this meeting, I shared my dreams, hopes, and desires. Then I told them I wanted to hear theirs.

One of the ideas that emerged was a project called Maroon Madness Night in which every team chooses a contest they want other athletes to attend. Over 100 athletes show up for these events.

Student-athletes really helped the merger become a success because they embraced it so quickly. Because the kids embraced it, the coaches did, too. And because most of the coaches embraced the change--although I'm not saying they all did--the donors started embracing it.

What were your biggest obstacles during the transition?
We had two of everything: two head strength and conditioning coaches, two head marketing directors, and so on. The two heads of marketing had to understand that there was only going to be one head of marketing. I didn't dismiss the other person, but they weren't going to be on top anymore, and that was true of every entity in the department. Those were stressful times with a lot of tough conversations.

Both my president at Miami University and the outgoing president at Minnesota recommended I clean house administratively and start over. But I had never done that before. At my other two athletic departments we had done well without undergoing massive staff changes.

I told everybody in the department, "Nobody is going to lose their job in the first year of the transition. But I can't promise anything beyond that first year." Some people left on their own, and some left because I had named the other person to a head job. Others left because they anticipated not getting a head position or because they were offered a better opportunity somewhere else. The voluntary withdrawals were much better than me dismissing a lot of people. I'm sure there were people who weren't happy about leaving, but it was still their choice.

In that first year, we saved a million dollars in salaries and benefits due to people leaving on their own. After about a year and a half, I did let go of two administrators mainly because we were overstaffed. I have since brought in new people, partly to fill spots left by outgoing personnel. But none of that was done in my first 12 months on the job.

Were there other steps you took to tighten the financial belt?
We began with a zero-based budget because we believed there were people budgeting dollars just to protect themselves down the road, even if they didn't currently need those dollars. We closely evaluated what needed to be spent and cut out anything frivolous. Philosophically, we said no to everybody, not just some people. There seemed to be an understanding and acceptance as we moved forward. If we were going to bleed, we were going to bleed together.

I give the coaches and the support staff credit, because they all found ways to continue to be successful athletically and academically with less money. It took their willingness to understand what needed to be done.

Did you tap into new revenue streams?
We did. For one thing, we outsourced our radio and sponsorship rights. That helped us realize significant guaranteed dollars right away. We also entered into a long-term contract with Nike, whereas before, the department had never had an apparel agreement. Those were the kinds of decisions that helped us immediately increase--and stabilize--our revenue.

Why is having football back on campus so important?
Football Saturday has become a celebration of campus life at schools across the country, and our president sees that as a way to focus on becoming more successful as an academic institution. Football is the engine of almost every Division I athletics program.

We have done a very good job of combining gifts to the stadium with gifts to scholarship endowments, which is the right thing to do. People are excited about that. There's going to be a stadium here for 100 years, but there will be scholarships here forever.

How have you dealt with a disappointing football season, especially on the heels of hiring a new coach, Tim Brewster, last year?
Going 1-11 is pretty disappointing, but I applaud Coach Brewster for convincing our players that we can win, because you can't win until you believe it. Sometimes you have to take a step back before you take two steps forward, and I think that's what happened. We have a new system, a new coaching staff, and a first-time head coach. We lost a significant number of players from the season before and a couple starters in the spring. I'm not making excuses, but if you add all those things up, you get 1-11.

With the new football stadium on the horizon, do you feel pressure to win immediately?
One of the reasons I hired Coach Brewster is because he is a great recruiter. Right now our 2008 recruiting class is ranked in the Top 20 or 25 in the country by many publications--Minnesota hasn't been there in a long time. We're willing to give him an opportunity to recruit players and see what he can do.

How much time will you give him to turn things around?
Coach Brewster was given a five-year contract for a reason. Over the last 10 years we have never finished in the top three in the conference, while every other school in the Big Ten except for Indiana finished in the top three at least once during that time. I expect us to get into the top three. That's our goal, and it's realistic. We aspire to be champions, but I feel you have to be in the top three before you can become a champion.

What are the keys to hiring coaches?
The most significant thing I do as an athletic director is hire people who fit what we're trying to do. But at the same time, each search is different. Last year, I made a decision to change the leadership of the men's basketball and football teams. I said very openly and very publicly that I was looking for two significantly different people to fill those two positions.

I knew it was possible to get a high-profile coach for basketball, but I wasn't going to get that kind of person to coach football. There was not a BCS head football coach who would have considered taking our position. But I felt we could find a BCS-level head men's basketball coach. They were two very different hires.

What went into bringing Tubby Smith to Minnesota?
When I made the decision to change the leadership of our basketball program, I certainly didn't have Tubby Smith in mind. My approach to every search is pretty typical: I call people I know in the business. My first weeks were spent on the phone talking to coaches, athletic directors, conference commissioners, and other colleagues. I asked them, "Who might be interested in this job? Who might be a good fit for this program?"

By doing that, I get a list of names. One of those people said to me, "You know, now might be the right time for Tubby Smith to leave Kentucky. I don't know if he's interested in Minnesota, but he might be ripe to leave Kentucky." So I wrote his name down. Then, three more people told me the same thing.

On Jan. 3, I flew to Atlanta to meet with Dan Parker of Parker and Associates, a search firm, about filling both coaching jobs. We spent a day talking about football and a day on basketball. We went through over 100 names and came up with yes, no, and maybe piles. When Tubby Smith's name came up, I asked Dan if Tubby would be interested in Minnesota. Dan knew Tubby's lawyer, Ricky Left, who said he would talk to Tubby and see if he might be interested in our program. But Tubby wasn't the only person on my list. I couldn't put all my eggs in one basket not knowing his response.

I kept trying to learn more about Tubby and watched a lot of Kentucky games on TV. I also had to be careful to not talk about it--even confidentially--because it wouldn't be fair to him or us if the press found out about it. Nobody had him on our radar screen until the day before we announced he was going to be our coach. I think we did it the right way, and both sides were happy with how it turned out.

What were your selling points?
I told Ricky Left, and Tubby later on, that I'd watched Tubby coach and loved his focus and passion for the game, but I noticed that he wasn't having any fun. And I understood why. At Kentucky, he would always be in the shadows of Adolph Rupp and Rick Pitino. I said if he came here, he would be the one casting the shadow. I knew the people of Minnesota would love and embrace him. He could establish a program that he'll forever be known for.

How important is it to use a search firm?
Five years ago I would have said search firms are a waste of money. I'm old school and thought the hiring process should be handled by the athletic director. But I now feel you need some help during the process, especially with keeping things discreet. If Tubby had turned us down, nobody would have known, and that's important. It doesn't look good when somebody says no to you.

Even with our football search, people don't know I interviewed 15 coaches. I have admitted talking to some of them, but most people don't know all the names. That was better for the people we interviewed, and it was better for us. If you're a head coach and you don't get a job, people will wonder if you're really committed to the school you're at. With a search firm, all of that is handled out of the public eye.

Did Smith's hiring have an immediate effect on boosters?
Without a doubt. It even had an impact on our football boosters. When I hired Tim Brewster to coach football, we brought him in at a lower salary than our former coach was making. So to some people, it may not have looked like we were making a huge commitment to Gopher athletics. But when I hired Tubby Smith, we gave him a guaranteed $1.75 million contract, which was a lot more money than we had ever paid a coach.

I was then able to say to our boosters, "We've been criticized for not making a commitment. Well, here's our commitment. And we need you to make a commitment like you've never made before." Many accepted that challenge. They saw us stepping up, and they did the same. It has energized everything, from our stadium fundraising to our scholarship fundraising.

How do you feel about buyout clauses in coaching contracts?
On the front end of every first contract there should be some buyout clauses. For example, with Tubby Smith, we're committing a lot of money to him and it's not my intention to have him use us just to escape Kentucky and then go somewhere else. So he has a three-year buyout clause.

But in the fourth year, there is no buyout clause for two reasons. One, I don't think he will want to leave because this is such a great place and he can and will win here. Two, if he doesn't want to be here after three years, I think he's going to have raised the profile of our program to the point where I can hire another Tubby Smith.

If Tubby stays for all seven years of his contract, and I give him an extension of five years, I don't need a buyout from him. Even though I'm going to be obligated for those five years, I don't need the same from him. The extension is a reward for doing something right during the first seven years. By then he would only leave for something that is significant for him in that stage of his life and if that happens, I'm going to shake his hand and wish him luck.

What are your thoughts on the NCAA's academic reform efforts?
I am a real proponent of what the NCAA is trying to do. The new rules aren't perfect and I realize change is not easy. But if you don't do something significant, things won't get better.

I believe there are some circumstances we still have to figure out, like how to not penalize a school for something it can't control. For example, we lost a hockey player in the middle of the season who decided to go pro. There's nothing we can do about something like that.

The system will be tweaked as we move forward. But I guarantee you it has changed how coaches think about retaining athletes.

What are the biggest issues facing college athletics right now?
I think the arms race and the craziness of the dollars being spent in big time athletics is frightening. I don't know how you legislate that. The NCAA manual used to say that the goal of a Division I athletic department is to be self-sufficient. I think that's a mistake and is what created the arms race. Athletic programs were allowed to spend every dime they made. Then, those schools that weren't making as much were chasing those that were and spending beyond their means.

What is the hardest part about being an athletic director at such a big school?
More than anything, it's tough for me to be away from the kids. I coached for nearly 20 years and that's a long time. I was an associate athletic director for 10 years, and that's a long time. Thirty years of my life was spent having daily interaction with young people, but I don't get to do that anymore. I miss that day-to-day interaction.

The fact of the matter is that at this level, you need to be a businessman first. I struggle with that part of my job more than anything. Business is not my background, training, or passion, so I have to make sure I surround myself with good people who know the business side of athletics well.

How does having worked at the high school level affect your decision-making at Minnesota?
It's the best training I could possibly have had. Being at the high school level and working hands-on with lots of kids--as a coach, teacher, and administrator--taught me invaluable lessons in regard to understanding their emotions and how they learn. I also grew to understand the importance of athletics within a community. At the college level, I've had to learn more about politics and dealing with the media.

What accomplishments are you most proud of?
I just try to enjoy the journey. When I put my head on the pillow at night, I want to feel good about my attitude and my effort. People who know me know that I work hard and I care, and that's what is important to me.