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North Texas acting athletic director Hank Dickenson spoke with representatives from Eastman & Beaudine Inc., the search firm helping the school search for a replacement for Rick Villarreal, on Monday. Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told the Denton Record-Chronicle on Tuesday that the meeting took place. Those sources and others provided some perspective on where UNT’s search stands and how it might proceed. Dickenson, a longtime UNT athletic department official, has guided the school’s athletic program since June 6. Former UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal officially stepped down on Monday. Villarreal’s departure was announced on May 23. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2016/06/unt-athletic-director-search-update-dickenson-interviews-with-firm.html/

Ok - so I realize that this is a big 10 opening and on the other side of the country, however it is interesting nonetheless. It is one of the most recent AD position hirings and from that standpoint interesting in terms of the types of candidates that they are looking at. Kaler and Turnkey President Len Perna declined to comment to the Star Tribune in recent days, and members of the search committee signed a confidentiality agreement. Prospective candidates also have been discouraged from talking publicly about the process. http://www.startribune.com/nine-names-rise-to-top-of-gophers-ad-search/377478231/ None of the 14 sources could confirm whether there were more than nine people in an advanced stage of the search process, but based on those interviews, here is an alphabetical list of candidates who have been contacted and screened for the job by Turnkey: Phil Esten, Penn State deputy AD: Esten, 43, spent six years as associate AD at Minnesota before becoming deputy AD at California-Berkley. In 2014, he took the deputy job at Penn State under Sandy Barbour, who'd also hired him at Cal. Esten played a key role in the fundraising for TCF Bank Stadium and later worked as president and CEO of the university's alumni association. The La Crosse, Wis., native got his doctorate in kinesiology from Minnesota. Sean Frazier, Northern Illinois AD: Frazier is one of the candidates Turnkey has pursued most aggressively, according to sources. He was a finalist for the Rutgers AD position before taking the Northern Illinois job and has since drawn interest for AD posts at Pittsburgh and Illinois. The Long Island, N.Y., native and former Alabama football player was the deputy AD under Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin and served as the chair of the NCAA men's hockey committee in 2011. Frazier, 47, also served as the AD at Manhattanville, Merrimack and Clarkson. Beth Goetz, Gophers interim AD: Some still view Goetz as the front-runner. She has drawn praise from inside the university since becoming interim AD when Norwood Teague resigned last August. A St. Louis native who played soccer at Clemson, Goetz, 41, began her career as a soccer coach and administrator at Missouri-St. Louis. She worked as a senior woman administrator at Butler before coming to Minnesota as deputy AD. One of her top references is Brad Stevens, who coached basketball at Butler before taking over the Boston Celtics. David Gutzke, U.S. Bank senior VP: Gutzke, 58, comes heavily recommended from top executives at U.S. Bank. The Waverly, Minn., native was an honorable mention All-America safety at Princeton, and after getting cut from the Vikings, he got his MBA from St. Thomas. He has since built a career in wealth management. At U.S. Bank, he is the Senior VP/Managing Director of the Private Client Reserve, advising Minnesota business owners and executives along with their families. Pete Najarian, CNBC stock analyst: Najarian, 52, was a three-time second-team All-Big Ten linebacker for the Gophers (1983-85) and graduated cum laude with a degree in genetic engineering. He played three seasons in the NFL and then became an options trader on Wall Street. In 2005, he and his brother, Jon, co-founded OptionMonster. He has a national profile as an analyst for CNBC and close ties to the Twin Cities business community. Bill Robertson, WCHA commissioner: Robertson, 55, is a Cretin-Derham Hall and Cal State-Fullerton grad who worked in communications for the Timberwolves, Anaheim Ducks and Anaheim Angels before a 13-year stretch as vice president for the Wild. He became WCHA commissioner in 2014. He has strong Minnesota ties and a contact list filled with connections from the NCAA, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball. Bob Stein, Minneapolis attorney: Stein, 68, was a two-time All-America defensive end for the Gophers and spent seven years in the NFL. After earning his law degree, he worked as an NFL agent and was CEO of the Timberwolves (and Target Center) for eight years, at that team's inception. Many of Stein's hires, including Tim Leiweke (AEG, Toronto Maple Leafs) and Ron Minegar (Arizona Cardinals), Brenda Tinnen (Sprint Center, Kansas City) went on to highly successful careers themselves. Gene Taylor, Iowa deputy AD: Taylor spent 13 years as North Dakota State's AD, leading the transition from Division II to Division I, where almost every sport there has succeeded, with the exception of women's basketball. The football team has won five consecutive Football Championship Subdivision titles. Taylor, 58, who hails from Safford, Ariz., also worked for the Naval Academy. He has made no secret that his goal is to become a Power Five conference AD. Craig Thompson, Mountain West commissioner: Thompson remains a possibility for the Minnesota AD job, though it's believed he'd be hesitant to go through a drawn out search process, as it could compromise his current position. Thompson, 59, graduated from Minnesota with a degree in journalism and went into public relations, working for Kansas State, the Kansas City Kings and the Metro Conference before becoming commissioner of the American South Conference in 1987. He became commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference in 1991 and has been commissioner of the Mountain West since its founding in 1998.

https://jobs.unt.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1466457927307 Responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to: * Provides leadership and serves as the primary spokesperson for the intercollegiate athletic program. * Submits recommendations and supporting documentation to the President and Board of Regents as necessary to make decisions regarding goals, academics, capital expansion, staffing, budget appropriations, and other aspects of intercollegiate athletics. Responsible for implementation and communication of Board directives, including maintenance and control. * Establishes policies and procedures to ensure compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association, Conference, and University of North Texas rules and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools regulations and inculcating in both the coaching and administrative staff an understanding of the importance of these norms. * Ensures that coaching and administrative staff actively support the Department and University's joint commitment to academic achievement which entails helping each student-athlete to make normal progress in completing his/her degree and to graduate within a five-year period. * Oversees the operation of the varsity sports programs in football and men's basketball through the head coaches. * Coordinates and supervises other sports programs (excluding football and men's basketball) through designated staff members. * Responsible for overseeing all fiscal and administrative operations through the appropriate staff members. Promulgates budget guidelines and approves final submissions for each area. Monitors conformance to budget and personal expense accounts. Oversees the operations of the Ticket Office and the Business Office through the appropriate staff members. * Oversees the Marketing, Communications, and Media Services Office through the Sr. Associate Athletics Director. * Directly supervises Director of Sports Medicine and Director of Strength and Conditioning in providing services to student-athletes for all intercollegiate athletics programs. * Develops long-range plans to determine need for and feasibility of constructing or upgrading athletic facilities. * Leading and coordinating, with the Office of Development, fund-raising efforts to provide for scholarships, facilities, and equipment. * Coordinates scheduling for sports events involving Conference participation or revenue contracts. Coordinates and assists on football and men's basketball future scheduling. * Supports the institution's commitment to goals set forth in the Texas Educational Opportunity Plan and the University's affirmative action plan by taking appropriate actions within the Athletics Department. Establishes goals for Athletics Department, with appropriate University officials, for gender equity in athletics programs in accordance with Title IX of Office of Civil Rights Regulations, and takes appropriate actions to work toward and to achieve those goals. * Provides leadership and oversight of institutional effectiveness efforts in intercollegiate athletics including the use of evaluation results and linking results to planning. * Keeps the Athletics Council informed as to all significant current actions (both pending and accomplished), and as to long-range planning for the athletics program. Prepares an annual report for the Athletics Council, by November 15 of each year, for the academic year just completed. * Serves as a member of the President's Staff, working with the Athletics Council and the Faculty NCAA Representative, and carrying out such other institutional duties as the President may assign.