Move to Memphis a step toward career goal for Southeast Missouri State's Alnutt

One word being added to the front of his title doesn't diminish what outgoing Southeast Missouri State director of athletics Mark Alnutt thinks of his new position as the deputy director of athletics at the University of Memphis.

Alnutt's hiring by Memphis and resignation from Southeast, which goes into effect July 31, was announced early Monday afternoon. He doesn't see his move to second-in-command of an athletic department as a demotion, but rather as a step closer to his ultimate career goal.

"My goal, I don't know if I've ever said this publicly, but I want to become a Power 5 AD, and you have to take the necessary steps to become a Power 5 AD and sometimes when you do that, to me, it's not just looking at title," Alnutt said in a conference room in Southeast's athletic administration building on Monday. "I don't have to be an AD. For me it's all about fit and opportunities that will help me get to that goal and, yes, I'm no longer an AD but being a deputy AD that has those same type of responsibilities at a school where the athletic budget is about $45 million as compared to this school that's about $9 million -- it puts me closer to what I want to become."

Alnutt had no plans to remain at Southeast for the rest of his career but said wasn't searching for a new job yet. He was sought after by the search committee responsible for filling Memphis' position and was chosen as one of four finalists without ever having applied.

He felt confident after a one-hour conversation with Memphis President M. David Rudd during what was allotted to be a 15-minute interview and a meeting with athletic director Tom Bowen during a visit to campus last week. He returned to the Southeast campus to inform new university President Dr. Carlos Vargas that he'd been offered the job and that he planned to accept.

Alnutt said Wren Baker, who previously held the position, worked solely with the external side of the athletic department, which included fundraising, ticketing, development and marketing, but his job description has not been entirely laid out.

"My role, Tom told me, 'You're going to be a true No. 2. You're going to have external areas, but also internal areas as well,'" Alnutt said. "Because they want someone that they feel very comfortable with when he is out of the office for extended trips, nationally, wherever. They want someone that he trusts and feels that can run that department. More to come in terms of exactly what areas I'll be overseeing, but it's going to be a true No. 2 position, and for me looking at that and being able to be at that position, that's just a growth for me professionally, which I'm excited about."

During his three years at Southeast, Alnutt has been responsible for several coaching changes, including the firing of football coach Tony Samuel, not renewing longtime softball coach Lana Richmond's contract and most notably the resignation of women's basketball coach Ty Margenthaler and the firing of men's basketball coach Dickey Nutt within a span of two hours on March 23.

He relished the opportunity to lead coaching searches for football and both basketball coaches -- tabbing Tom Matukewicz for football, Rick Ray for men's basketball and Rekha Patterson for women's basketball -- as well as making the "no-brainer" decision of appointing Steve Bieser as baseball coach in 2013.

"The flip side of that -- yeah, we can talk all we want about hiring people and how great that is to identify talent and get them in here, but gosh, the toughest thing that occurs is when you have to call someone in or go in their office and let them go," Alnutt said. "Those are difficult, difficult decisions, but at the end of the day you feel you're doing what's right for the university."

The Redhawks athletic programs won nine Ohio Valley Conference championships during Alnutt's tenure -- men's indoor track and field twice, women's indoor track and field twice, men's outdoor track and field, women's outdoor track and field, soccer and consecutive titles in baseball -- but no team won a conference tournament to secure a berth in the NCAA tournament.

"I wanted to get back to the NCAAs," Alnutt said of what he wished he could have seen accomplished in his three years. "We can talk about nine championships, and I'm so appreciative of the job that our coaches and student-athletes did to get the nine championships during my tenure here, which is a lot in the Division I era for Southeast, but at the same token, where I came from having the opportunity to go to the NCAAs ... I go back to being able to go to the NCAA tournament for men's basketball or seeing soccer or seeing softball at Mizzou.

"That experience that student-athletes get, you don't get that experience at the OVC championships. The OVC does a heck of a job and you win a championship and we're all proud of that, but I would've loved to see the next, whether it was baseball this year or it was soccer or being able to win a tournament, especially in Municipal [Auditorium in Nashville] in one of the basketballs. ... That's one thing I would've loved to see."

Alnutt kept the news of his job change quiet within the athletic department while Memphis administrators alerted the other three finalists.

He met with Matukewicz, Bieser, Patterson and Ray last week because he felt the need to let the coaches he'd personally sought out to come to Cape Girardeau of his decision, especially Ray and Patterson whom he'd hired less than three months ago.

He gathered all of the coaches and athletic department staff on Monday before the news came out.

"They understand the opportunity that's out there," Alnutt said. "They understand the development for me professionally to be able to go to an institution like this and the role that I have. So they get it, but on the same token I'm not going to sit here and tell you that they're not disappointed. They're disappointed."

He said his message was "one of thanks" and that "they're doing a heck of a job."

"The word trajectory was used quite a bit," Alnutt said of his meeting with Southeast coaches and athletic department staff. "I feel that this department's on a trajectory that I'm excited about following. I'm excited about the leadership under Dr. Vargas, and with him naming Brady Barke [as the interim AD] you have a person that worked with me on a couple searches and obviously has some familiarity with the athletic department. ... At the end of the day obviously there's some great relationships there. There's staff and coaches that might be worried, but that's common nature, about what the next steps are, but I do feel that there's going to be a continued commitment in terms of growing this department and I feel that we're headed the right way."