Some Southeast sfaff members are familiar with new AD

Renata Nowacki remembers well the first time she met John Shafer.

Back then, in the late 1990s, Nowacki was a volleyball player at the University of Mississippi, in the football-crazed Southeastern Conference. She remembers walking across the campus with a football player when they ran into Shafer, who was then the athletic director.

"He knew who I was and told me that he and his wife saw our match last night," Nowacki said. "I was totally shocked that he knew who I was on this campus full of football players."

She said Shafer and his wife, Dianne, were frequent fans of the volleyball team.

Shafer's interest in his student-athletes' lives and welfare won over many at Southeast Missouri State University, which on Tuesday announced him as the new athletic director.

Shafer will begin his duties Feb. 1 and has a contract through the end of the 2012 academic year.

"As you look through his resume, he's dealt with student-athletes," said Southeast senior football player Kendall Magana, who was active in the search as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. "He was a baseball player at Auburn; he knows what it means to compete. As an AD, he was attentive to them and knows the majority of his student-athletes by name. He tries to get away from the desk and get out to the playing fields.

"I thought the university chose the right candidate."

Shafer's track record goes beyond compassion for student-athletes to action.

Nowacki said the volleyball program benefited during her time (1997 to 2001) at Ole Miss by getting air conditioning for its facility, mirroring one of her priorities now at Southeast.

In fact, during Shafer's stay at Ole Miss from 1998 to 2002, many of the university's programs benefited from a $60 million building and renovation project that yielded a new indoor multi-sport practice facility, a golf house, a track facility, an administrative building and renovations for the baseball field and coliseum. The department's contributions doubled to $6 million in those four years.

Shafer last week during his on-campus interview identified it as a monumental challenge.

He will face challenges at Southeast, which runs a budget of about $8 million and is just above the NCAA minimum for Division I sports with eight women's programs and six men's programs.

The high-profile sports have struggled the most. The football program has had one winning season since 1995 and the men's basketball program has had one in the last six seasons. It is currently under NCAA investigation, with coach Scott Edgar on administrative leave until the investigation ends.

Shafer said during his public forum last week during his on-campus visit that he immediately wants to change attitudes of a staff that he said resembled "beaten pups."

Shafer, 62 and working in semi-retirement for a commercial development firm, was not available to the media Tuesday due to a family commitment, but will be taking part in interviews today from his office in Alabama.

Cindy Gannon, the interim AD, said, "I don't necessarily think the attitude is bad; I think we're excited to see what the future holds. Basically, what we're looking at is crafting a vision for our department and where we envision Southeast Missouri State athletics in the big picture."

The university has made athletics a priority in its strategic planning initiative this spring.

Gannon, who stepped up from her role as an associate AD when Don Kaverman was terminated with 120 days' notice in October, said she knows Shafer from his 19-month stay as athletic director at Ohio Valley Conference rival Eastern Kentucky from 2003 to 2004.

"He has a good working knowledge of the OVC and great knowledge of Southeast Missouri State," Gannon said. "He is very student-athlete oriented."

Magana admitted he had concerns about Shafer's age in a field of younger finalists, but that Shafer's passion about the welfare of student-athletes was evident.

"He offset any concerns about age with his passion to succeed and his commitment to student-athletes," Magana said. "He knows what the problems are, and he's dealt with them before."

Magana said athletes have expressed a need for more academic support personnel and improved facilities. He said Shafer during his meetings has addressed the issue of locker rooms and fully funding the football program in order to make it more competitive.

"If you look around the conference," Magana said, "there are some programs with a lot more."

Nowacki is optimistic that her program will be able to benefit as well. She said facilities for volleyball make preseason practices impossible with camps taking place and the heat of Houck Field House.

"I'm not expecting to get it right away," she said, "but we have someone who's willing to listen and will maybe have a three- to five-year plan. I really did believe change was going to be a good thing, and for our program in particular.

"I know I'm excited for my players. He'll know them by name."

Jim Limbaugh, a board of regents member and part of the AD search committee, called Shafer "a coach's AD" with his ability to mentor and lead.

"Plus, he also understands the relationship between coaches and student-athletes," Limbaugh said. "Coaches are only as good as the product they put on the field, and he understands the importance that academics play in student-athletes' lives, and it's essential that work is supported."

Shafer said last week it was his relationship with student-athletes that brings him back after four years away from intercollegiate athletics.

"I miss the kids," Shafer said during his on-campus visit. "Former student-athletes call me every day and they say, 'Coach,' or 'Dr. Shafer, I'm getting married' or changing a job or 'I'm going to have child, and I want you to know.' And that's special."