2008 Woodie Awards
Cottingham named new athletic director
Takes over after serving year as interim in position
By Steve Yanda
Cottingham previously served Marquette as associate senior vice president but said he would be relinquishing that title and its responsibilities.
The decision to hire from within the university was met with unanimous praise among the coaches the Tribune was able to contact for this story.
"We're not in a transition stage anymore; that's the most important thing," Head Men's Basketball Coach Tom Crean said. "With Steve's leadership and with the abilities Mike Broeker…and everybody else upstairs, everybody has a role to play. There's a lot of room for growth, and I think Steve is going to do a great job, a great job, and he's already shown it, a great job of running the athletic program here."
When reached by phone Friday regarding his interest in the athletic director position, Broeker, Marquette's deputy athletic director, said such questions should be directed to Cottingham. "He's run the department for the past year," Broeker said. "He ran the process. He understood my level of interest. That's more for him to say than for me."
In an e-mail sent later that day, Broeker wrote: "I had officially applied for the opening but, as Steve stated (Thursday) to (the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), no formal interview of candidates ever took place."
Mike Cleary, executive director of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, said it would not be likely that a public institution could have avoided interviewing any applicants for such a position but that "it's not that farfetched at a private institution."
Cottingham said once he explained his conclusion to university leadership, "other people stepped in at management level to handle the particulars." He referred questions regarding the decision not to interview any candidates to those people.
Before joining Marquette's Office of the General Counsel in July 1995, Cottingham worked in private practice for a law firm currently known as Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, S.C., based in Milwaukee. He became associate senior vice president in September 2003.
Cottingham takes over an athletic program that offers 14 Division I teams and generated $21.8 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. Cords, who served as the university's athletic director for 20 years, said he was consulted during the search process and had been aware Cottingham was a possible permanent replacement.
"It's great for him," Cords said. "The most important thing is that an (athletic director) has been named, and now everyone can move forward."
The decision to hire from within the university was met with unanimous praise among the coaches the Tribune was able to contact for this story.
"We're not in a transition stage anymore; that's the most important thing," Head Men's Basketball Coach Tom Crean said. "With Steve's leadership and with the abilities Mike Broeker…and everybody else upstairs, everybody has a role to play. There's a lot of room for growth, and I think Steve is going to do a great job, a great job, and he's already shown it, a great job of running the athletic program here."
When reached by phone Friday regarding his interest in the athletic director position, Broeker, Marquette's deputy athletic director, said such questions should be directed to Cottingham. "He's run the department for the past year," Broeker said. "He ran the process. He understood my level of interest. That's more for him to say than for me."
In an e-mail sent later that day, Broeker wrote: "I had officially applied for the opening but, as Steve stated (Thursday) to (the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), no formal interview of candidates ever took place."
Mike Cleary, executive director of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, said it would not be likely that a public institution could have avoided interviewing any applicants for such a position but that "it's not that farfetched at a private institution."
Cottingham said once he explained his conclusion to university leadership, "other people stepped in at management level to handle the particulars." He referred questions regarding the decision not to interview any candidates to those people.
Before joining Marquette's Office of the General Counsel in July 1995, Cottingham worked in private practice for a law firm currently known as Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, S.C., based in Milwaukee. He became associate senior vice president in September 2003.
Cottingham takes over an athletic program that offers 14 Division I teams and generated $21.8 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007. Cords, who served as the university's athletic director for 20 years, said he was consulted during the search process and had been aware Cottingham was a possible permanent replacement.
"It's great for him," Cords said. "The most important thing is that an (athletic director) has been named, and now everyone can move forward."
Published: 2/26/08 Section: News
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