“You’re gonna get me in serious trouble here,” Saluki Athletic Director Tim Leonard winced when I asked him the question.
“Look,” I told him, “this is not some softball interview. I need an answer, and I need it now.”
There was a long pause, and then Leonard came clean.
“Okay, okay” he said. “I had Quatros last night. But I eat at Pags all the time. Damn, I eat too much pizza.”
I laughed.
“You could be a politician if the Athletic Director thing doesn’t work out.”
For Leonard, still new on the job after being hired in July, it has worked out well so far. He came to Southern after an eight-year run at Towson. Stability would be a nice change for the Salukis, who are now on their fifth Athletic Director in those same eight years.
“It is the nature of the beast,” Leonard said. “Higher education in general is going through a correction. The state of Illinois has been hit especially hard, and the worst is yet to come. Student enrollment is down at all Illinois schools. That means revenues are down, and sometimes that affects expectations. Southern has also gone through a number of chancellors in recent years. We have been in a flux for a number of years. We are stable now. We are building a staff. We need to go from survival mode into attack mode. I am hoping I will be here for a while.”
I told Leonard I had a few questions from Saluki Insider members. That would normally send a chill down any man’s spine.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Bring it on!”
I looked through the list of questions everyone submitted. I needed a good one. I looked and looked and looked.
“Give me a minute,” I said. “Okay, I finally found one. Where are we competitively on the NIL?”
“I see your members know their stuff,” Leonard laughed. “We have started an NIL for both men’s basketball and football.”
“Is that men’s football?” I asked.
“Are you really a professional journalist?” Leonard wondered.
“Not anymore!” I gleefully added. “But I am an AARP member. Free jello squares at any restaurant in America. Now what about the NIL?”
“There is some money in there,” Leonard said. “But not a ton. We are going to have to get creative. There is only so much we can do as an institution. I think we will be competitive within the Valley. I just don’t know how much that will affect recruiting, as basically everybody is going to be bumping up a level.”
“Just make sure we are as competitive as Bradley,” I said. “I have to report back to Barkeep.”
“Barkeep?” Leonard asked. “What is a Barkeep?”
“Trust me,” I said. “You don’t want to know. Let me find another good member question.”
This took a while.
“I need to go to bed before midnight,” Leonard joked.
“Here, I have one,” I said. “What about conference realignment? Anything happening there down the road for Southern?”
“I don’t really have a feel for that yet,” Leonard said. “But I love the Valley. I love the style. Every game is a freaking battle. I mean a battle. I love the regionality of the league. I don’t know where else that Southern would go that would make more sense than the Valley. I don’t know why we would want to play a league game on the east or west coast. Look at the programs that have left the Valley. I am not sure it has worked out for them. But predicting the future is always hard to tell.”
I then reminded Leonard that the Bobber, alone, when things looked their darkest, predicted that his Salukis would go to Northwestern and take care of business. I could provide stock tips if necessary……
“Pass,” said Leonard.
“Let’s talk about coaches,” I said. “After we win a few national championships, how do we keep Nick and Brian around? Quatros gift cards?”
“You have to be careful there,” Leonard said. “You don’t want to be coach rich and cash poor, or worse, coach poor and cash rich. You have to let your coaches know that you are committed to them. Then you have to figure out how you can reward them. We are always trying to figure that out.”
“So,” I said. “After we win those national titles, and Nick leaves for Notre Dame, or Bryan leaves for Duke, are you one of those athletic directors who walks around with an index card with names on it in your pocket?”
“Absolutely, I am,” Leonard said. “I do that every year. You have to, because if that time comes, you have to move quickly. It is really no different than any other job search. There is a small window when that market opens up, and you have to get your guy.”
I reminded Leonard that after Chris Lowery was fired, Southern conducted a nationwide search committee for its next basketball coach. Many people from Southern were involved. Airplanes were in the air. Coaches around the country were contacted. That brought us Barry Hinson. Is that how Leonard would do business?
“I don’t know what the university policy is,” Leonard said. “But ideally, I would like it to be me with a smaller group. Me, the Chancellor, and a couple of others. Because at the end of the day if that coach doesn’t work out, the Athletic Director is going to take the fall, not some search committee.”
I asked Leonard if he ever remembered watching Mullins play for the Salukis.
“I was always a big fan of the Valley,” he said. “I was always watching them on tv.”
“While you were eating pizza?” I asked.
“Probably. But yes, I remember him a bit. And let me tell you, I have never seen anybody who has his style. He is a different type of coach than I have ever been around. There is never any bad body language with him. He is so analytical, and his kids have all bought in. Brian is really doing an excellent job.”
I wanted to turn the subject to football.
“One of our Saluki Insiders actually had a good question,” I told him.
“Really?” he said.
“Yes. They asked about a possible indoor practice facility.”
“Well, tell them that we are working with a consultant on that right now. It is the same architect who helped design Saluki Way. We have a master plan. We have met with coaches for their input. We need that facility really bad. We have teams that are now using the Rec Center, and that is not ideal. All of our teams need this. It is hard to say when it might get done. It will move up to our top priority. We need to get a price range, and then we need to go to donors, because it will need to be donor driven. So maybe you can get out your checkbook, Bob?”
“Yeah, about that……”
“Let’s talk some football,” I said, desperately trying to change the subject. “Any thoughts after your first fall on how we can improve attendance?”
“It’s funny and frustrating,” Leonard said. “We basically have a three-game schedule. Opening day, family weekend, and homecoming. And then it plummets. I was not prepared for how dramatic a drop off that was.”
“Deer season,” I said.
“Well, we have to build tradition. We have to get to the playoffs consistently. People need to understand that we are an FCS power.”
“Yeah, but Carterville also plays on Saturday,” I reminded him. “How can we possibly compete with that?”
“I would like to change some seating options in the horseshoe,” Leonard said. “Maybe some table tops, beer gardens. that kind of thing. Our home side attendance is okay, but this is not high school, where the other side of the stadium is empty. We need to make it a destination too. We need to ask ourselves what things will draw people to buy season tickets, and then sit over there. We need some sort of special areas over there.”
“I agree,” I told him. “But Hungarian Partridge season begins in early November….”
“We need to try to simulate what we are doing with basketball, and be more aggressive on single game promotions. We need to make it fun. We have to do more stuff, like the 7-up can opener. For some fans, it’s not just the game. We don’t have the fan base sitting right here. It is a series of small towns throughout the area that we have to bring in. If someone has an idea, please contact us. I would love to hear them.”
The Bobber loves those FBS road trips. I asked Leonard what I could plan on going forward.
“It’s funny,” he said. “It’s all about finding schedules that match. There is literally one guy in the country that helps schools match up with their scheduling needs. We will always be open and looking. I never want to play more than one per year, and I would rather play a team with a wide-open offense as opposed to a power game. We have to stay healthy for the season. Have you timed your drive yet to BYU Bob?”
“I am too afraid to look,” I said.
“20 hours!”
“Okay, well there is that,” I said. “And when we make the playoffs next year, are we bidding to host?”
“Yes, we will bid,” Leonard said. “We would have bid this year. But I am not in the mindset that we can buy our way in every year. In fact, I am not sure I want to host on that first round. It’s Thanksgiving, and the stadium will be empty.”
“You have rabbits, foxes, squirrels and crows still out there……..”
“I would almost rather be on the road if it is an empty stadium everywhere that weekend,” Leonard said. “Let the home team be depressed.”
Finally, it was time to go. But I had one last question for Leonard.
“Do you ever read Saluki Insider?”
There was a long laugh.
“No, I never read message boards. It’s not that I don’t think there is good discussion. But you get on there, and you can get obsessed. I would be on there at work and then at home. I think they are fun, and there are certainly some good ideas. But I can’t let myself make decisions on those comments. I have to make decisions based on facts.”
“Yeah, I said, ” but what about Mr. Woodcock, and Fraydog, Skinny Uncle and Frog…….”
“Exactly,” Leonard said.
We at Saluki Insider are immensely grateful for Tim Leonard’s time and willingness to grant this interview request. We also appreciate The Bobber taking time from his busy schedule to brighten our day with his unique and entertaining style.
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