by Doug Smock, Staff writer , Charleston Gazette

He arrived from Massachusetts in 2002, offering to split the athletic director salary to enable him to bring along Jeff O'Malley as chief of staff. The school had been placed on four years' probation, yet still showed signs of upward mobility.

Marcum helped put the program back in good NCAA graces, improved staffing and equipment levels, presided over the construction of new weight and locker rooms and helped shepherd the school into Conference USA. The academic advising and tutoring program was moved under Marcum's control, with positive results by many accounts.

Marcum's tenure wasn't all smooth, by any stretch, and fans have questioned some of his moves. He also had to deal with the 2003 departure of Bob Pruett and the derailment of the proposed indoor practice building, which was even named after Pruett in a ceremony attended by Gov. Joe Manchin. There was oft-rumored tension between the athletic department and university administration - Marcum admits he nearly cut his stay very short.

But he stayed well past the "interim" period, long enough to hire two basketball coaches and one football coach - and yes, he says he fully supported the hiring of current (and embattled) coach Mark Snyder. The football team has recorded five non-winning seasons in a row, but Marcum sees brighter days ahead.

On Tuesday, the Gazette visited for a final, 55-minute interview. The full transcript is online at www.wvgazette.com.

SMOCK: First off, who's going to run this ship [today]?

MARCUM: I have no clue; I really don't. No one's asked me. But we will be open. We will be open.

SMOCK: [Laughing] They move fast at Old Main, don't they?

MARCUM: Speed.

SMOCK: Let's talk about things over the last seven years, how this place stands for the future, near and far. Let's go over some successes - what were the biggest things that you accomplished in these seven years which, as I recall, was longer than you planned to stay here initially?

MARCUM: Well, that's exactly right.

I think going into Conference USA was a plus for us. I really do. I know some people ... you have some people that didn't even want to leave the Southern Conference. And some didn't want to leave the Mid-American. I do think it's been more difficult competing in Conference USA because we didn't have those other challenges going into the Mid-American as we had in Conference USA, from the standpoint of coming off the probation and all those kind of things.

And I know [fans] are tired of hearing that. They won't want to hear it, they say "Let's win, move on," and those kind of things. But institutions that have to deal with those problems, [the problems] are real. And I mentioned it to someone else that once the NCAA shows up, you are on probation. It's unannounced, but you're on it. And then later on, you get the penalty and you have to deal with that.

You know, I think that there was a lot of transition things that was going to take place, but I think going into Conference USA has been good for our program, it's been good for our school, the exposure that we've received has been just unbelievable. So I think Conference USA has been a good move.

SMOCK: How much effort was it to get into Conference USA? I mean, how easily could Marshall's spot be taken by a Louisiana Tech?

MARCUM: Well, I think, without a doubt, I think we were fortunate to have Chuck Neinas as a consultant for Conference USA, who knew about Marshall. Chuck is a very good friend of mine, we go all the way back to when he was the commissioner of the Big 8 Conference, and Chuck looked at our football reputation and saw that was really, really good. So, for him to be the consultant for Conference USA, I think that was a plus for us.

SMOCK: Getting back to the NCAA probation ... you were talking about the NCAA probation, that was a long time ago. That was a mess you kind of had to clear up.

MARCUM: Well, I looked into it before I agreed to do anything with Marshall. And Jeff O'Malley, the two of us, we read that over very, very carefully, things that were submitted to the NCAA. I knew it was going to be very difficult; I know it was going to be very difficult no matter who came in here, whether it was Bob Marcum being the AD, or whoever. And I also knew it was going to be tough on the football coach, having reduced scholarships and going into the conference.

But having said all that, most people really don't care. I mean, I think those associated with the institution, and so forth, that have to work on a day-to-day basis do care, and know the ramifications of it. But I think that a lot of fans, they just look at it as well, hey, OK. Let's see if we can post some W's and move on.

SMOCK: What are some of the other successes? You had the tutoring, the academic program, that was kind of new under your watch.

MARCUM: The thing of it is, I know there's people who build academic centers, and I know there's people who [want to] separate it from the athletic department, you know, you can go on and on and on. I do know this, that every school I've been to, we achieved academic success, and we won along the way. But not all of them were on probation when you take them over.

But, at the same time, I still think it's very valuable that when the academic people have a concern, that you can walk down the hall and get a hold of a coach that's either coaching them now or recruited them - and you hope it's both, but coaches do move on. And you get them involved in the process - the process is to keep your eye on the athlete and bring about a change in behavior, so that individual can go ahead with their academic program, as well as compete in sports. And that's what we were able to do, which we were unable to do before.

SMOCK: There were some facility improvements (new weight room, renovated locker rooms in football, new locker rooms in basketball).

MARCUM: You have to start some place. You can't all of a sudden, everyone have everything new. At the same time, I do think the saying is really accurate: And that is, administrations win championships and coaches win games. And how you interpret that is giving them the tools to work with, to help them win.

I find it very interesting - Randy Burnside [assistant athletic director, media relations], we were talking about, in the media relations office, when I came here, the young people that were trying to learn in that office couldn't even do any work until 5 o'clock, until some of the clerical people left. And then they would get to use their computers. So we immediately bought five computers, so those young people could work all day long.

Media relations office is one of those areas you really need to improve. We improved the academic side of it, had a great relationship with ISP, our marketing and promotion. Very fortunate we had Dr. [Jose] Ricard and the med school, and so forth, to help us with our athletic training program, and we had the Big Green to help us with the scholarship program. We're not a self-funded program, but we keep improving along those lines.

So I think we did some things internally that were very productive.

SMOCK: Was the indoor practice facility every close to reality, and what derailed it?

MARCUM: Well, I think people ... If you really don't want something, I think you can come up with a lot of reasons why you're not going to get it. OK? Now, to me, that still doesn't change the value of the facility. There's got to be a reason why that we are surrounded [by schools that have them] - now, I know they're all BCS programs and have far greater resources, whether it's Kentucky, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, so forth. So we're surrounded by BCS schools with resources.

But, if you look at a lot of those indoor workout facilities, it's just amazing what all they do for you. You can take part of it and hit golf balls when the weather is bad. Your band can go practice. The teams can go practice. It's just amazing what all you can do with an indoor workout facility.

On game day, you can turn it into the biggest gathering of your clubs and everything else, so it can be a hell of a hospitality area, on game day. But, having said all that, people have different priorities and establish things a different way. Do I think it's a very needed facility? You better believe it. It certainly is.

SMOCK: How is the financial state of the department? Is there going to be a deficit in the fiscal year that [ended Tuesday]?

MARCUM: Certainly. We're not a self-supporting program. Never have been. I think it would be very difficult for West Virginia University, also, if they weren't part of the BCS plans and a BCS conference, and those kinds of things. I don't know of any school in the Mid-American Conference, or any school in Conference USA, that is completely covered by admission, fund-raising and [student] fees. If it wasn't for fees, there'd be a lot of them not make it.

SMOCK: The WVU series, the football series. We know your position, and I think we know [WVU's].

MARCUM: And you know, the thing that really bothers me about it is that people sometimes forget about the first meeting [between Marcum and WVU AD Ed Pastilong, with Gov. Joe Manchin brokering the deal]. I think that the first meeting, we conceded a great deal to WVU, and this so-called adjustment period they needed to have, and everything else.

But I came out of that meeting with a pretty good understanding that the next contract would be one-for-one, and as it should be, in just about every state in the United States that has football, and two state schools playing - whether it's Virginia-Virginia Tech, Iowa and Iowa State. And I think Virginia and Virginia Tech were playing home and home before they went in the same conference.

So I don't buy the statement of, well, Marshall needs to get better. Well, sure they need to get better. But one of the ways that we can get better is to have a one-for-one series.

I think there's a different picture out there. I'm not so sure who will ever schedule us one-for-one - take a school like Cincinnati. They stepped up and did one-for-one. We've had preliminary discussions a little bit with Louisville, they'd do one-for-one. We turn around and we give West Virginia two-for-one, then why should those schools give us one-for-one? They belong in the same conference, and let me tell you something: How should our institution feel when East Carolina gets one-for-one?

Listen, I know East Carolina paid their dues. Believe me. When I was at South Carolina, we played them three-for-one. So East Carolina has paid a lot of dues; don't get me wrong. And I don't know of a school in Conference USA that has had more big-time schools come in and play in Greenville than East Carolina. OK?

But having said all that, we're talking about people in West Virginia. We're talking about friends and neighbors and everybody else, and I just can't see where it's going to be that damaging to play one-for-one. They can net more money on our game than they can net on the East Carolina game. Ours is a bus ride and theirs is a plane ride.

SMOCK: Sometimes I figure the walk between this building and Old Main, if you know what I mean, gets pretty daggone long. How is the relationship with Old Main, and has it gotten better, has it gotten worse, has it stagnated?

MARCUM: Well, when you look at all the projects that are associated with the university, people's time gets taken up in a lot of different ways. And so, in turn, they either don't spend the time or don't have the time, or whatever. I think Dr. [Stephen] Kopp, he inherited a lot of different people when he came in here, including me. And maybe he needs the opportunity to develop, as it's one more part of the puzzle, that he needs to get a person in here that he wants to have on his team.

So he inherited a lot of people. It's just like me - and when I say this, some people probably thought, well, hell, why didn't you just go ahead and go through with it? But I was only here six months and I resigned.

SMOCK: Who resigned?

MARCUM: I did. All right. Because it was not what I was led to believe, nor was it organized the way I was led to believe. Whether people like it or not, I have a pretty good background; I have a little bit of experience at some pretty good institutions. And I just thought we were organized for failure. And so I felt, well, there's no sense in me spinning my wheels over the deal.

So I think when you're going through expansion programs, and all those kind of things, people only have a certain amount of time. But do I think sports is important to Huntington, W.Va., and to this institution? Yeah, I do, without a doubt. But, I think there are some people in our city that they really don't care how you achieve it, just win.

And that's the one thing that, you know, we haven't been really able to do as much as we want to do. But I really think that, in the future, that will be handled. I think it will be.

SMOCK: You've been pretty faithful in your support of Mark Snyder, but was he your first choice in the process?

MARCUM: You know, I don't know how it got turned around that I didn't support him, or he wasn't my first choice, or he wasn't this or he wasn't that. I think that it worked pretty well for us, by having one of our former people being the head football coach. I think Coach [Jim] Donnan did one heck of a job in bringing personnel in here. I think Coach Pruett enhanced all of that, and Coach Pruett was one of our own. So I thought a guy that has good backgrounds at Minnesota and Ohio State and so forth, and was one of our former All-Americans ... But you know what? Sometimes, that works and sometimes, it does not.

SMOCK: I'm sure the Ron Jirsa hire, you would have liked to turn out better, and he's landed on his feet since.

MARCUM: But you know, the interesting thing about it is, when you look at the sport of basketball, I get on television in an interview and say what I think about basketball and it's like, "Oh my gosh, you don't think much about basketball at Marshall." Well, Marshall basketball, the success of it, it's really not as great as everyone thinks it is. OK?

Let me tell you something: I think we have a great opportunity with Coach [Donnie] Jones. I don't care what anyone says - when you have two national championship rings, one for each hand, you've achieved something. You've achieved something, and you know something. No one gives you those things. You have to earn them.

SMOCK: I still get people who think [Mike] D'Antoni could have come here back in the Jirsa hire, and are upset about that, and you've had your say on it. I mean, was that even realistic?

MARCUM: It's a myth. The thing of it is, if someone's really interested, you have to figure out, somehow they have to let you know.

I approached it through a third party who was in pro basketball. Pro contracts aren't like college contracts; they'll ding you in a hurry. Just like I contacted a person in the football search that was Marshall person, in pro football. And I got the word: "Bob, if that individual, they better prevail in the job search, because [the current employer will] fire him." Well, that's a hell of a risk to ask someone to take.

SMOCK: I still get some fans steamed over the [premature end to] Miami series. Did they want out first, or did you?

MARCUM: Yes, they did. You can say whatever you want to - nobody wants to admit they want out first, but they did. I mean, [Randy] Shannon told me they weren't coming. Well, OK, so you're not coming. So what are we supposed to do?

SMOCK: The Thundering Herd TV Network - should it have died? Could it have been kept? What is your take on it?

MARCUM: Well, see ... when you join a conference that is made up of big schools, you now have turned your rights over to that conference. So in order to get big money, the inventory has to be there for the television people to pick and choose.

Marshall had never experienced someone really owning their rights at a conference. So it was an adjustment for them. Now, East Carolina carried on their package for a while, because they had some contracts in place. But they then had to turn their inventory over to Conference USA.

These networks, they're not going to pay you big money without exclusivity. Now, our inventory, if we won more, would be worth more. That's just the way it works.

SMOCK: So, what now for Bob Marcum?

MARCUM: Well, I'm going to finish packing up here.

SMOCK: Well, you've got a long way to go.

MARCUM: Nah, it will get cleaned up pretty quick, now. A few piles there, a few piles here, I'll have it all down by 5 o'clock. I'm going to leave [today], go to Illinois to be with my daughter, son-in-law, grandkids, go on up to their place on a lake in Michigan, and go from there.

File photo

Bob Marcum's last day as Marshall's AD was Tuesday.

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazette.com

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