McKinley Boston will send a “letter of nomination” soon to University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler regarding the school’s vacant athletic director position. Boston, the former Gophers AD in the early 1990s, is promoting Sean Frazier for the opening at Minnesota that is being filled on an interim basis by Beth Goetz.
Boston, who retired as the AD at New Mexico State about a year ago, not only served as a leader in athletics and academics at Minnesota but also played on the Gophers’ last Big Ten football championship team in 1967. Because of Boston’s knowledge about the University and state of Minnesota, he believes Frazier would be the right fit for the Gophers’ opening created by the dismissal of Norwood Teague last year.
Boston, an African-American, was the first minority person to become athletic director at the U. About 10 years ago he became a founder of a group to mentor and grow the number of African-American athletic directors. Among those in the group being mentored was Frazier who is now the athletic director at Northern Illinois after leaving the University of Wisconsin where he was deputy athletic director.
Frazier, who won’t speak publicly about athletic director openings at other schools, has impressed Boston over the years and the two men are friends. In an email to Sports Headliners Boston described Frazier as an individual who “should be a strong candidate” for the Gophers’ position. During a telephone conversation Boston said he expects to send his “letter of nomination” within the next several days.
The Gophers’ search is just beginning, and finding Teague’s successor will be a priority for Kaler who does know Frazier. Earlier this month the two men were in San Antonio where the Northern Illinois Athletic Department was recognized as the NCAA’s 2016 winner of the organization’s diversity and inclusion award.
As a leader of athletic departments Frazier has made a commitment to minorities and women, but his experiences and skill set go far beyond that initiative. He has been an athletic director on the Division I, II and III levels—gaining varied experiences working with different sports and having responsibilities in hiring coaches, fundraising, developing facilities and fostering academic performance by athletes.
At Wisconsin he was AD Barry Alvarez’s top assistant and he oversaw day to day operations of the Badgers’ 23 sport program. Alvarez runs one of the nation’s top athletic programs but delegated many of the details, including revenue development, to Frazier.
Frazier, who came to Northern Illinois in 2013, has experience working with national groups including a past assignment as chair of the NCAA hockey committee. He also knows Jim Delany and might well have the Big Ten commissioner’s endorsement for athletic director vacancies at Illinois and Minnesota.
While Frazier isn’t talking about those two Big Ten positions, it’s believed Illinois has already contacted him, and the process to fill that job may be moving faster than at Minnesota where Kaler has indicated a spring hire is likely.
Michigan introduced African-American Warde Manuel as its new athletic director on Friday. Manuel, who is a former Wolverines football player, had been the AD at Connecticut and is another individual mentored by Boston. Manuel and Frazier have similar experiences in athletics administration, and as college athletes. “You could certainly put them in the same category,” Boston said.
Frazier is originally from Long Island, New York and played football for Alabama from 1987-1991. Known as an extroverted personality who has made a name for himself in college athletics, Frazier reportedly dismissed interest in the Syracuse University AD opening last year.
Worth Noting
Bill and Kay McRreavy, long time Gophers boosters, were curious when their doorbell rang at 9:30 p.m. on a Saturday earlier this month. To their surprise, Jerry and Rebecca Kill came to say goodbye as they prepared to leave Minneapolis and relocate to Illinois. The Kills are a remarkable couple and they no doubt made time to say farewells to other Gophers loyalists who helped them at Minnesota during the last several years.
It might be that Minneapolis and U.S. Bank Stadium weren’t selected for the 2020 College Football Playoff Game because the site selection group was concerned about pushback from corporate sponsors who already are coming here in 2018 for the Super Bowl and 2019 for the Final Four. When there is another bid opportunity for games beyond 2020, look for Minneapolis to try again.
Minneapolis businessman and Taste of the NFL founder Wayne Kostroski leaves tomorrow for northern California and Super Bowl 50. This will be the 25th Taste of the NFL, with activities scheduled at the Bay Area’s historic Cow Palace that is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The event raises money for local and national food banks.
“We are proud to be celebrating 25 years and over $24 million, (and) nearly $200 million meals to food banks and nonprofit organizations across the country,” Kostroski said.
The Twins Winter Caravan drew large crowds again this January as past and present players made stops in regional communities. The Twins have staged the caravan for 56 years, the longest duration of any offseason fan tour in baseball. Twins legend Tony Oliva has participated in each caravan since 1964.
With Torii Hunter retired, it will be interesting to see who emerges as club leaders in 2016. Third baseman Trevor Plouffe, 29 and entering his sixth major league season, might be a candidate. He is personable and had the kind of season in 2015 that provides a platform for leadership.
He set single season highs last year in hits (140), RBI (86), runs scored (74), games (152), at-bats (573) and triples (4). Plouffe’s .972 fielding percentage ranked third among major league third basemen last season.