President Eric Kaler told Sports Headliners his new athletic director, Norwood Teague, will begin work in the Gophers athletic department two weeks earlier than planned.
Teague, who was announced as the successor to Joel Maturi in late April, was scheduled to begin duties July 1. Instead, he will be working full-time for the Gophers on June 18.
Teague was able to leave his duties as athletic director at Virginia Commonwealth University earlier than expected. “He’s eager to get going,” Kaler said. “I think Joel is ready to make his transition, so it just seemed like a good thing to do.”
Teague will spend considerable time developing relationships inside and outside Gophers athletics. He is expected to have a vision for University athletics that will include a business plan with major components such as renovation and development of facilities. “I think that sort of vision setting, as he gets a chance to settle in, will be an important part of his first year work plan,” Kaler said.
Kaler also said that after two months searching for a new athletic director Teague was definitely the person he wanted to hire. “He was absolutely our first choice,” he said.
Sports Headliners asked Kaler to clarify if a long anticipated contract extension for basketball coach Tubby Smith was certain. “The correct takeaway is that we’re in negotiations with Tubby about a possible extension,” Kaler said.
Kaler also said “his own personal prejudice” is to renovate Williams Arena when the time is right rather than replace the 84-year-old building. “It’s such an iconic building. That building holds so many memories for so many people I would really like that we wouldn’t tear it down. …We don’t have anything immediately going on with it. It will be one of the many things that Norwood will have to dig into when he arrives.”