Outside the Lanelines: Lessons from Wally

By Greg Earhart

Wasn’t that a party?  The past three weeks have offered us an aquatic Marti Gras.  We were awed as Tyler McClary set a new standard for IM’ers; held our breath as Arizona, California and Georgia went to the final relay; applauded Kenyon’s 30th consecutive championship, beamed when Teri McKeever became the second woman to win an NCAA title; and were struck by an Auburn team that was both ebullient and humbled.   

Invariably, after any good party comes the hangover.  Unfortunately, this one looks to last all spring.  

When coaches and swimmers returned home yesterday, some unwittingly did so for the last time.  In the coming weeks, they’ll walk into practice only to be ushered into a classroom where someone in a suit will begin by saying, “We’re really sorry…”  After that, the words will be a blur.  “. . . fiscal realities being what they are . . . these choices are never easy. . . we know this is a surprise.”  And with that, their career will be cut short.  

Budget cuts and the rising cost of competitiveness are on a collision course that will leave hundreds of victims.   At least one major program is already on the block.  Several more are losing scholarships and almost every team faces budget cuts next year (and some even directed to return a portion of their current budget).  

Pointing Fingers
Some blame Title IX.  That’s misguided because Title IX is child’s play compared to the financial crisis colleges are facing.  The recession, unlike Title IX, has the ability to decimate men’s AND women’s programs.  We've already lost two programs this months – two WOMEN’S ONLY programs.

Others will blame the suits.  When you consider the quarter million dollars worth of lycra and polyurethane on display in College Station last weekend, its easy to make a scapegoat out of Speedo, TYR and their ilk.  Some teams spent more on suits than travel this year.  That doesn't mean suits are the problem.  They just exacerbate it. 

What goes unmentioned is the silent killer – our own ignorance.  It takes the form of programs that don’t work towards fiscal self-sufficiency; that fail to groom successors (that do more than recruit or take splits); or fail to make themselves relevant to their institution or community – athletically, financially, or educationally.  There’s not much we can do about the first two points, but this is one we need to purge from our sport.

Meet Wally
As scary as the future sounds, I left College Station hopeful because of a man named Wally Morton, head coach at Cleveland State.  I didn’t know much about Coach Morton, but in my mind CSU displayed the several traits found in threatened programs.  They’re a state school with more than the minimum number of sports, in an economically depressed part of the country.  They finished middle-of-the-pack in a mid-major conference where only six of the league’s ten schools sponsor swimming.  They've got a coach with thirty-five years of service that makes his salary a juicy prize to a cost-cutting administrator.  Finally, with a 13% gap between the percentage of female athletes and female students, they don't appear to meet the proportionality prong of Title IX.

That’s not to say Cleveland State doesn’t have some great things going for them.  They have an outstanding facility, no football team to pay for, and a big paycheck from making the NCAA basketball tournament.  But Cleveland State has something far more than that.  You see, in addition to coaching two teams, recruiting, teaching, and running the pool, Wally Morton has raised $1.6 million dollars for his program.   

“For every minute a coach spends on recruiting,” he explained, “he or she should spend one on fund raising.”  Over the course of the week, Morton figured that he had heard from or contacted forty different alumnae.  FORTY.  Most coaches can’t talk with forty recruits in a week.  

If a big budget makes for a juicy target, an endowment makes for a Kevlar vest.  No athletic director would ever risk losing a $1.6 million endowment.  Even better, and endowment makes an AD's job easier and that, folks, can make an ally out of an adversary.  Want proof?  As the athletic department basked in the glow of basketball's upset win over fourth-seeded Wake Forest, CSU Athletic Director Lee Reed, was watching Jakub Dobies take on Stanford, Texas and California in the consolation final of the 100 breaststroke.  Some 53.13 seconds later Morton got a text from Reed – a former basketball coach no less– congratulating the pair on Jakub’s 13th place finish.  

What can get an athletic director to watch swimming online or text his coach like that?  When that coach is making the AD look good and making his team relevant.

Grassroots Funding
The next few weeks will be pivotal for the health of our sport.  Without the Cleveland State’s at the base, the more threatened every program becomes.  We can’t afford to blame Title IX or the suits.  We can’t debate the fairness of supporting ourselves while football and basketball are feted like kings.  Most importantly, we can’t afford to put our heads in the sand.

Few people can do what Coach Morton has done, but we’d like to think you – the CollegeSwimming.com Nation – can.  By the end of next week we’ll introduce a project that will provide a grassroots way for fans to support their favorite team(s).  It will also empower teams to begin taking hold of their own destiny.   Two weeks might be overly ambitious, but the killing season is upon us and we can’t afford to be anything less than ambitious.

If your program would like to learn more, contact us at foundation@collegeswimming.com.