When former South Carolina athletics director Eric Hyman notified the university's Board of Trustees over two weeks ago that he had accepted the same job at SEC newcomer Texas A&M, USC president Harris Pastides leaped into action.
Within hours he called Kevin O'Connell and Charles Waddell, two of Hyman's most trusted lieutenants, and sought to sell them on staying with USC.
Whatever Pastides, who earned the president's chair in part because of his keen ability to convince wealthy alumni to donate millions of dollars to the school, said convinced both administrators to remain at USC and work under new AD Ray Tanner.
In the process, O'Connell and Waddell were given well-deserved promotions. O'Connell will become the athletic department's Chief Operating Officer, replacing Marcy Girton (she's joining Hyman), while Waddell was bestowed with the title of Deputy Athletics Director.
Keeping O'Connell and Waddell in Columbia was vitally important in order to boost Tanner's efforts towards sustaining the tremendous momentum built by USC athletics over the past few years, Pastides contended.
"The morning after Eric resigned, I called every one of the senior administrators and told them we needed them," Pastides said on Friday. "I was concerned about them being picked off by different universities. There's no guarantee of what will happen down the road, but every one of them said, 'We believe in USC and we believe in Ray Tanner.'
"I was concerned (O'Connell and Waddell) would leave and others would, too. So, I got both of them on the phone. They both said, 'Thank you for calling me, we would love it here and we want to stay.' But there are no handcuffs. Down the road, I don't know what's going to happen. But both Charles and Kevin bring complementary skill sets to coach Tanner. He will be the leader. The flank is made up of strong, complimentary individuals. When you look at those three people together, I think that's a dream team."
While Hyman has garnered most of the credit for the athletic department's success since he came aboard in July 2005, he frequently pointed to O'Connell and Waddell as the unsung heroes behind the scenes.
And for good reason.
The unpretentious O'Connell has overseen USC's massive facility improvement projects over the past six years as well as serving as the department's liaison with baseball and men's basketball.
Who was the guy that had to deal with the slew of architects, builders and government agencies as the numerous construction projects moved through the mazes of regulation until becoming reality? O'Connell.
Deciding to stay at USC instead of accompanying Hyman to Texas A&M was a difficult one for O'Connell, who has served as Executive Associate Athletics Director since 2005. He worked alongside Hyman for six years at TCU as the associate athletics director of external operations, and was with Hyman during his previous AD stops at Miami (Ohio) and NC State.
In short, O'Connell has been one of Hyman's most trusted advisors for a long time, so saying goodbye to his long-time friend, boss and mentor wasn't easy.
"Eric did a wonderful job here and he'll do a great job there," O'Connell told GamecockCentral.com shortly after the press conference introducing Tanner as the school's new AD on Friday. "We never really went down that path (joining Hyman in College Station). It was all about focusing on the Gamecocks. I love being a Gamecock. I love what we're doing here and the momentum we have. I was anxious to be a part of this team going forward. I'm looking forward to it."
His new responsibilities haven't yet been clarified, O'Connell said, but he should sit down with Tanner soon to iron out those crucial details.
"I'm really proud and excited to be part of (Tanner's) team," O'Connell said. "I would think there would be an expansion of duties. I look forward to working with Ray and Charles and our senior management team as we develop what the responsibilities will be."
Like Hyman, Waddell was a standout football player at North Carolina and is the last three-sport lettermen at the school. He earned All-ACC and All-America honors in 1974 and was bestowed with the Patterson Medal, the highest athletic award at UNC.
Waddell played in the NFL for Tampa Bay, Seattle and San Diego before embarking on a business and athletics administration career that has produced an impressive and wide-ranging resume.
Since joining USC in 2006 from Fayetteville State, where he served as vice chancellor for advancement, Waddell has overseen a number of key areas within the athletics department, including policies and procedures, travel and sports medicine.
He has also served as the department's administrator for football, making him the "go-to" guy for Hyman when important issues relating to football arose and critical decisions had to be made.
Who was the guy handed the thankless task of making the countless number of phone calls in order to put together USC's non-conference schedule for the next several years? Waddell.
William Hubbard, Chairman of the Board's Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, realized the importance of keeping O'Connell and Waddell in the fold rather than seeing them go to Texas A&M with Hyman.
Hubbard has consulted many times with O'Connell over the past several years during the on-going crusade to construct and upgrade USC's athletic facilities.
"I really think the world of Kevin," Hubbard told GamecockCentral.com on Friday. "As chair of the athletics committee, I've worked with him on all these projects. I found him to be incredibly responsive and detail-oriented. He's generally been the go-to person on facilities in the athletics department. Kevin is crucial. I know he wants to be here and he's excited to be here. I think he's going to be here for a long time."
The significance of keeping O'Connell and Waddell around was hammered home by Pastides when he first met with the advisory search committee, on June 29, only a few hours after Hyman formally told the Board he was leaving for Texas A&M.
"Dr. Pastides agreed with us that he needed to get on the phone and call the key leadership in the athletics department to let them know how much we valued what they have done for the university and how much we wanted to keep them," Hubbard said.
"He did that."
link: http://southcarolina...asp?CID=1385319
Within hours he called Kevin O'Connell and Charles Waddell, two of Hyman's most trusted lieutenants, and sought to sell them on staying with USC.
Whatever Pastides, who earned the president's chair in part because of his keen ability to convince wealthy alumni to donate millions of dollars to the school, said convinced both administrators to remain at USC and work under new AD Ray Tanner.
In the process, O'Connell and Waddell were given well-deserved promotions. O'Connell will become the athletic department's Chief Operating Officer, replacing Marcy Girton (she's joining Hyman), while Waddell was bestowed with the title of Deputy Athletics Director.
Keeping O'Connell and Waddell in Columbia was vitally important in order to boost Tanner's efforts towards sustaining the tremendous momentum built by USC athletics over the past few years, Pastides contended.
"The morning after Eric resigned, I called every one of the senior administrators and told them we needed them," Pastides said on Friday. "I was concerned about them being picked off by different universities. There's no guarantee of what will happen down the road, but every one of them said, 'We believe in USC and we believe in Ray Tanner.'
"I was concerned (O'Connell and Waddell) would leave and others would, too. So, I got both of them on the phone. They both said, 'Thank you for calling me, we would love it here and we want to stay.' But there are no handcuffs. Down the road, I don't know what's going to happen. But both Charles and Kevin bring complementary skill sets to coach Tanner. He will be the leader. The flank is made up of strong, complimentary individuals. When you look at those three people together, I think that's a dream team."
While Hyman has garnered most of the credit for the athletic department's success since he came aboard in July 2005, he frequently pointed to O'Connell and Waddell as the unsung heroes behind the scenes.
And for good reason.
The unpretentious O'Connell has overseen USC's massive facility improvement projects over the past six years as well as serving as the department's liaison with baseball and men's basketball.
Who was the guy that had to deal with the slew of architects, builders and government agencies as the numerous construction projects moved through the mazes of regulation until becoming reality? O'Connell.
Deciding to stay at USC instead of accompanying Hyman to Texas A&M was a difficult one for O'Connell, who has served as Executive Associate Athletics Director since 2005. He worked alongside Hyman for six years at TCU as the associate athletics director of external operations, and was with Hyman during his previous AD stops at Miami (Ohio) and NC State.
In short, O'Connell has been one of Hyman's most trusted advisors for a long time, so saying goodbye to his long-time friend, boss and mentor wasn't easy.
"Eric did a wonderful job here and he'll do a great job there," O'Connell told GamecockCentral.com shortly after the press conference introducing Tanner as the school's new AD on Friday. "We never really went down that path (joining Hyman in College Station). It was all about focusing on the Gamecocks. I love being a Gamecock. I love what we're doing here and the momentum we have. I was anxious to be a part of this team going forward. I'm looking forward to it."
His new responsibilities haven't yet been clarified, O'Connell said, but he should sit down with Tanner soon to iron out those crucial details.
"I'm really proud and excited to be part of (Tanner's) team," O'Connell said. "I would think there would be an expansion of duties. I look forward to working with Ray and Charles and our senior management team as we develop what the responsibilities will be."
Like Hyman, Waddell was a standout football player at North Carolina and is the last three-sport lettermen at the school. He earned All-ACC and All-America honors in 1974 and was bestowed with the Patterson Medal, the highest athletic award at UNC.
Waddell played in the NFL for Tampa Bay, Seattle and San Diego before embarking on a business and athletics administration career that has produced an impressive and wide-ranging resume.
Since joining USC in 2006 from Fayetteville State, where he served as vice chancellor for advancement, Waddell has overseen a number of key areas within the athletics department, including policies and procedures, travel and sports medicine.
He has also served as the department's administrator for football, making him the "go-to" guy for Hyman when important issues relating to football arose and critical decisions had to be made.
Who was the guy handed the thankless task of making the countless number of phone calls in order to put together USC's non-conference schedule for the next several years? Waddell.
William Hubbard, Chairman of the Board's Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, realized the importance of keeping O'Connell and Waddell in the fold rather than seeing them go to Texas A&M with Hyman.
Hubbard has consulted many times with O'Connell over the past several years during the on-going crusade to construct and upgrade USC's athletic facilities.
"I really think the world of Kevin," Hubbard told GamecockCentral.com on Friday. "As chair of the athletics committee, I've worked with him on all these projects. I found him to be incredibly responsive and detail-oriented. He's generally been the go-to person on facilities in the athletics department. Kevin is crucial. I know he wants to be here and he's excited to be here. I think he's going to be here for a long time."
The significance of keeping O'Connell and Waddell around was hammered home by Pastides when he first met with the advisory search committee, on June 29, only a few hours after Hyman formally told the Board he was leaving for Texas A&M.
"Dr. Pastides agreed with us that he needed to get on the phone and call the key leadership in the athletics department to let them know how much we valued what they have done for the university and how much we wanted to keep them," Hubbard said.
"He did that."
link: http://southcarolina...asp?CID=1385319
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