The waters have been calmed, the ship has been righted and now there’s a new captain.
MSU athletics director Ron Mason has taken over the controls of MSU sports, and said he doesn’t expect a lot of change.
Mason officially took over duties of the department Monday, after former athletics director Clarence Underwood ended his 23 years of work with MSU and more than three years at the helm of MSU sports.
Despite some tumultuous times, Mason and others credit Underwood with bringing unity and direction to the athletics department.
“I’m not coming in here with any grand plan,” Mason said. “I don’t think that’s necessary. (Underwood) really brought the staff together and gave them some common goals. I want to build on that.”
Mason, 62, left behind 36 years of college hockey head coaching experience and 924 victories. The winningest coach in college hockey history will attempt to bring his winning ways to the entire department.
“I want to keep this program stable and try to give all the sports the best chance to win,” he said. “Football and basketball have to be a priority because that’s just the nature of the beast.”
Among Mason’s challenges in making the transition from coach to administrator will be increasing revenue for the department. It operated in the black during Underwood’s tenure, but the cost of running an athletics program continues to rise.
As the 16th athletics director, Mason will be working with a $46.8 million budget for MSU’s 25 sports - 13 women’s teams and 12 men’s teams. MSU already has the maximum number of grants and aid allowable by the NCAA for each of its teams.
But Mason may need to find more money for the department to help with recruiting. Under university rules, football, men’s basketball and ice hockey are the only teams that can recruit all of their players from out-of-state, which is more expensive for the university.
Mason would like for his coaches to be able to sign the best athletes available, regardless of residence.
He said he would be in favor of adding luxury boxes to Spartan Stadium in an effort to bring in money for the long-term.
“When you look around the country, it seems to be the next wave of entertainment, to have club seating,” Mason said. “I think it’s a way to generate more dollars in a way that people like.
“There are a number of different plans floating around out there. I think what has to be decided is what is most feasible for us at this time.”
The sports facilities at MSU are in the process of being upgraded. Jenison Field House and Ralph Young Field are in the midst of reconstruction and renovation, but Mason said the makeover and construction of facilities will not end.
“The facilities are an ongoing thing,” he said. “It’s never going to stop. There is an arms race out there. I don’t want to get involved in that arms race, but I want to make darn sure we still are in the midst of things.”
Another issue Mason will have to deal with in his tenure is the university’s ongoing compliance with Title IX, the law that requires gender equality in college sports.
A recent study by the National Women’s Law Center revealed that all 30 of the schools it looked at were in violation of Title IX, including MSU.
According to the study, MSU’s female athletic participation is at 50 percent, while 43 percent of its scholarships are awarded to women - a 7-percent gap.
“It’s extremely difficult to nail it right on the head,” athletics department spokesman John Lewandowski said. “We’re making strides in that area and we’ve got a plan to get there. We just haven’t gotten there yet.”
Three men’s varsity sports have been cut in the past four years to help the university comply with Title IX regulations.
MSU has until 2004, the next scheduled certification process, to bridge the gap in scholarships.
Mason is expected to bring stability to a position that was held by four different individuals in the 1990s.
Former athletics director Doug Weaver said Mason is the ideal individual to silence concerns about too much turnover.
“Look how long he was our hockey coach,” Weaver said. “He had many opportunities to leave Michigan State. Continuity and stability allows long-range planning and thinking, and that’s crucial in athletics.
“Michigan State could use a long-term director and I feel that he’ll be with the Spartans for a long time.”
Mason is under a five-year contract and is expected to make more than $173,215 - his salary as hockey head coach. Underwood’s salary was $153,720.
And Mason brings one aspect to the position that Underwood couldn’t - a coach’s touch. After a meeting with Mason, field hockey head coach Michele Madison said she felt like she was talking to another coach.
“I walked out empowered and I walked out with energy,” the field hockey Big Ten Coach of the Year said. “He understands the pressure, he understands what the job entails in terms of recruiting, in terms of fund raising and what a coach really has time to do. And what they should be focusing on if they want to build a championship.
“He’ll be a coach’s administrator.”
