I was reading an article about Gene Smith in the Athletic and I saw he was one of the top 3 tenured AD's in Division 1. I first met Gene when he was graduate assistant for Dan Devine at Notre Dame. He knew then he wanted to be in the administrative sector of college athletics. Dan's recommendation to Iowa State played a big role in his getting the AD job at a relatively young age and when Kevin White left Arizona State for Notre Dame (a strong recommendation from Devine) Dan was a great help to Gene in his quest to become the AD at Arizona State. During his time at Arizona State, Mike Alden worked on his staff. Alden left ASU to take the AD job at Texas State after working with Dan and getting his recommendation for the job. Gene Smith left ASU to go to Ohio State and once again he received a very strong recommendation from Devine. He is the third longest tenured AD.
Who is the longest tenured Athletic Director? Joe Castiglione the OU AD. Joe worked at Mizzou starting I think in about 1982 or so. Devine was asked to come back to MU as a temporary AD in 1992. The athletic department was in horrible shape financially and they reached out to Dan to help bail it out. It was only supposed to be for 6 months or so. However, it turned out to be for 2 years and quite honestly put a big burden on Devine's family because Jo Devine was ill with MS and could not move to back to Columbia. Dan relied heavily on Joe Castiglione to get the department out of the shape it was in and when it finally started to straighten out he knew it was time for him to leave and Joe was named the permanent AD. When Joe left, Devine once more gave Alden a strong recommendation for the MU job.
It is remarkable how so many talented administrators worked with Devine over the years and how long their tenures were or have been.
Who is the longest tenured Athletic Director? Joe Castiglione the OU AD. Joe worked at Mizzou starting I think in about 1982 or so. Devine was asked to come back to MU as a temporary AD in 1992. The athletic department was in horrible shape financially and they reached out to Dan to help bail it out. It was only supposed to be for 6 months or so. However, it turned out to be for 2 years and quite honestly put a big burden on Devine's family because Jo Devine was ill with MS and could not move to back to Columbia. Dan relied heavily on Joe Castiglione to get the department out of the shape it was in and when it finally started to straighten out he knew it was time for him to leave and Joe was named the permanent AD. When Joe left, Devine once more gave Alden a strong recommendation for the MU job.
It is remarkable how so many talented administrators worked with Devine over the years and how long their tenures were or have been.
