UA President Robert Robbins should prioritize NIL flexibility in athletic director hire

You wouldn’t want to be University of Arizona President Robert Robbins, right now.

Armchair decision-making is the birthright of all sports fans. But Robbins has just replaced his football coach, and he’s looking for an athletic director to take over a department facing a $40 million budget deficit as it moves into a new conference with a travel schedule that would make Santa skeptical of the costs and logistics.

“We’ve got to get the right leader in our athletic department,” Robbins said Friday, speaking to The Arizona Republic’s Editorial Board. “Someone who has experience, preferably a national figure who’s going to be a leader, who can come in and solve these problems and navigate our change from, sadly, the demise of the Pac-12 into the Big 12.”

Robbins is under fire from all sides as the university faces a $177 million budget shortfall that had Gov. Katie Hobbs questioning his leadership and vision in a pointed letter to the state Board of Regents.

For now, at least, let’s stick to sports.

Robbins has to replace former AD Dave Heeke, who comes across as the fall guy for letting Jedd Fisch get away after a wildly successful season. Heeke, however, probably was a victim of the budget deficits that prevented the coach from getting a decent raise.

“In the case of Coach Fisch,” Robbins said, “he did a great job, and I think that when he left, we got a $5.5 million payout from the University of Washington. And we got Coach Brennan. … We got the right person. He’s going to stay here until he retires or until he gets fired because he doesn’t win.

“He has deep ties to Arizona, and he’s the right person at the right time to lead this team. We’re very fortunate that he’s been able to keep the team together, and I think that he’ll enjoy years of success and will be here for a long, long time.”

It’s exactly what fans and donors want to hear, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Jedd Fisch's change of tune

Fisch talked plenty about sticking around at UA, saying the “grass isn’t always greener” and that money doesn’t always equal happiness.

Then he left Tucson, where he was making about $3.4 million a year, for Seattle, where he’s going to get about $7.5 million.

I don’t know Brent Brennan, so I can’t predict what he would or wouldn’t do if another school dangled a similar offer, but I know that if he were a friend of mine, I’d be shoving him out of the door and driving him to the airport.

(Same goes for Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham or anyone else with the opportunity to double their paycheck.)

The best bet Robbins has to create and sustain some stability in his athletic department is to hire someone who understands the intricacies of an evolving college sports world, upended by rules that allow players to get paid for their name, image and likeness.

“NIL …  takes away money that donors would have given to the athletic department to help solve some of these deficits, because it now goes directly to the players,” Robbins said.

Robbins’ next athletic director needs to consider player endorsement deals as an opportunity instead of as an obstacle.

If players can get paid by a car dealership, for example, that dealership should be prepared to promote the partnership, something that should help UA reduce its advertising costs.  

Regardless, Robbins wants someone with experience, but that’s going to be hard to find, because this is all so new. We’re only in Year 3 of the NIL era.

What to look for in an Arizona Athletic Director

If I were making the hire, I’d be looking for someone with a proven record of successful big ideas.

I’d look for someone who could strike a balance that allows the business community to pay and promote athletes, while individual donors continue to boost the athletic department.

Part of that would be seeking NIL opportunities for sports that don’t generate revenue.

Right now, NIL is mostly thought of in the context of football and men’s basketball, but consider how popular track, gymnastics and swimming are every Olympic cycle, and how popular golf is year-round. If the university takes the lead on securing deals for these athletes, could it also negotiate to keep a cut of the profit, functioning like a large talent agency?

Could the athletic department take the lead in securing big-picture NIL deals that would pay entire teams, again while kicking a chunk of the profits back to the school for negotiating the agreement?

Surely, this type of strategy could help fill in the $40 million hole?

It’s hard to say, however, because it’s all so new.

Robbins, for his part, needs to consider all solutions, prioritizing flexibility over experience.

He’s under fire from all sides.

And you wouldn’t want to be sitting in his chair, right now.

Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.