Lee Roy Selmon's case puts the focus on pressure officials face.
By PETE YOUNG
Published January 14, 2004
Lee Roy Selmon's six-week sabbatical from South Florida to assess a "private health matter" had legions in the Tampa Bay area offering well-wishes and prayers Tuesday.
It also raised the issue of the escalating pressures faced by Division I athletic directors, who occupy a position that has become increasingly public as college athletics have grown.
"I don't think there's any doubt that it can take its toll on a person," Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley said. "It can be very fatiguing. I've learned to deal with it in my own way, but it's part of being in the leadership role.
"I'm sure it's no different for a mayor, city commissioner or anybody in a public role. It's part of the responsibility of being a public figure. You have to come to the realization that it's all part of the job."
Some feel the job has become more stressful in recent years because of the information age.
"Between the Internet and talk radio, where instant experts are given access on the airwaves, a great deal of what was fun is gone," said Selmon's predecessor at USF, Paul Griffin. "I don't think newspapers have changed much. The real change from the media perspective has been the constant talk radio, the instant experts, and the anonymous instant experts and authorities on the Internet."
Foley agreed.
"I think the pressures have always been the same but it's much different now because of ... the noise in the system," Foley said. "Because of the communication that's out there, e-mail, the Internet, talk radio and all of those kinds of things, the noise is much louder and that makes it totally different.
"There's a constant bombardment with people wanting to express their opinions to you."
The increased money involved in college sports also has affected the job.
"The economic pressures of the position - it's a daily juggling act," said Griffin, a senior associate athletic director at Georgia Tech. "In addition to the stress, it's certainly not as much fun."
USF associate athletic director for compliance Steve Horton said observing the stress athletic directors must cope with has made him content in his job.
"I'm not an AD, and so I can't say (it's stressful) from first-hand experience, but I don't particularly care to be an AD because of that issue," Horton said. "It has become a more stressful job than it was in the past. People have more of an interest in college athletics now. You get tugged in a lot of different ways, there is a lot of decision-making and it can wear on people. I know it would wear on me.
"I don't know why coach (Vince) Dooley would want to stay on (as AD at Georgia). I would be looking forward to retirement."
Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said the position has become more complex.
"These jobs haven't become any easier to do well," said Castiglione, a good friend of Selmon's."There's more programs to oversee, more student-athletes to support, more stakeholders in our business than ever before.
"These are stressful jobs but there are many more jobs that are stressful. Being a parent is stressful. People who are running our country. Now that's stressful."
Castiglione said he hasn't spoken with Selmon since the news of his sabbatical.
"Stress can be caused by so many different factors," Castiglione said. "It can be self-imposed. It can be the pressure of facing certain challenges, the dealing with people, constituencies, the enormous time commitment an individual in this role must face. It can be all of that. And more. Everyone has a different situation and everyone handles it differently."
Griffin remembers hiring Selmon in 1993.
"He helped create the South Florida football identity before there was one. He was the indentity," Griffin said. "It certainly turned out to be a great thing for the university. Hopefully it hasn't been something that jeopardized his health to any degree."
- Staff writers Antonya English and Brian Landman contributed to this story.
