New Indiana A.D. Is Out

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana., November 8. NEW Indiana men's swim coach Ray Looze, just hired a few months ago by Athletic Director Mike McNeely, will soon have a new boss.

McNeely, a former vice-president for the San Diego Chargers NFL team, resigned today but reports out of IU indicate the "resignation" wasn't exactly voluntary.

The Indiana Daily Student newspaper reported yesterday that McNeely was asked to resign by outgoing IU President Miles Brand. The reason, as is often the case in these matters, is money. Indiana had a $3.5 million deficit as of last summer that has been pared down to about $1 million using reserves. But with the football program floundering, the ledger's ink is decidedly still red.

A statement issued by Brand, who hired McNeely 16 months ago, said that "matters within the athletic department have not worked out to the parties' mutual satisfaction." The statement added that McNeely would be paid about $800,000 in accordance with the terms of his contract, which was schedued to run throuugh July of 2006.

Brand said that IU vice-president/chief executive officer Tony Clapacs would serve as McNeely's replacement until a permanent successor is found.

No word yet on who the new AD will be but one thing is certain: it WON'T be current Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight, whom Brand fired as IU coach last year. Knight, an Ohio State grad who won an NCAA Championship as a player, won three NCAA titles while at IU for nearly 30 years. But his "obstreperous" behavior and repaated run-ins with fans, refs and his own players made him too much of a liability for Brand. .

— Bill Bell

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