Marshall Magazine Summer 2022

a good feeling when the higher-ups recognize some of the same issues that are needed to make huge steps in the program.” Spears had other pressing matters facing him his first few weeks on the job. Marshall’s basketball team fin ished 12-21 in the 2021-22 season. He and Head Coach Dan D’Antoni met to discuss and agree upon a series of one-year contracts beginning this upcoming season. “I want to develop a relationship with Coach D’Antoni,” Spears said. “I will challenge the status quo, and I think he wants that to happen as well.” Spears said he also wants to visit and take a critical look at all of Marshall’s athletic facilities. He’s already broached the idea of replac ing the seats in the south end zone of Edwards Stadium with a party deck. At Pitt last year he quickly learned that in these days of 60-inch televi sions, YouTube and cell phones, you

better put on a good show to get fans in the stands. “The football team at Pitt won 11 games last year; and even though we sold 55,000 tickets per game, there were times when 20,000 people didn’t show up,” Spears said. “That concerns me. There’s something going on with the game-day atmosphere that needs to improve. We need to make our fans feel like they are missing out on a great experience if they’re not in the stadium.” In chasing his dream of becoming an athletic director, Spears has come all the way from Puget Sound to the Ohio River. Huntington is not Seattle, and Joan C. Edwards Stadium isn’t Husky Stadium — but that’s why he is where he is. A change of scenery has served him well.

Keith Morehouse is a freelance writer and the sports director at WSAZ.

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