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amount of athletic talent.
Some call it a natural talent. Others say
it is God-given.
But success in the world of collegiate
athletics isn’t judged solely on one’s natur
al ability to throw a ball or to run especial
ly fast.
Sandra Kinoshita, an academic coun
selor and coordinator of multicultural pro
grams in die NU athletic department, has
spent the last seven years working with
athletes.
After working at three different
schools, Kinoshita said Nebraska’s suc
cess in all sports comes down to one thing
- the amount of time and money the athlet
ic department spends to develop the play
ers’ natural talent to the fullest.
“It’s the system,” Kinoshita said.
“Success depends on what the system as a
whole can offer as far as resources, avail
ability and visibility.”
The main ingredient
Those at the top of the athletic depart
ment hierarchy know athletic success
depends on much more than God-given
ability.
Another 1,400 employees work part
time - from two to 30 hours a week - as
tutors, student managers, student workers,
ticket-takers and concessions personnel,
Fouraker said.
Overall, 1,600 people work on behalf
of 700 athletes at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln - a more than 2 to 1
ratio.
By contrast, UNL has more than
12,000 faculty, staff and employees work
ing to support more than 22,000 students
outside the athletic department, according
to figures obtained from Institutional
Research and Planning.
That’s a ratio of about 0.5 staff member
for each student.
The whole athletic department has a
budget of $36 million, so more than
$50,000 is spent per athlete in the form of
recruitment, medical treatment, staff
salaries and other support, Byrne said.
The investment of staff and money has
led to a program that promotes a philoso
phy of total support for each athlete.
The program is at the top of its class in
many areas, Byrne said.
“We are clearly one of the best, if not
facility was one of the biggest, said Boyd
Epley, director of athletic performance. It
boasted a size bigger than Oklahoma’s and
Indiana’s put together.
Today, schools across the nation are
closing the gap with Nebraska, construct
ing facilities that are larger than
Nebraska’s 30,000-foot complex.
“As more and more schools spend
more money, we’ve continued to lose our
advantage,” Epley said. “But we’ve forced
a lot of schools to spend a lot of money.”
Papik said so-called “upsets” of large
sports powers by less supported schools
proved the shift in emphasis is having an
effect.
But, for the most part, schools that
have the resources continue to dominate.
“If you look at who were the football
superpowers 25 years ago, they are the
same ones that exist today,” Papik said.
“It’s been a success only to a degree.”
The idea that student athletes need per
sonal support was accompanied by the
idea that football players aren’t the only
ones who should have it.
Beginning in the early 1990s, adminis
trators in the athletic department began to
recognize that all 24 sports at Nebraska
deserved equal treatment.
More emphasis was put on the idea
when Byrne began his tenure, Papik said.
“We decided we wanted to give every
sport a chance to be successful competing
at a national level and recruiting at a
national level,” Papik said.
The change in attitude meant the whole
support system had to adjust to fit the
needs of a variety of individual athletes.
Weight rooms started filling with
swimmers and bowlers rather than just
football players.
Two full-time nutritionists - one male
and one female - were hired to monitor
athletes’ diets.
are “caught between a rock and a hard
place” when trying to meet the demands of
competing nationally.
It’s important to be able to tell the
coaches of Nebraska’s 24 sports they will
be the best-paid and have die best facili
ties, Papik said.
“You have to make the decisions that
revolve around money,” he said.
During his seven-year tenure, Byrne
has been keenly aware of the importance
of money in the success of the system.
(( We decided we
wanted to give every
sport a chance to be
successful competing
at a national level
and recruiting at a
national level”
Al Papik
senior associate athletic director emeritus
Succeeding Bob Devaney as athletic
director, Byrne said his style of running
the organization is different from
Devaney’s.
“I have more of a business focus,”
Byrne said.
Byrne’s business mind is evident when
he talks about what the future of the
Nebraska athletic department will be.
“We’re trying to continue to invest in
ourselves,” he said. “As long as we do that,
we’ll continue to have a great program.”
Epley agrees. Even though Nebraska
44 Our philosophy is that great teams have great support. It
has to be first-rate, or it won’t be a first-rate program.
Bill Byrne
NU athletic director
As a result, a web of support services
surrounds each athlete who plays for
Nebraska.
The intricately constructed support
team helps determine how much athletes
eat, how much they lift, what classes they
take, what career path they choose and
what media personnel they speak to.
“Qur philosophy is that great teams
have great support,” NU athletic director
Bill Byrne said. “It has to be first-rate, or it
won’t be a first-rate program.”
Roughly 200 employees work full
time in the department at jobs that, direct
ly or indirectly, exist to support the athlete
at Nebraska, said Gary Fouraker, associate
// .
•• As more and more
schools spend more
money, we’ve
continued to lose our
advantage. But
we’ve forced a lot of
schools to spend a
lot of money.”
Boyd Epky
director of athletic performance
athletic director for business affairs.
Academic counselors, performance
I coaches, athletic trainers and administra
tors are all included in this number
the best,” Byrne said. “We are a leader in a
number of areas and will continue to be.”
Changing times
Byrne’s recipe for success is one that
has been around for only a decade.
Before the 1990s, support for athletes
meant providing them with a' scholarship
that paid for their tuition, room, board,
books and fees, said A1 Papik, senior asso
ciate athletic director emeritus.
Student athletes were also provided
with a small amount of “laundry money”
they could use for incidental purposes.
Today, the definition of “athletic sup
port” has been reshaped nationwide.
Schools across the United States have con
structed multi-million dollar complexes so
athletes can eat, train, study and talk to
career counselors all in one place.
The amount of support athletes get
hasn’t changed. But the form it comes in
has, Papik said.
“Athletic departments are more con
cerned about students being able to com
pete athletically while competing academ
ically and getting a degree,” Papik said. '
The NCAA was responsible for the
shift.
By making schools spend more money
on embedding life and academic skills in
student athletes, the NCAA believed it
could even the playing field between
schools that had a lot of resources and oth
ers that didn’t, Papik said.
Schools would have to cut back on the
amount of scholarships and coaches to
fund the increased support system.
But today, instead of working toward a
level playing field, schools are viciously
trying to create the best support system by
outbuilding and out-buying each other.
When Nebraska first built the West
Stadium Strength Complex in 1981, the
But most importantly, all student ath
letes felt empowered, whether they were a
football player or a golfer.
“We make sure every team has total
support,” Byrne said. “We try to make sure
that all teams are important.”
Making it possible
Treating all teams equally and provid
ing an extensive support system have
introduced another necessity for Nebraska
athletics in the 1990s - money.
Appropriately enough, one of the
biggest changes the athletic department
has seen during the last 10 years is the
increased emphasis on the bottom line.
It s something that is met with mixed
emotions by members - both past and pre
sent - of the athletic department.
“Some of us that are classified as ‘old
timers’ are disappointed that the decisions
we need to make administratively revolve
around money and what the spectators,
fans and public demand,” Papik said.
Epley feels differently. Living in a state
with less resources than highly populated
states, he sees the importance of finding
the money to keep Nebraska’s program at
its current level.
“Nebraska’s competed well,” Epley
said. “More fans, while they may not have
the finances, have loyalty.”
But for Nebraska to stay at the top,
Epley said the department needs to find
ways to finance a new building to house
many aspects of the system.
“It’s hard to predict the future, but I
have a feeling a new building is critical to
our ability to enhance our position nation
ally,” Epley said.
While Papik is nostalgic for the days
when the athletic department didn’t focus
so much on the money-making aspect of
the department, he admits administrators
has one of the strongest fan bases around
and recruits some of the most talented ath
letes, the future of the program will still
depend on Nebraska outdoing other states
in the buildings that facilitate the entire
system.
“We don’t have mountains, industry,
wealthy donors or the population,” Epley
said.
“As a result, there are not a lot of
resources to give us an advantage over
other states.
“We need to rely on our facilities.”
QiSiwPip The All-Americans
day THREAP Athletes and their
tutors
Learning Disabilities
■■ ■— ... ■ ■ ...—
OAtfhp: The Sports Major
-...
day SIX Corruption in the
System
Isolation and Its
Counterparts
Athletes After Graduation
The Social Scene for Athletes
'•v Athletes as Role Models
lllfe- ” "?& A Day in the Life
■ The Academic/
Athletic Tradeoff