Washington State President Kirk Schultz admitted his school’s athletic program is in “bad shape” as it faces a harsh new reality after last week’s Pac-12 defections.
Schulz, on his first four-team conference call, relived tense moments on the Pac-12 Chiefs’ Friday morning conference call. As the day progressed, optimism emerged that Oregon and Washington could stick to a new TV deal and save the league.
Oregon and Washington essentially ended the call before it started, Schulz said, revealing his intentions to finalize a deal with the Big Ten.
“It’s like breaking up; it’s weird,” Schulz said. “Nobody wants to sit there too long.”
The crux came when the call began, when Schulz texted veteran athletic director Pat Chun: “We’ve got to roll up our sleeves and get to work.”
In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN, Schulz weighed Washington State’s options as “keeping all things burning.” He emphasized his and Chun’s engagement with the student-athletes after such a seismic day and admitted to being “annoyed” by their fan base.
Schulz served as Kansas boss during and around the Big 12 upsets of 2010, distilling Friday’s diversion from a possible Apple deal to the current dispute.
“I don’t remember such a dramatic day in a change of scenery,” he said.
He later added, “College athletics is at its worst with this realignment material. Everyone is really looking out for themselves. What it also does is change behavior and people stop being honest with each other.”
Schulz made it clear that regardless of conference or affiliation, Washington state would continue to “invest” as a Power 5 program. He also said that Washington state would not cut sports, even if it faced a very real budget crisis that he estimated would would represent 40% of school athletic income that would disappear. (The school already faces a budget deficit of more than $11 million, and he said using student fees, which are low at the school, could be a way to help raise money for athletics.)
He stressed the human side of such a moment for the Washington State Department of Sports and Athletes, predicting that the next two years “won’t be pretty.”
“I don’t want to understate it,” Schultz said, “it’s budgetary practice.” “You are firing people. Your best trainers are always on the market. All of a sudden, one of those programs [to a coach that] didn’t look so good a year ago [looks different]. “
The future of Washington state remains uncertain. He and Chun dedicated half an hour this week to meeting with 200 student athletes and answering their questions and concerns about what Washington state athletes will look like going forward. They created an open dialogue to respond to more questions and concerns that will arise in the coming days and weeks.
Athletes’ top concerns revolved around cutbacks to the sport, access to tournaments, travel and the conference’s final destination for the school.
Schulz did not respond to the conference article, saying that WSU has hired a consultant and will explore options. This included adding programs to the remaining Pac-12 or joining a league like the Mountain West or perhaps the American Athletic Conference.
“At the end of the day, we’re doing something on the East Coast that, unless there’s a lot of money, there’s no way we can make it work,” Schulz said.
Waiting for a compromise between the ACC, Stanford and Cal is something they — and the state of Oregon — are struggling to move forward, he said.
Part of the consultant’s job will be to assess the remaining value in the Pac-12, which includes significant brand equity, NCAA basketball units and what scope the remaining four schools offer access to Pac-12 media money. Lawyers are examining the extent to which these schools have access to media funds and other league assets this year.
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