With preseason practices already underway and the start of the fall season close at hand, staff changes continue within the University of Maine athletics department.
Laura Reed, who served as the assistant athletic director for public relations, recently announced her departure. She had been a member of UMaine’s sports information staff for 15 years.
“It was my decision to leave. I just have so many interests that I want to pursue and athletics didn’t really leave me a lot of time,” Reed said via email.
“I can’t wait to pursue some things that I haven’t been able to for years. I’m just really excited for what God has in store for me. Whatever I end up doing, I’ll be cheering for the Black Bears!” she added.
Reed is the third athletics administrator to leave UMaine since the end of the 2014-2015 school year.
Senior associate athletic director for external affairs Joe Roberts resigned in May after 25 years with the department. Roberts, who dealt primarily with marketing and promotions, cited the desire to “do something different.”
In June, Eileen Flaherty stepped down as UMaine’s deputy director of athletics and NCAA Senior Woman Administrator to become the athletics director at Westfield High School in Massachusetts. She previous headed UMaine’s NCAA compliance department.
Director of athletics Karlton Creech views the turnover as a normal part of collegiate athletics, especially given the increasing demands of the jobs.
“In general, our industry is high-stress, high-workload; nights, weekends,” he said. “From August to May it’s all-go every day.
“If you work in college athletics, whether you’re a coach or an administrator, it’s got to be what you love to do and you’ve got to be willing to spend a lot of time doing it,” added Creech, who has served as UMaine’s director of athletics since February 2014.
Creech welcomes the opportunity to re-evaluate the department’s needs as UMaine prepares to replace Roberts and Reed.
“What I want to make sure we do every time I see turnover in our department is take a hard look at who’s doing what, was that the best way to handle all the responsibilities we have in our department, and take a fresh look at it,” Creech said.
That doesn’t necessary mean there will be any major changes.
“It probably won’t look exactly like it looked before, but we’ve got to make sure all the functions are covered,” Creech added.
Decisions about specific duties and areas of concentration will depend upon the talents of the people who are brought on board.
“That’s a great opportunity, when you’re bringing new people into your organization, where they can bring a fresh perspective and help you achieve your goals,” he said.
In the meantime, UMaine athletics is a bit shorthanded as student-athletes return to campus for training camp and the start of the fall semester.
“I’m confident we’re going to find great people with great ideas that can come in and help us,” Creech said.
With Reed gone, UMaine’s athletic media relations staff is temporarily down to one man, assistant manager Tyson McHatten. Chris Hill left last winter to accept a similar position at Canisius University in his native Buffalo.
Creech said he expects to have three people staffing that department for 2015-2016, but that the responsibilities continue to evolve.
“It used to be interacting with the media, keeping statistics up to date,” he said, “and it’s morphed into so much more than that from a technology standpoint: Video content, web streaming, things that have come in the Internet age that are really changing the role of the classic SID.”
To help maximize exposure for the men’s ice hockey team, Creech has created a hybrid position in that program — video coordinator and community engagement manager.
It is manned by Kohl Schultz, a University of North Carolina graduate who started at UMaine in July. He was the director of hockey operations at Bemidji State University in Minnesota for one year after a three-season stint as a coach with the Carolina Junior Hurricanes travel hockey program in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“He’ll be working with media, marketing and video promotions,” Creech said.
“He’ll be the primary media contact for the program,” Creech said. “Kohl’s focus definitely is external, generating interest in the men’s ice hockey program.”
Flaherty’s departure opened the door for UMaine alumnus Lynn Coutts to move from head softball coach to senior director of athletics and SWA. Mike Coutts, Lynn’s husband, subsequently was appointed as the Black Bears’ head softball coach after working as the associate head coach.
That created an opening for a softball assistant, which was filled by Bangor native Ryan Jones. He worked with Mike Coutts for several years at the Frozen Ropes baseball and softball training facility in Portland.