Current:Home > BackNew Northwestern AD Jackson aims to help school navigate evolving landscape, heal wounds-LoTradeCoin
New Northwestern AD Jackson aims to help school navigate evolving landscape, heal wounds
View Date:2024-12-24 03:43:40
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Mark Jackson had never visited Northwestern. By the time he first stepped foot on campus, he had already agreed to leave Villanova and take over as the school’s new athletic director.
“My wife, she was like, ‘Aren’t you gonna go visit the campus?’” Jackson said Tuesday, less than a week after he left Villanova to take the job sight unseen. “I was like I don’t need to, I’ve talked to enough people that said this place is just off the charts.”
Jackson, 51, had been athletic director at Villanova since 2015, overseeing a department that won 34 Big East championships in various sports and two men’s basketball NCAA Tournament titles.
The Boston-area product was an administrator at Southern California during the dominant run its football team had under coach Pete Carroll and at Syracuse before taking over at Villanova. He also worked in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots, and has been around some of the most successful coaches from Bill Belichick to Carroll to Jay Wright.
Jackson wasn’t necessarily looking to leave Villanova. But Northwestern clearly has plenty going for it besides its Big Ten membership and sterling academic reputation.
The school just north of Chicago has in recent years invested heavily in its athletic facilities, building the sparkling $270 million Walter Athletics Center and Ryan Fieldhouse indoor practice facility located along Lake Michigan. The basketball arena got a major overhaul. The biggest project of all is happening at the moment, with a new Ryan Field being constructed on the sight of the old one.
The football team will play most of its home games the next two years at a temporary lakefront stadium that opened Saturday to rave reviews, with its views of the water and the Chicago skyline. The Wildcats broke in their temporary home by beating Miami (Ohio) 13-6.
The program was one of the country’s biggest surprises last year, winning eight games and a bowl in coach David Braun’s first season. The men’s basketball team made its second straight NCAA Tournament.
There are also lingering scars. Besides helping Northwestern navigate a new landscape that includes NIL collectives and the possibility that schools will be able to directly compensate athletes while attempting to regulate payments from boosters, Jackson might also have to help the school heal.
“As I mentioned to my staff this morning, doing the right thing isn’t always easy, but it’s always right,” Jackson said. “We’re gonna commit to that. Are we gonna be perfect? Probably not. But we’re gonna proactively educate around the pitfalls around everything, whether that’s academic integrity, you look at gambling to what consent means on a college campus.”
Jackson takes over after former AD Derrick Gragg was moved into an advisory role with the university following a hazing and abuse scandal that engulfed the department.
The university initially suspended longtime football coach Pat Fitzgerald after allegations of hazing and abuse within the team. An investigation by attorney Maggie Hickey of law firm ArentFox Schiff did not find “sufficient” evidence that the coaching staff knew about ongoing hazing but concluded there were “significant opportunities” to find out about it.
With public pressure mounting, school president Michael Schill fired Fitzgerald. Gragg was on vacation at the time of the controversy and never addressed the team in person. Fitzgerald is suing the school for wrongful termination.
Later, the Chicago Tribune reported that a Northwestern investigation substantiated accusations of bullying behavior by baseball coach Jim Foster, who was hired by Gragg. Foster was not fired until after the investigation became public.
A separate investigation led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch recommended Northwestern enhance its hazing-prevention training. The school has taken steps to help prevent hazing and report misconduct.
Jackson mentioned the “uncompromising philosophy” of “treating each other well” and vowed to examine how Northwestern oversees each team.
“When you’re a head coach overseeing 110 football players versus a lacrosse team that may have 26 women, the challenges are different,” Jackson said. “Each program, I think, requires nuances. We want somebody immersed in that program to work with the head coach. Whether that’s fundraising, whether that’s compliance, whether it’s ticketing, the academic piece — I want our administrators in the weeds and connected to each and every program.” ___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Kathy Bates likes 'not having breasts' after her cancer battle: 'They were like 10 pounds'
- When it Comes to Reducing New York City Emissions, CUNY Flunks the Test
- If you haven't logged into your Google account in over 2 years, it will be deleted
- Congress wants to regulate AI, but it has a lot of catching up to do
- Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races
- Do dollar store bans work?
- Strip Mining Worsened the Severity of Deadly Kentucky Floods, Say Former Mining Regulators. They Are Calling for an Investigation
- So would a U.S. default really be that bad? Yes — And here's why
- Why Amanda Seyfried Traded Living in Hollywood for Life on a Farm in Upstate New York
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $240 Crossbody Bag for Just $59
Ranking
- Klay Thompson returns to Golden State in NBA Cup game. How to watch
- Fake viral images of an explosion at the Pentagon were probably created by AI
- Khloe Kardashian Labels Kanye West a Car Crash in Slow Motion After His Antisemitic Comments
- Study Underscores That Exposure to Air Pollution Harms Brain Development in the Very Young
- Taking stock of bonds: Does the 60/40 rule still have a role in retirement savings?
- Inside Clean Energy: In the New World of Long-Duration Battery Storage, an Old Technology Holds Its Own
- Kendall Jenner and Ex Devin Booker Attend Same Star-Studded Fourth of July Party
- Yes, Puerto Rican licenses are valid in the U.S., Hertz reminds its employees
Recommendation
-
New York eyes reviving congestion pricing toll before Trump takes office
-
Lululemon’s Olympic Challenge to Reduce Its Emissions
-
Families scramble to find growth hormone drug as shortage drags on
-
Lululemon’s Olympic Challenge to Reduce Its Emissions
-
Oregon's Dan Lanning, Indiana's Curt Cignetti pocket big bonuses after Week 11 wins
-
1000-Lb. Sisters' Tammy Slaton Shares Tearful Update After Husband Caleb Willingham's Death
-
One Year Later: The Texas Freeze Revealed a Fragile Energy System and Inspired Lasting Misinformation
-
Why Won’t the Environmental Protection Agency Fine New Mexico’s Greenhouse Gas Leakers?