LaBarbera announces retirement

[Valpo89]

Congratulations to Mark:

https://www.valpoathletics.com/athletics/news/2021-22/21041/valparaiso-university-athletic-director-announces-retirement/

[VUSupport]

Will be an interesting list of who his replacement will be.

[vok22]

According to PO, they are hiring a search team to replace him.

[valpofb16]

Wonder if it'll be same committee as mascot

[vu84v2]

Even though this does seem to clearly be a retirement, the new AD will be expected to turnaround the men's basketball program. Thus, this will be a very interesting hire.

[vu72]

  I have the highest regard for Mark and all he has accomplished while at Valpo.

[crusader05]

Yeah I think Mark has done great things for the program but it seems clear that we need to be sure that whoever comes in to replace him is something who understands that he needs to be elevating the whole athletic department to a level of professionalism and success that both meets or exceeds our conference rivals AND justifies the university continuing to invest in and raise money towards athletics.

[AlaskaCrusader19]

MLB did some nice things for Valpo. I'll be interested to see where the programs go from here. Lots of facility upgrades needed.

[NativeCheesehead]

I am simultaneously grateful for what MLB has accomplished for us, mainly the conference movement, and excited for a new voice to lead us into the next phase of Valpo athletics. The hiring of an outside search firm for a job this important is a good sign of the new Prez putting Vu's money where his mouth is. 

[crusadermoe]

My feelings are similar and more praising of Mark L.  He elevated the school twice in conference membership. We have competed solidly in several MVC sports without competitive facilities. His hire of Matt is ripped on this board, but his Stanford player creds are real. And the ARC is not good bait for a name coach.

Every single strong AD candidate will ask the search firm and the interviewers what level of university financial commitment they will receive. We all want to aspire in hiring and promise that money.  However, with our operating deficits and the Moody's bond rating hanging over us, does VU honestly have the ability to dig deep? 

[valpofb16]

Mark did a great job for what he had to work with. I agree facilities are not far above high school (ARC) and below high school (Brown Field)

He managed to bring in championships for Basketball, Baseball, Softball, Women's Soccer, and Men's Soccer I believe.

He turned the University around a bit on football and women's basketball making hires. Only fault in Mark and it may be a good trait is he was slow to move on when things weren't working.

For a mid major school Mark took the University to the Horizon and the Missouri Valley, despite our enrollment dwindling.

Mark overall did a great job for a mid major college

[Chairback]

Getting us into the Valley was huge.  And the Drew's skipped town and he still got us in.  That is his greatest contribution to the university and not an easy feat at all. With our program's shortcomings he made us stand out to the MVC. 

I do like the timing of MLB's retirement.  I wouldn't have any confidence in Heckler hiring an AD.  And Padilla seems to want more and he has to have a good hire here or it will impact his tenure at Valpo (or his next step) big time so he knows he has to get it right.

[VU2014]

A good article with some quotes from President Padilla about the future.

https://twitter.com/sports_aaron/status/1491200443392872448?s=21

[wh]

My feelings are similar and more praising of Mark L.  He elevated the school twice in conference membership. We have competed solidly in several MVC sports without competitive facilities. His hire of Matt is ripped on this board, but his Stanford player creds are real. And the ARC is not good bait for a name coach.

Every single strong AD candidate will ask the search firm and the interviewers what level of university financial commitment they will receive. We all want to aspire in hiring and promise that money.  However, with our operating deficits and the Moody's bond rating hanging over us, does VU honestly have the ability to dig deep? 

When the Bears were interviewing candidates for head coach, a football analyst said the most important question to ask is what is your plan to put together a winning team centered around Justin Fields. He said very few, if any, will have the courage to say there is no guarantee Fields is the answer. The same holds true here. What person applying for AD will have the courage to tell Padilla that he can't guarantee sustained success without a new venue. No one.

[Beconetts]

He was a true beacon for the players at VU.

[oklahomamick]

They couldn't find another picture of ML?  Bryce is the center for one.  For two, Bryce hasn't worked at VU for 6 years now. 

[oklahomamick]

ML did good job overall.  I always enjoyed talking with him.  Congrats on retirement and hope he enjoys it. 

[humbleopinion]

he needs to be elevating the whole athletic department

Sounds like you are eliminating about half of the potential candidates.

[crusader05]

Mostly just typing quickly and tagging the he after the him even though they weren't referring to the same person. I don't care if it's a he or a she or a they as long as they're the right choice to move the department forward

[wh]

Mostly just typing quickly and tagging the he after the him even though they weren't referring to the same person. I don't care if it's a he or a she or a they as long as they're the right choice to move the department forward

Maybe we can keep the discussion centered on "most capable" - period. Valparaiso University athletics desperately needs a proven transformational leader. Someone who has taken something ordinary and turned it into something extraordinary. An inate visionary and strategist.

One politically correct cluster fxxk a year (elimination of the Crusader) is plenty.

[Chairback]

PO's 5 question interview with MLB was good and answered my questions.

I have to assume a D1 AD job in the MVC will attract a lot of applicants.  Even with Valpos current resources.

I'm excited for the future. 

[valpotx]

PO's 5 question interview with MLB was good and answered my questions.

I have to assume a D1 AD job in the MVC will attract a lot of applicants.  Even with Valpos current resources.

I'm excited for the future. 

Exactly.  Much more appealing as an overall athletics program, versus our timing with the last search for an AD.  I was surprised that MLB wanted the job back then.  It is much more attractive nowadays, even with the struggling Men's Basketball program.

[wh]

PO's 5 question interview with MLB was good and answered my questions.

I have to assume a D1 AD job in the MVC will attract a lot of applicants.  Even with Valpos current resources.

I'm excited for the future. 

Exactly.  Much more appealing as an overall athletics program, versus our timing with the last search for an AD.  I was surprised that MLB wanted the job back then.  It is much more attractive nowadays, even with the struggling Men's Basketball program.

If I were on an athletics administration career path, I wouldn't touch the Valpo AD job with a 10-foot pole unless I were completely desperate. You can't turn anything around without money and institutional leadership willing to invest it in athletics. Valpo has neither. It has a Board that sees athletics as a nuisance, an academic workforce and leadership team that see athletic spending as a personal affront, and a supportive president with nothing in his pocket but good intentions. Chicken soup with never be made from that toxic mix of ingredients.

[valporun]

When MLB was hired, Dr. Harre was still the university president, so he had tons of support coming in. When Mark Heckler took over, it was all about growing the enrollment and look of the university, figuring that if he got the population enrollment of campus up that sports would get a following from that. MLB had to work on the FITT project, which got the field turf at Brown Field, moving soccer onto Brown Field, helped intramurals get fields specific for their needs, the tennis teams got improved courts, and the track team could finally train on a true track, instead of that mess that was at Eastgate Field, or having to find tracks at the local high schools to train on. He also got so many improvements made to the softball complex and Em Bauer Field. He did more than what we seem to give him credit for because the basketball team hasn't been consistently in the NCAA tournament generating more money for the university? He's also the AD that oversaw having to changeup how the ARC was presented with ESPN coming in to broadcast our games regularly on their platforms for web streaming.

I would say Mark did more with what he had in his hands than what Bill Steinbrecher did. He had to bring our facilities up to match what the conferences we were in wanted us to have. Mark did that without freaking out because he knew that he had people that could help him get there in his staff, alumni, and student body that would support it. He also did things to help the student athletes be proud of what they had instead of making it all about what they didn't have.

Thank you, Mark, for bringing more to Valpo for the students to work towards, instead of sitting back and enjoying what you had. You took risks in bettering Valpo athletics in 18 years in so many ways that a lot of ADs wouldn't have done without having the money first. You played a strong poker hand, and went all in when going all in looked like a bad idea.

[Vinny]

Mr. LaBarbera did a commendable job at Valpo. He was essentially given five loaves of bread and two fish and figured out a way to feed an entire campus.