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In the two years that Patrick Nero has been athletic director at the University of Maine, 16 of UMaine’s 19 varsity teams have finished either first or second in their respective conferences. In addition, UMaine received the 2004 Academic Cup for having 226 of its more than 400 student-athletes earn a 3.0 GPA or better.
The leadership that Nero has shown in the past two years could explain many of the recent successes at UMaine.
“I have discussed with our student-athletes, coaches and administration that I want Black Bear athletics to prioritize our mission in this order: provide academic opportunity for student-athletes; represent our university and state with great pride; and achieve athletic success,” said Nero. “If we are able to follow this simple path, we will have the kind of athletic program we all strive for.”
Nero came to the University of Maine from the sports powerhouse University of Miami, where he was the senior associate for seven years. He oversaw the external areas of the Miami athletic department, including fund-raising, public relations, marketing, ticket sales, corporate sales and the school’s athletic Web site.
Part of Nero’s philosophy about athletics includes concern that too many high-profile athletes where creating a bad name for the student-athletic population as a whole. When he came to UMaine, he instituted a code of conduct so all the athletes were held to the same standards. The athletes are on a point system; for each violation points are received to a varying degree, too many points leads to a suspension.
“This shows the athletes that a walk-on to the field hockey team is held just as accountable as the quarterback to the football team,” said Nero.
Attendance and drug policies were also implemented. If a student-athlete has too many unexcused absences, he or she will be suspended from participating in athletics. Under the drug policy, student-athletes can be tested at any point, without notice. Also, 20 percent of each team is randomly tested each semester.
The hardest challenges that Nero has had to deal with are the financial issues the athletic department faces. With the eight percent tuition increase, the department has had to come up with that money for the scholarships. The money for the athletic scholarships and improvements within the department comes from fund raising by the department and donations, not from other students’ tuition.
With many of the athletes coming from out of state, their scholarships are almost twice as those for instate students.
“In-state athletes are great for the programs, but not at the cost of being competitive,” stated Nero.
The only program, men or women, to return a profit is men’s ice hockey. Annually they bring in roughly $2 million in revenues for the athletic department. This does not, however, make up for the money spent on numerous scholarships and facility upgrades by the athletic department. With Title IX, women’s programs must receive an equal amount of scholarships as the men’s programs. This works well for the women’s department because scholarships can be spread out more evenly among all the teams. The men’s department, however, are not so fortunate. The football team alone gives away 62 scholarships. This means other programs such as indoor and outdoor track, swimming, and cross country share very few remaining scholarships between them all.
“This is why the men’s cross country winning a championship was so surprising, because the team for the most part is walk-ons,” Nero said.
Title IX has also contributed to the women’s success in recent years. The soccer, field hockey, volleyball, basketball, and softball have all reached the America East championship game in the past two years.
Coaching changes have also been a factor in the athletic department. In the last year, five coaches have moved on. With the success of the basketball programs the men’s and women’s coaches have gone to bigger programs, and it is hard for UMaine to compete with the salaries that are offered nationwide. The three other coaching losses were due to lifestyle changes.
According to Nero, “It is normal in the business to have a quick turnover rate. We have been fortunate to find quality coaches to fill the positions.”
Nero said his ultimate goal is to continue the success here at UMaine, and to raise the bar for student-athletes to feel that they can make gains on the field or court and in life.
Nero is most proud of the balance between the campus and community. This has been reflected in the attendance in events in the last two years. According to the athletic department budget, ticket sales in all sports have increased of numbers. This could be explained by the student-athlete’s community involvement. Each team has a policy of community service, mostly working with youths in the surrounding towns.
“The University of Maine has chosen wisely in selecting Patrick Nero as its director of athletics,” said University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee when Nero was hired two years ago. “In his time here at Miami, his leadership was key to all of our successes.” His skill’s will continue contribute to the success here at UMaine.
Bangor Daily News