Troop's Takes: Spare some positive memories for Hocutt
By Caleb Troop
April 14, 2008
The last two-and-a-half years of the professional life for Kirby Hocutt have been, to say the least, eventful.
But as Ohio University’s athletics director heads south for the same job at Miami University in Florida, it seems that many have already looked ahead — leaving Hocutt in the proverbial rear-view mirror. Hocutt’s last official day of work in Athens is this Tuesday, but his presence will be felt in Athens for years to come.
Many will remember Hocutt for several particular reasons. Among many things, he is seen as the man who began the financial turnaround in the Ohio sports program, cut four varsity sports, increased annual gift giving, cut four varsity sports, increased ticket sales and — oh yeah — cut four varsity sports.
But is it fair that this one late-January 2007 decision becomes what Hocutt is mainly remembered for? What really is Hocutt’s legacy at Ohio University?
“Inevitably, it is going to be linked to (the sports cuts), and that is unfortunate because there is nobody in this country that believes in the value of intercollegiate athletics more than I do,” said Hocutt. “To have been in a position to make a decision to take opportunities away and really go against what intercollegiate athletics is all about was tough.
“I did it because I truly believe still to this very day that it was in the best interest of Ohio University, and I think five or six years down the road this athletic department will be much stronger,” Hocutt continued. “It’s not easy, but at the end of the day, I didn’t make the easy decision. I made what I think was the right decision.”
Hocutt will be remembered as the man who truly had to be one. He took the heat over his decision to cut four sports programs, and he tried to cool down the situation.
“That was a challenging time,” Hocutt said. “The lesson that I learned as a leader during that time was that a lot of times being a leader is difficult. It’s lonely when so many people disagree with you.”
As I sat on the other end of the phone listening to the soon-to-be former A.D. speak like I’ve never heard him speak before, I began to catch a sense of authenticity from Hocutt. The man has put up with more crap than “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe, and yet his soothing demeanor puts you in a massage chair.
I asked Hocutt what he wishes more people would have realized during his tenure at Ohio.
“You know, it’s hard,” said Hocutt. “Unless you are in the trenches day in and day out and are dealing with the fiscal impact of the position this department was in, it is difficult to understand some of the decisions that were made.
“If it was sports cuts or football scheduling issues — from the outside looking in, people may question why we did this or why we did that. I wish people would understand and recognize that if they had access and knew the fiscal state that Ohio Athletics was in, that we truly made the best decision for this university. I know that at a lot of times those weren’t popular decisions.”
While the departure to Miami was unexpected and arguably premature, Hocutt said that no matter when he decided to leave, plenty of tasks still would have been piled up on his desk.
“In many ways, some of these jobs are never finished. I guess the one thing that I would have liked to have seen was getting this department on sound financial footing,” he said.
So how does one department go about doing that? The answer, according to Hocutt, might surprise and anger some. He said it has more to do with the people outside of the university than inside of it.
“For Ohio University to take that next step in athletics, it needs greater support of Athens County,” Hocutt said. “When that happens, it will be the overall premier program in the Mid-American Conference.
“I hope that when people think back to the last two-and-a-half years, they would see somebody that did their very best and always put the interest of Ohio University at the front of each and every decision that was made.”
Hocutt officially clocks out of Athens on Tuesday, but maybe Bobcats fans will see more of Hocutt’s programs in the future on the playing surfaces.
“I’d love to see the Bobcats down in South Florida,” Hocutt said. “You never know, but we would definitely welcome those conversations. That is for sure.”
Another thing that’s for sure?
Hocutt deserves to be remembered for more than those late January sports cuts in 2007.
Caleb Troop is the sports columnist for The Athens NEWS and can be reached at ctroop@TroopSports.com. He co-hosts “The SportsFan” weeknights from 6-7 on 970 WATH-AM in Athens.
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