Mizzou and Veatch hoping this is the one that lasts
If Laird Veatch is really good at his job, there will come a time when we find out if he really meant what he said on Friday afternoon. If Laird Veatch isn't really good at his job, there will come a time when we find out that the biggest reason Missouri hired him wasn't a good enough reason to keep him around.
There was a lot of talk of "dream job" and "forever home" and "wants to be here" on Friday.
To be clear, most of those things are said at every introductory press conference that has ever been held. Nobody takes a job and says "I'd like to be here for two or three years until I can find something better." Nobody hires an employee thinking "If they can hang around for a little while and not mess things up too badly, maybe we can hire somebody better the next time."
Veatch is qualified for this job. He's been an administrator in college sports for nearly 30 years. Six of those years were at Mizzou, followed by seven more in Columbia with Mizzou Sports Properties and Learfield Communications. He did a good job at Memphis for the last five years culminating in a $25 million NIL deal with noted Memphis behemoth FedEx.
But the main reason Missouri wanted him was simple: He wanted them and he told them he doesn't want anyone else and never will. He likes them. He really, really likes them. And to a school that has played the role of spurned lover way more than it would like, that matters. A lot.
"We wanted somebody who wanted to be here. I think we've stated that pretty clearly," Board of Curators Chair Robin Wenneker said. "And that just came through in every interaction we had with AD Veatch."
"He really believes in this University. He was so clear that he wanted to be here, that he was coming for a destination job," University System President Mun Choi said. "This was his dream job. And he's not going anywhere beyond this. And that was a commitment and I feel that all of us deserve an AD that wants a job."
For his part, Veatch talked of a homecoming for his wife Brandy and his family. He talked about his three daughters coming back to the city where they were born. He said the messages he's gotten from friends have been overwhelming. One of the first people to greet him when he stepped down from the stage was the son of John Kadlec, the long-time Mizzou and Kansas State football coach and Mizzou color commentator and a long-time supporter of Veatch. Veatch praised Mike Alden and got emotional when he recalled telling Brandy he'd been offered the job.
"Being the member of Alden's Army that was promoted to this post brings an extra layer of honor and responsibility," he said. ""This is where we want to be. We are ready for our forever home.
"To be clear there is no transfer portal for the Veatch family. We are committed."
Choi presented Veatch with a jersey bearing the number 22. He asked Veatch if he knew why it was No. 22.
"Because I'm the 22nd athletic director," Veach replied, correctly. "Passed the first test."
"We want you to be here for 22 years," Choi quipped back.
Was it a joke? Kind of. But in every joke there is some truth. And the messaging around Veatch's hire was clear: We wanted someone who wants to be here because we've had too many people leave us in the last ten years.
Without the history, I'd admit to perhaps taking the things said at a press conference a bit too seriously. Again, nobody takes a job and admits at the press conference before the start date that he or she might leave. That part I get.
But Mack Rhoades said all the right things when Missouri hired him from Houston. Then November of 2015 happened and he started opening every door hoping it was an escape hatch. Missouri wanted Jim Sterk here for a long time...until he tried to hire a football coach it didn't want. Desiree Reed-Francois talked a lot about how much she wanted to be at Mizzou and how much her family loved Columbia right up until the relationship with her and the administration went south and she went west to Arizona. Everybody wants to be here forever until they don't. And a lot of people have decided they didn't want to at Missouri since Alden left the post. Friday made it clear that one of the primary objectives of this search was to avoid having to do another one any time soon.
The thing is, college sports is a nomadic business. People move all the time. Even the players do now. So any talk of forever and dreams needs to be approached cautiously. Veatch said in a Q&A after his main press conference that "there was a time" Kansas State was the forever job. Not to mention the fact that Missouri only wants him to stay forever if he's performing up to their standards.
"I haven't followed up the conversation with President Choi about my 22-year contract yet," Veatch joked. "But I'd sure be welcome to. I'm looking forward to it. I hope they want to keep me around that long."
There are some who stay "forever." It's unusual, but it happens. One of them was in the crowd to welcome Veatch back to Columbia. As he addressed the current Mizzou coaches in attendance, Veatch referenced Gary Pinkel.
""You know why he's a legend? He won and he stayed."
Then, for emphasis, "He stayed."
That's the goal. No question. Missouri would love to never have to do this again. I believe Veatch that he'd like to not have to interview for another job or move his family again. It's just that there are so many things that get in the way of that in college sports.
When Pinkel came, few probably viewed him as a lifer. He entertained other offers. He interviewed with Michigan. He fielded calls from Washington. He never left, but the thought certainly crossed his mind. Mizzou became his forever job and Columbia his forever home. But it really wasn't something either side necessarily set out to do at the start. It just happened. Organically.
The hope is it happens with Veatch. There's been far too much turnover at the top of the department since Alden. Stability would most certainly be a positive and stability would also indicate Veatch has done a good enough job to be kept around.
Last week, at the Curators meeting in Rolla, before Mizzou had made a decision, I asked Choi if there were things that Missouri had to change to avoid the turnover that has plagued the position for the last decade. He didn't really address it then. So I tried a different tack on Friday. I told Choi that every athletic director that has ever been hired anywhere talks about wanting to stay and having alignment with the administration and the coaches. The word was used frequently on Friday. So I asked him what has to happen for this time to be different and for that alignment to stay, well, aligned, beyond Friday's pep rally.
"Having four members of the Board of Curators serve on the search commitee demonstrates from the beginning we're going to be aligned in our message about what we are looking for in a new AD," Choi said. "The group of four Curators also constitute the IAC (Intercollegiate Athletics Committee). So they'll be working closely with me as well as Laird to ensure that alignment is there. And that comes through dialogue. There are no surprises. We don't want any surprises. And so that approach will continue."
Forever? For the sake of both sides, hopefully.
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