Len Jessup must give control of Thomas & Mack to new AD

Len Jessup joined UNLV as its 10th president in January 2015, arriving with the ambition of directing the school toward Tier One research status, complete with a medical school that will welcome its first class in five months.

And yet the most important hire he will make during his time in Las Vegas, however long that proves to be, has more to do with sports than helping increase the nation’s physician workforce.

Jessup is searching for a new athletic director, and should do so with this mindset: That whoever is hired, oversight of the Thomas &Mack Center and other facilities immediately should be put under that person’s control.

In fact, any finalist should demand such a move or immediately withdraw from consideration. That’s how important this is.

For decades, UNLV athletics viewed the Thomas &Mack Center as a way to help balance its budget. But as years passed, tensions grew and relationships worsened between athletics and the venue’s staff. It reached a tipping point in 2011 that then-university president Neal Smatresk removed control of the building from athletics and placed it under Gerry Bomotti, senior vice president for finance and business.

That was supposed to last one year. It still stands.

More than anything else, Jessup must hire a person as proficient at fundraising as any skill associated with an athletic director. Guiding the university toward Power 5 Conference status also should be among the chief objectives. But if he or she can’t raise significant dollars, elevating the Rebels out of the Mountain West will prove impossible.

That’s why it’s critical the person have control over the Thomas &Mack Center and Sam Boyd Stadium and Cox Pavilion, a final say on how money within the spectrum of sports is used and distributed without having to exist under a microscope controlled by another.

I don’t know Bomotti well enough to offer an educated opinion about his handling of so many areas concerning university dollars. Some believe he wants every last dime under his thumb to disperse as he sees fit, a virtual Wizard of Oz who covets power. Others insist he is a good man only concerned that the university remain fiscally responsible.

I do know he answers interview requests faster than most on campus.

“I am not a believer in a specific administrative structure as much as I am in the background and experiences of the individuals in key positions,” Bomotti wrote in an email. “Talented individuals can make any structure work … Entrepreneurial individuals with strong business skills can be very successful, in my opinion, managing the (facilities), and the rest of UNLV athletics.”

So, then, it’s on Jessup to find that person.

The good news is, he has told others of his intentions to transfer oversight of the facilities back to the new athletic director if, in fact, he can discover a candidate with the proper skill set to mange them while also adept at raising money and balancing budgets.

Jessup took some grief recently when regents publicly scolded him over the athletic department’s near $5 million budget deficit for the 2016-17 academic year, along with things like dwindling attendance and losing teams in football and men’s basketball.

It all points to the fact he can’t in any way fail with this hire, and even if Bomotti suddenly appears from behind the curtain to magically save the budget shortfall, the president needs to exhibit the toughness (spine?) to put facilities back under control of athletics.

“Ultimately, any organizational restructuring that might occur will depend on the qualifications of the new athletic director,” Jessup wrote in an email. “We are looking for candidates whose experience includes operating world class facilities as well as financial planning, but it is premature to make any commitments on how athletics will operate with respect to facilities until we have conversations with the new director and the individual is in place.”

Given this is the most important hire he will make as UNLV president and transferring oversight of those facilities back to athletics is the most important change that needs to occur, here’s hoping he gets past the foolishness of some potential names (friends of friends) being floated as candidates.

If he’s supposedly going to do what’s best for athletics in terms of who runs the Thomas &Mack Center, shouldn’t this hire be that right person?

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on “Seat and Ed” on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.