As anyone remotely familiar with higher education job searches knows, searches for top positions often are rigged.  Generally, this is done by stacking a search committee with people who will support a particular candidate and/or railroading a candidate through a divided search committee because the rigger knows he or she has the votes.

Knowing how searches usually are rigged, I must admit to utter and complete bafflement concerning the process used to hire Mike Hamrick as Marshall University’s new athletic director. My hunch is that the search was not rigged, but I have no explanation for the unusual chain of events.

President Stephen Kopp made a big splash a few months ago by announcing a top-notch search committee consisting of board members, faculty and community leaders.  Then he apparently decided to ignore them.  According to Huntington Herald-Dispatch reporter Chuck Landon, President Kopp and two unnamed search committee members traveled to Texas and interviewed the finalists and decided to hire Mike Hamrick without consulting with the full search committee.

Four observations:

• If you are trying to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar, use the average guess of a large group of people rather than relying on your own guess and you’re more likely to win.  The same rule applies to hiring.
• It’s a big mistake to pretend that someone’s opinion matters when it doesn’t.  Nothing demoralizes people more.  And Marshall University doesn’t need any more demoralized people.
• Every person I’ve ever seen hired through a flawed search process has struggled in his or her job.  This does not bode well for Mr. Hamrick or Marshall University athletics.
• If Mr. Hamrick does struggle, there won’t be a search committee to blame for a bad hire.

22 July 2009.  Further reading:  Las Vegas Sun article on Hamrick’s departure.