PHOENIX (AP) — Craig Masback has resigned after a decade as head of USA Track & Field to take an executive position with Nike.
Masback informed the U.S. athletics federation’s board of directors of his decision on Wednesday. He will become director of business affairs for Nike’s Global Sports Marketing Division.
Nike is a major sponsor of USA Track & Field.
No date was given for his departure. Masback said his transition will take place over the next few months.
No replacement has been selected.
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The former distance runner took over as chief executive officer of a troubled USATF in July of 1997. Since then, the federation’s annual budget has grown from $6.7 million to more than $17 million.
“My goal was to have an organization that was as good in terms of quality as our athletes,” he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “That’s a very high goal. We didn’t make it, but I think we made progress toward it.”
Masback said now is a good time to make a change.
“We’re just in a great position,” he said. “When I started, we owed $3 1/2 million. Now we have $3 1/2 million in the bank. All the programs are in place. All the plans are in place for a great Olympic trials, a great training camp and a great Olympics.”
Posted on: Saturday, January 12, 2008
Ousted UH director may get national job
StoryChat: Comment on this story
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
Herman Frazier
Ousted University of Hawai’i Athletics Director Herman Frazier might not have to wait long for his next job.
Frazier’s name is being widely floated in the track and field community for the just-opened position of USA Track & Field chief executive officer, several people have said.
USATF was left with an opening when Craig Masback, who held the position for 10 years, resigned Wednesday to become director of business affairs for Nike’s Global Sports Marketing Division. USATF said Masback will make the move over the next few months.
Masback, the point man for track and field in this country, operated under a four-year contract valued at between $300,000 and $400,000 per year.
Frazier made $250,000 per year at UH, where he had been athletic director for 5 1/2 years before his firing Tuesday, a day after UH’s winningest football coach, June Jones, signed to be the coach at Southern Methodist.
UH will pay Frazier $312,510 in a severance settlement. His contact was to set to expire in 2010.
“The (USATF) board meets this weekend to begin the process, so it is too early to speculate on possible candidates,” said Jill M. Geer, USATF spokeswoman.
But Frazier’s name has showed up on a variety of track and field message boards, including that of Track and Field News.
“He’s a natural,” said a friend of Frazier’s also in tune with USA Track and Field. “It is a job he would have still had an interest in even if he was still (employed) there in Hawai’i.”
Frazier won bronze and gold medals in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and is a former U.S. Olympic Committee vice president. He was Chef de Mission for the U.S. at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
Frazier was not immediately available for comment.
USATF is a nonprofit organization that has a budget of more than $17 million, according to a posting by the organization.
I am currently living in Hawaii and do not personally know Herman Frazier, but I can tell he has been getting bad press for the past year and half I have lived here for his many missteps as Hawaii’s Athletic Director culminating in his firing last week. Not sure if he would move USATF forward…
Charlie, Here are a few off of the top of my head.
The main issue that gets the most attention is letting the football coach (June Jones) contract go to the last six month without much effort in renewing it and then losing him to SMU.
Another issue is the poor condition of the athletic facilities and no visible effort from Herman in raising the flag in getting them improved.
Not completing the football schedule until the last minute, and I believe having an open week( no game).
Poor handling of hiring the new basketball coach last year.
There was a law suit this past year by the womens track coach that Frazier discriminated against her because of her advocacy for gender equity. (this was recently dropped).
I am not a UH fan, nor a Herman Frazier basher, but there has been a consistent message from the press and locals here to oust him, maybe not totally warranted, but the issues are adding up, more public issues than some ADs of schools that I have followed. Charlie