Be honest: How many of you still get Athletic Director Bill
Martin confused with the booster, Ed Martin? And even if you know
who Bill is, do you actually know what he does? A local businessman
who was begged by members of the Athletic Department to serve as
its director, Bill Martin didn’t walk into an easy situation.
The department was facing a tremendous amount of debt, and the U.S.
Attorney’s office was investigating the Ed Martin scandal. He
gave his first year’s salary back to the University and
doesn’t have a contract. “I work at the pleasure of the
President,” Martin said. In three and a half years on the
job, Bill Martin has moved past the basketball scandal and
eliminated the Athletic Department’s debt. But his job
isn’t done. Now he’s making sure the department’s
financial statement and facilities are set for the long term.

Defining an A.D.

If you think Lloyd Carr and Tommy Amaker have pressure-packed
and thankless jobs, check out how Bill Martin defines his work:

Source: The Sporting News

Running a Division I athletic program is hard work. It may be
the toughest job in all of sports. If you don’t think so,
check out this job description: Hire coaches who win; get kids to
go to class; put fans in the seats; play by the rules; go to the
big dance; make a bowl game; see to it that the athletes who stay
not only stay eligible, but graduate; sell T-shirts, radio time and
sponsorships; support a bunch of sports that generate no revenue at
all; guarantee women athletes the same opportunity to participate
as men; don’t tick off the NCAA; keep the students happy and
the faculty and the alums and the President and the Board of
Regents. Oh yes, make nice with reporters, too.

In response, Martin told The Michigan Daily: “At Michigan,
you can add two other critical job requirements to the description.
First, be totally self-sufficient, and second, fully fund all 25 of
your varsity sports so they have an opportunity to win at the
national level.”

Pillars of success

Martin’s job pulls him in a million different directions
at once, but it all revolves around four very basic and important
objectives.

Said Martin: “The four things I’m concerned with
are, one: academics. Second is ethical behavior of our coaches, our
administrators and our students. And by ethical behavior, I mean
being good citizens. Being a good citizen in my mind is
representing us in the classroom, in the community, as well as on
the court.

“The third one is, we have a winning tradition at
Michigan. I think we won somewhere around 385 Big Ten
Championships. (The second place school) is Illinois. Do you know
what the number is? Around 220. You need a telescope to see second
place.

“So it’s academics, it’s ethical behavior,
it’s winning— winning the right way — and the
last one is being financially prudent.”

Goss’s mess

Former Athletic Director Tom Goss didn’t pass the baton to
Bill Martin smoothly — he chucked it at Martin’s feet.
The department was headed toward a $3-million debt after a Detroit
radio station went bankrupt and fell through on its contract with
the University. The Athletic Department introduced two new varsity
sports — women’s water polo and men’s soccer
— which cost the department $600,000 in the 2000-01 fiscal
year. Goss tried to bully Nike into a huge contract, instead of
handling negotiations delicately. Martin tried to put a new deal
together, but it fell through at the last minute. Instead of
getting paid by Nike, the University was forced to buy its
equipment from Nike for $760,000 in the 2000-01 fiscal year.

Goss fired basketball coach Steve Fisher after allegations of a
scandal, but left Martin with Fisher’s assistant, Brian
Ellerbe. In a time when communication about scandal was essential,
the Detroit Free Press reported that Athletic Department officials
reached an agreement with the NCAA over the eligibility of former
basketball player Jamal Crawford without consulting the
University’s attorneys. Former University President Lee
Bollinger forced Goss’s resignation on Feb. 9, 2000, and
named Martin interim Athletic Director a month later.

Eddie l.

The name Ed Martin follows Bill Martin. When asked in the spring
of 2002 about the impact of Steve Fisher and the Fab Five on
Michigan, Bill Martin told the Detroit Free Press: “I think
they have left a wonderful legacy here. I'm pleased to see how over
time they are reacquainting themselves with our team. I see nothing
but the positives about that for the program ... I don't think (the
scandal) is a part of the legacy at all with them.”

Oops. Welcome to a living nightmare.