A&M VP Jason Cook details AD search, GameDay vote

Notes from brief interview with Jason Cook

* Parker Executive Search is a group that has a lot of experience working with big time institutions. They have worked with schools like Arkansas and Tennessee, and also with schools like Ohio State and Oregon. In the state of Texas, they’ve helped find athletic directors for TCU, Texas Tech and Houston, as well. They have extensive contacts throughout college athletics, and hiring a search firm allows A&M to work quickly and confidentially.

* A&M is serious about attracting the best possible candidate for the job that can further the momentum A&M has acquired from the SEC move and hiring of new coaches over the past few months. A&M also wants to make sure they have the right resources to help the school, whether it’s through the use of Populous for the stadium expansion project, or Parker Executive Search for the athletic director search.

* When forming the search committee on the A&M side, one thing they looked for were people that already an interested invested in Aggie athletics. Even the two professors on the committee have been serving on the athletics council and are very involved with what is going on in the athletic department. People in the committee include, but are not limited to, representatives from the 12th Man Foundation, head softball coach Jo Evans, compliance director David Batson and athletes Terrence Murphy and Adaora Elonu. The committee is broad based and diverse in terms of experiences, and A&M wants to make sure that different types of voices are heard throughout the selection process.

* He urges people to get out and vote on the last day of the College GameDay vote. This is the year of the 12th man and A&M needs the 12th man to support A&M to its fullest. It’s interesting that two former Big 12 schools are leading the vote, which says something about the passion of the fan bases Nebraska and A&M both have.