Wichita State starts meetings with athletics consultant and nothing – including football – is decided

Wichita State president John Bardo loved the response his picture of a football helmet received when he posted it on Twitter on Wednesday.

More than 33,000 views. More than 1,000 retweets.

“You think there’s interest,” he said, grinning as he sat at his computer in his office on the second floor of Morrison Hall.

There is plenty of interest in football at Wichita State. Wednesday’s blitz on social media – which also included a drawing of band uniforms — meant no more than that. WSU is no closer to adding sports or changing conferences than it was two months ago, when it announced plans to evaulate all aspects of athletics. Bardo, who surprised his staff with the tweets, wanted to start a conversation on social media.

Bardo and interim athletic director Darron Boatright met with two consultants from College Sports Solutions on Wednesday, the first milestone on the process of determining the future.

“We want to understand what the realities are and what’s possible,” Bardo said. “Nothing has changed in that regard.”

While Bardo loves football and is intrigued by the possibilities, he said not to interpret Wednesday as a signal that he intends to revive the sport. There was no connection to Wednesday’s national signing day, a day when football recruits choose their college.

“My intent is to find out our options,” he said, before grabbing the helmet to take with him to a meeting with students.

Boatright reiterated that position. On Wednesday, the consultants took a quick tour of campus and honed in on their specific goals for the study.

“I don’t think there’s any indication that anyone’s mind is made up on this, other than the fact we want to study what’s possible,” he said.

College Sports Solutions and WSU administrators will be in daily contact over the next four months before the consultants present their findings. Over that time, Boatright expects to host focus groups with students, fans and donors to gather opinions. In early January, Boatright attended the NCAA Convention in San Antonio and talked to people from schools who might have changed conference or conference administrators regarding expansion plans.

“We’ve been very public about what we’re studying, which actually makes the conversation a little bit easier, because you don’t feel like you’re doing it in secrecy,” he said.

College Sports Solutions, based in Atlanta, recently helped the University of Alabama-Birmingham with its investigation of reviving its football program. WSU, according to Boatright, is paying the consultants $60,000 for a four-month study. CSS president Jeff Schemmel attended Kansas State and Washburn and worked in the athletic department at Kansas State. Kevin Weiberg, a former WSU athletic administrator and Big 12 commissioner, works for CSS.

Schemmel’s people, most of them former athletic directors and conference officials, can use their connections to gather information on issues such as the cost of adding sports and Title IX implications. They can talk to administrators in conferences to gauge the potential for expansion or movement that might interest WSU. And they can assess WSU’s status, assets and where it best fits.

“It’s similar to a search firm,” Boatright said. “Their information is very current (because of UAB). Their job is not to help us decide anything. Their job is to put together accurate information, so that if there is a decision to be made by the institution that the institution feels like it’s prepared.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Wichita State starts meetings with athletics consultant and nothing – including football – is decided."