Montana State Hosting Five Candidates for AD Position
By Danny Waldo
Montana State will be hosting on-campus interviews for five finalists looking to replace departing Athletic Director Peter Fields, whose reign over Bobcat athletics will come to an end on June 30th.
Fields, whose contract was not renewed this spring, came to MSU in 2002 following a stint as Associate Athletic Director at the University of Missouri from 1998-2002. Fields began working at Missouri in 1996 after spending time in administration at Kent State and Toledo. His tenure at MSU was marked by both profound success and disappointing failure.
Fields oversaw an athletic program that achieved unparalleled success in the classroom. During Fields’ tenure, MSU athletes produced a combined grade point average of 3.0 or higher for 21 consecutive semesters, twice winning the Big Sky President’s Cup (2004-5, 2011-12), which goes to the institution with the best academic and athletic achievement.
He also guided MSU through major renovations to Bobcat Stadium, home to MSU football, and the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. The renovation of Bobcat Stadium included the installation of synthetic turf, and $10 million project to bowl in the south end zone and raise the seating capacity to 17,000. The renovation to the Fieldhouse included improved seating and the installation of a state-of-the-art indoor track surface.
But his success in achieving high academic marks and improved facilities were not matched in the hiring of coaches and performance on the field. Since his hiring, Fields hired and/or fired no fewer than six coaches, including three men’s basketball coaches and two football coaches. Many around the community were not happy with his decisions to fire former coaches Mike Kramer and Rob Ash, with the latest dismissal leading to a demand for change in the athletic department.
Two candidates have already held on-campus interviews, with three more scheduled in the coming weeks. The University of Wyoming’s Matt Whisenant
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Whisenant has spent the past 13 years at Wyoming, including the last five as Deputy Athletic Director. His duties in Laramie include direct supervision of the football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and wrestling programs, as well as academics, compliance, sports medicine, and strength and conditioning.
During his tenure, his responsibilities have also included budgeting, fundraising and revenue enhancement, marketing, hiring practices, facility projects and serving as a liaison to various campus offices.
Whisenant graduated from East Tennessee State in 1996, where he played on the football team. He received his Master’s in sport sciences from ETSU in 1999. He completed coursework for a Ph.D in sports management from Ohio State. Whisenant, a native of Manassas, Virginia, and his wife Kim have a son and a daughter.
And the University of Utah’s Kyle Brennan both have already appeared in Bozeman.
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Kyle Brennan has served in the athletic department at Utah since 2008, and was promoted to the school’s first Deputy Athletic Director position in 2014. He is currently the supervising administrator for seven departments, is the administrative liaison/supervisor for several sports, manages new facility projects and oversees the athletic department’s partnership with Under Armour.
As part of his role overseeing new facility projects, Brennan was instrumental in the construction of the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center, which opened in August of 2013, as well as the Jon M. and Karen Huntsman Basketball Facility and the outdoor tennis courts.
Brennan attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science before earning a law degree from the University of Denver in 2001. He and his wife, Beth, who is the academic coordinator for Utah’s football team, have three sons, Patrick, Mac and Murphy.
