If there has been one thing that been a constant in our university community over the past 5-6 years it has been this….
Division.
Not Division I, but Division over Division I, and other things.
On this blog and on my podcast I have expressed my consternation about a lot of things our current administration has done, and attempted to do. The move, how it was handled, why I believed it was not necessary, and how it sent our reputation into a total freefall and took the roar out of Lion athletics, and the pride out of Old ET.
That said, I have also expressed frustration with others who want Commerce to stay a small college that just produces teachers and the occasional congressman or businessman, and want to keep The City of Commerce small, quiet and quaint forever.
It’s time for everyone to know the what and the how of the past, and what the future holds, but to understand what is going on, you have to know your history, so here it is.
The Background-
Ever since the decision was made on the podium at Toyota Stadium in September of 2021 that then-Texas A&M University-Commerce would be moving to The Southland Conference and joining NCAA Division I-FCS, many have asked me questions about the circumstances that lead to this decision. I have spoken with former members of the school administration who have either moved on or retired, left the school for other universities, and all have asked I keep their names out of it as they are afraid of repurcussions in their personal life, with friends, their relationship with the Univeristy, or with the institutions they are currently with.
As long ago as 2006, there was an idea to move to Division I. I was in between my Sophomore and Junior year and I remember talking with Football players, track athletes, and Basketball players, along with some coaches that the athletic department was considering forming an exploratory committee. The athletic director at the time was Jim Johnson. He had been associate AD at Central Missouri and had helped Tarleton State transition from The NAIA to the NCAA and rejoin the Lone Star Conference. He had the thoughts of similar aspirations at Texas A&M-Commerce. Among the coaches who wanted the move to Division I were then Football Coach Scott Conley and Men’s Basketball Coach Sam Walker.
The administration was not behind the move. They wanted to become a Division II power in all sports first before any move was seriously discussed. There was also the question of “How many Division I conferences want a school that has a one sided football stadium and rapidly aging Basketball facility in a town that had just over 8,000 residents?” The Administration felt the time was not right. Johnson did counter by insisting that a Division I move would require Texas A&M Commerce to build new facilities and go to the A&M University system for more money and get alumni engaged, and that it would accelerate the growth of Commerce. He was right on all counts at that time. The apathy among the student body regarding athletics was high. It might be the reason why Johnson did not last long in Commerce, as he took the job as Commissioner for the MIAA, and then would later become AD at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. There was no need to move to DI at Pitt State, as they had DI quality facilities, a DI mindset and a DI mindset, even though they are still Division II. They also needed to hire a new athletic director.
In 2007, Paris, Texas native Carlton Cooper was hired as athletic director, and in 2008, Dr Dan Jones became President of The University. Aside from getting some much needed new ameneties to the University Fieldhouse and a desperately needed 3,500 east side seats and brand new video board at Memorial Stadium, Cooper was a disaster. I could write another long winded diatribe about his disasterous tenure in Commerce, but mercifully after 4 1/2 awful years, he was placed on paid administrative leave, while Judy Sackfield became interim athletic director for the 2012-13 school year. Cooper later resigned for reasons still under suspicision to this day, and President Jones hired Ryan Ivey as athletic director.
I spoke with Ryan Ivey just a few months after became athletic director. He told me out and out, there was no need to plan whatsoever to move to Division I, and that it was “Ok to be Commerce, but not OK to be mediocre.” He wanted tons of Championships in all sports, both Conference and national. Things turned around almost instantly in Commerce. Winning records in all team sports except one, and then his vision to resurrect Lion athletics drew the attention of Austin Peay University, which offered him their AD poistion. He couldn’t pass it up.
Tim McMurray became athletic director and took Ivey’s vision and kicked it into overdrive. Between 2015 and 2016 the Lions won conference championships in football twice, Men’s Basketball once, Men’s Golf, Men’s Indoor track, and the softball program, which had been started under Ivey, was already becoming a national power. Things were good in Commerce, and the future was bright.
The Aggie Interferes-
John Sharpe is one of the most influential politicians in the modern history of Texas. A rare Texas conservative democrat and an extremely proud Texas A&M Aggie, Sharpe became the Chancellor of the Texas A&M University system due to his ties with former Governor Rick Perry as students at A&M.
Sharpe believed that the “other” A&M system schools essentially existed to prop up Texas A&M University. Forgot about the other schools with their own unique regional identities, beloved traditions, and accomplishments. Sharpe could not have cared less. They were just other schools that would help his beloved maroon empire swell and grow.
So he decided it was time for some change. He saw the change in the college sports landscape in 2016 and believed it was time for him to swing his Corps of Cadets Sword and exert some unwelcome influence.
He wanted 4 institutions to start making a move to Division I Athletics. Tarleton State, West Texas A&M, Texas A&M-Commerce, and Texas A&M Kingsville.
Tarleton jumped at the possibility, West Texas A&M said absolutely not as their President, Athletic Director, and especially fan base said they enjoyed their championships and success, and with their proximity to Texas Tech University, wanted to be a Division II championship program, and not try to rival Tech. Sharpe pressed, but the WT fan base pressed back harder saying no. Texas A&M-Kingsville, still furious that their attempt at keeping their hallowed name of Texas A&I had failed back in the late 1990’s, said they did not the “money, and certianly not the interest to become a Division I institution.”
Meanwhile, in Commerce, AD McMurray and President Jones presented a United front that while in a few years a DI move might be in the offering, a move now would not be a good decision. McMurray pressed back that he had plans for facilities and that the Lions could win national championships in multiple sports. Jones and Sharpe had a bad relationship, but McMurray held face and kept Sharpe’s advance at bay. He convinced Sharpe that building a championship institution in Commerce would be far better for the school than a move to Division I. Sharpe relented, and when Dr Jones passed away and was succeeded by Ray Keck, Keck continued to support McMurray and vice-versa and Sharpe was kept at bay. Meanwhile, Tarleton State had formed an exploratory committee involving alums, students, faculty, coaches, and citizens of Stephenville. Angelo State, a member of the Texas Tech system, was considering a move as well, but that never materialized. Tarleton seemed primed for a move, but let the A&M system know they needed money and help if they were going to make this move. Sharpe loved that he was getting his way in Stephenville and went full steam ahead.
Then, on December 15, 2017, Texas A&M-Commerce defeated The Univeristy of West Florida to win the NCAA Division II National Championship. During the broadcast on ESPN2, Kevin Brown and Tom Dugan, who were calling the game had brought up the question to both Head Coach Colby Carthel and AD McMurray. Brown said that the answer from both Carthel and McMurray was that there was “no interest in going DIvision I at any time in the near future, we want to be best in class. That is our mantra.” It seemed to put to bed any anxious Lion fans who felt that a leap to DI would not be a championship decision.
Those making the championship Decisions would not last much longer in Commerce. Part 2 soon.
