Miller, Nagel Among 100 Nominees for Athletic Director Post at SDSU

Two former Pacific 10 athletic directors are among an estimated 100 candidates who have been nominated for the position of permanent athletic director at San Diego State.

Fred Miller was the athletic director at Arizona State of the Pacific 10 after holding the same post at Cal State Long Beach. Ray Nagel was the athletic director at Washington State of the Pacific 10 before taking a similar position at Hawaii.

Both men were nominated by friends in San Diego and were sent letters by the SDSU search committee requesting further personal information.

Bob Rinehart, the acting athletic director at SDSU, said it is uncertain whether he’ll apply for the permanent position. Ron Fowler, chairman of the search committee, said he “strongly feels” that Rinehart will apply.

Rinehart said, “I’m the athletic director until somebody replaces me. That’s the way I’m going to operate.”

Another nominee is Randy Hoffman, associate athletic director at Maryland. He was among the finalists when Oregon hired an athletic director in August 1984.

The application period closes Thursday at SDSU. Fowler’s committee will then interview top applicants and submit a list to SDSU President Thomas Day, who will appoint the permanent athletic director.

“The nominees really don’t mean anything until we turn them into applicants,” Fowler said. “That’s what we have been working on for the last 10 days. We probably won’t have all of the information on some of the strongest candidates by Thursday. As long as we know who they are, we’ll move forward with them.”

Here’s a look at some of the top candidates:

--Miller, 50, was athletic director at Arizona State from 1971 to 1980. He is now a health studies and physical education instructor at Arizona State.

He was athletic director when Arizona State moved from the Western Athletic Conference to the Pacific 10.

“I can say I’ve had some very preliminary discussions with people in the San Diego area,” Miller said. “Beyond that, it would be extremely premature for me to comment any more.”

--Nagel, 57, was athletic director at Hawaii from 1976 to 1983 before being named an executive vice-president of the Los Angeles Rams. He was with the Rams from January 1983 to March 1984.

He is now a corporate development officer for the Bank of Hawaii and a vice president for the Aloha Bowl.

“Hawaii is a very special place for me and I like what I’m doing here,” Nagel said. “You can never say never on anything.”

Nagel was contacted by friends in San Diego shortly after Mary Alice Hill was fired as SDSU’s athletic director on Aug. 8.

--Rinehart, 53, was named acting athletic director Aug. 22. He said his major concern has been working on “five major areas” of internal procedures at SDSU.

Though Rinehart has not applied for the permanent position, he is considered a viable candidate.

“Being that he is the resident (athletic director) at San Diego State, we have all the particulars on him,” Fowler said. “All he has to do is indicate an interest and he’ll definitely be interviewed.”

Rinehart said: “Since the beginning, I have said I’m going to attack all areas I think we need to be working on. I think I’ve been aggressive so far working on the internal structure. No matter who’s sitting in this chair, I’m going to make sure the things we have started will be carried on.”

--Hoffman, 34, has been the associate athletic director in charge of marketing and promotions the past three years at Maryland. He previously was the school’s golf coach and facilities director.

His current responsibilities include radio and television marketing and fund raising.

“I enjoy the West Coast,” Hoffman said. “The San Diego State job would interest me. I think the WAC is rising in the college football world, and the city of San Diego has a lot to offer. San Diego State has a lot of growth possibilities.”