AN ANALYSIS OF NCAA MEETINGS : 81st Convention Closes in Harmony : Method of Choosing Successor to Byers Provokes No Fight

A sound technician, operating on a raised platform in the back of the ballroom, scanned the acres upon acres of delegates seated at the cloth-covered tables behind their pitchers of ice water and tried to guess which delegate, standing at which of the several numbered microphones, might be the next to be recognized by the president and allowed to speak.

If he guessed wrong, and was a split-second late in turning on the power at that mike, the president would have to ask the delegate to identify himself a second time for the stenographer, who was sitting at the front of the room, in front of the platform used by the officers and, very important, the parliamentarian.

Among the 1,760 accredited delegates to the 81st annual convention of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn., there were as many faculty representatives from small colleges speaking in behalf of a handful of Division III sports as there were former big-time coaches speaking as athletic directors or conference commissioners speaking for multimillion dollar programs.

And when the floor was open for discussion, it was open.

This organization is democracy in action. It has a Committee on Committees and it bickers over amendments to amendments. One of its liveliest debates Friday morning was on whether Roberts’ Rules of Order allows for a vote to suspend the rules. The parliamentarian won out, ruling that Roberts’ rules can be suspended, ordinarily, but the NCAA constitution says that the convention will be run according to Roberts’ rules, and the constitution cannot be suspended. Therefore, the move to vote to suspend the rules was out of order.

And, hey, what this group can do with a debate on the definition of a “recruiting poster” is beyond belief.

So it is certainly worthy of note when a piece of legislation that establishes who will have a say in selecting a new executive director for the first time in the history of the organization passes with no debate and with no count needed on the ocean of multicolored voting paddles--blue for Division I-A, Red for Division I-AA, white for Division I-AAA, orange for Division 2 and yellow for Division 3--that waved in approval.

The NCAA version of the rainbow coalition. Singleness of purpose, across the board.

No doubt about it, the convention stood behind Proposal 59, giving the Presidents Commission the right to approve the selection of the person to succeed Walter Byers as NCAA executive director.

Byers, who has been executive director for 35 years, will retire in the fall of 1988. His final year will overlap with the first year of the new executive director, who will be named this spring.

Wouldn’t it seem that such a huge organization, representing so many different institutions and conferences with so many different needs and interests, would be experiencing a monumental clash of factions over this rare opportunity to choose new leadership?

Oh, sure, there was some quiet lobbying going on at this convention, mostly in terms of what type of person should be chosen. But there is no power struggle over this issue.

The selection committee and the NCAA Council and the NCAA executive committee that will be interviewing candidates already knows where the power of this organization lies--with the Presidents Commission.

The NCAA, which grew out of a meeting held in New York at President Theodore Roosevelt’s request, to agree upon some rules to try to cut down on the number of football players being killed, has grown and grown through many eras.

When Byers became its first director in 1951, the NCAA was akin to a storefront operation. It has grown at the same astounding rate as college sports.

Byers said: “The NCAA was born in crisis . . . and has grown by crisis, but there is always some group to step forward and throw themselves into the breach to meet the newest challenge.”

Right now, that group is the Presidents Commission.

When the Presidents Commission was formed in 1982 out of what was perceived to be a crisis of integrity, many felt that the chief executives of the institutions would voice some complaints about the abuses in sports and then turn their attention back to their ivy-covered halls.

But the chief executive officers have had an impact, pushing through landmark legislation, including the “death penalties” to stop serious rules violations, Proposal 48 to establish absolute academic standards from incoming athletes, and, most recently, drug testing.

Now they’re concentrating on balance, on cutting costs and redirecting emphasis to keep athletics in proper balance at their institutions.

Last Wednesday, the Commission announced another special convention in Dallas June 29 and 30.

They have not lost interest in athletics and faded back into the background. They are all very much aware, as University of California Chancellor Michael Heyman pointed out, that athletics has the power to enhance an institution’s reputation, or seriously damage it. These chancellors and presidents are responsible for all programs of their institutions, and they’re seeking to keep those programs in the kind of balance they want to see.

Byers, in pointing out the harmony at this convention between the CEOs and the athletic directors as well as between the different divisions, said: “To suppose that there would be a problem between athletic directors and presidents here supposes that athletic directors and presidents don’t speak to each other on their campuses. I don’t think that’s the case. I don’t think there is a matchup between athletic directors on one side and CEOs on the other.”

Everyone seems to be working toward the same kinds of goals, although there may be some serious conflicts about the details of just how those goals should be attained and how much cutting back is needed to reach a balance.

On the agenda for the convention in June are issues of recruiting, compensation of coaches, playing and practice seasons, size of coaching staffs and financial aid.

But, as Byers puts it, the presidents have not simply set an agenda for this convention, but rather, over the last several years, “The Presidents Commission has set a new agenda for intercollegiate athletics.”

The choosing of a new director coincides with that new agenda, and many believe that he will come from within the ranks of the CEOs. Big Ten Commissioner Wayne Duke, who was on the NCAA staff in its early days and who has remained active on NCAA committees, wouldn’t be surprised to see it go that way.

UCLA Chancellor Charles Young has written a letter in support of Indiana University President John Ryan. USC Athletic Director Mike McGee says he has been asked to support a man who has served in Congress, noting that the new director could be someone not even being mentioned at this convention.

The selection committee has not said just who has officially applied for the position so far. Applications will be accepted for another couple of weeks.

Rumor at the convention has SEC Commission Harvey Schiller as the favorite, but he was not actively campaigning for the job.

“It’s really not the kind of job that anyone would campaign for,” Schiller said. “It’s going to take a special kind of person, and I think the selection committee will pick someone on the basis of what they know he can do.”

Byers, asked at the close of this convention would kind of an impact he thinks the change of director will have, explained it this way:

“I think the NCAA, as an organization, is in a good position, a strong position, and I think the growing harmony is an indication of that. . . . This convention passed some moves that had been debated for years.

“Financially, the organization is in excellent condition.

“The significance of my departure is probably overrated.”

Byers said that he had a very loyal staff and that he has such competent department heads that the organization runs itself pretty well. For example, he said, after negotiating millions and millions of dollars worth of TV contracts, he left the most recent negotiations to his staff.

“This machine is going to keep running in pretty good shape,” he said. “I think anyone with intelligence and integrity can do this job, provided they’re willing to work hard.”