John Hartwell named new USU Athletic Director
Utah State University President Stan Albrecht introduced John Hartwell as USU’s new Vice President and Director of Athletics Wednesday, and Hartwell wasted no time in making his goals for Aggie athletics clear.
“I am here to tell you, that on a daily basis, 24/7, 365, that John Hartwell, our entire staff, our coaching staff and our student-athletes will roll up our sleeves and bust our tails and win multiple Mountain West Conference championships in multiple sports and we’re very excited about that going forward,” Hartwell said in Wednesday’s press conference.
Hartwell brings to Cache Valley a track record of successful fundraising and a dedication to academics, a reputation he earned at Troy University (Sun Belt Conference) in Alabama.
“Whether you are in athletics, whether you are in academics, whether you are on the development side of campus, what we can never lose sight of is that the reason we are employed is for our students,” Hartwell said. “When we look at athletics, it is our student-athletes and they are our number one focus. We need to provide all the resources, opportunities and tools to first, excel in the classroom, and number two, to win.”
To Hartwell, academic excellence and winning conference titles are more than just campaign promises — he plans to meet with every head coach in his first 30 days to find out what they believe each program needs to be successful.
“I want all of our head coaches to have that mindset that we won’t just be competitive in our league, but we will operate at the top of our league,” Hartwell said. “If we operate at the top of the Mountain West we will have success on a national scale as well.”
For both Hartwell and Albrecht, national recognition comes as a logical next step for Aggie athletics, which has plenty of success to build on despite being relatively new to the Mountain West.
“We wanted to identify from the group of folks that we were looking at the right person and then we wanted to get that person here,” Albrecht said. “We knew that person would have a great foundation that was put in place by (former ADs) Randy Spetman and Scott Barnes. We weren’t looking to fix something. We are in a really good place. We wanted someone who would recognize that foundation that was in place and then really take us to the next level.”
Though he’s only been Utah State’s AD for a day, Hartwell already sounds like a true-blooded Aggie.
“I like to operate with a little chip on our shoulder,” he said. “I like our staff and our student-athletes to operate with a little chip on their shoulders. Our budget may not be as large as the University of Utah, but we are going to find ways to not only compete, but to beat them and all of the big boys. We are going to be creative, but we are going to be smart with how we do things.”
—logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu