Spetman works for better facilities, better future
After his appointment as director of athletics for Utah State on July 1, Air Force Colonel Randy Spetman convinced the university’s vice presidents to take a tour of the locker room facilities at Romney Stadium.
“When we were done one of them asked me how we recruit kids with these kind of [poor] facilities,” Spetman said. “I said ‘we don’t.’ Then he asked me why I took this job and I said, ‘because I think I can make a difference.'”
On the verge of a move to the Western Athletics Conference (WAC), a potentially make-or-break time for USU athletics, some believe Spetman may be the man the Aggies need to do just that – make a difference.
“We are getting a proven leader,” head basketball coach Stew Morrill said at the time of Spetman’s hiring. “I am confident that Randy will be a good fit at Utah State and that all Aggie fans will appreciate his commitment and passion for the future.”
“We are excited to have someone who is excited to be here and wants to take our program in a new direction,” track and field coach Gregg Gensel said.
For Spetman, he said, new facilities are the No. 1 priority in that new direction.
“A new facility changes everything and we haven’t had a new facility here for a while,” Spetman said. “I don’t know how long President [Kermit] Hall will let me stay on. I hope he lets me stay forever. But if we get the new facility done here, it’ll be a real plus for the university. And I’ll feel like a really made a difference.”
Spetman, who comes to USU after spending eight years as the Athletics director for the Air Force Academy, said renovations to the east and west sides of the stadium will get underway later this year.
“All I have to do is make sure the bulldozer doesn’t crash into the north end zone,” Spetman said.
At Air Force, Spetman, a former pilot with more than 3,000 hours of flight time, oversaw the first major building addition the academy had seen in 30 years. The addition included a new weight room, training room, administrative offices and locker rooms – all things Spetman would like to see done at Utah State.
“It’ll change the entire complexion of the athletic department,” Spetman said. “Our sports medical facility is really lacking. It’s as bad as any place [in the country]. Nothing’s been done to it in 40 years. So it’s hard for me to see how we can recruit people.
“If I can take care of that, I think you’ll see us grow more successful. You’ll see more kids want to be a part of our program.”
Since his appointment, Spetman said he has been asked several times how there can be such a discrepancy between the success of the basketball and football programs (100-26 over the last four seasons and 16-29 over the last four seasons, respectively).
“We probably have one of the best basketball facilities in the world and its always full so nobody can win here,” Spetman said. “But if I ask Stew Morrill to play Duke, Florida, Oklahoma and North Carolina on the road – and could only take recruits to the fieldhouse – our basketball program wouldn’t be very good in two years.
“And that’s what we’ve been asking our football program to do for the last 30 years. Our kids get beat up. They get demoralized. I’m not making excuses for them, but you have to give your coaching staff an opportunity to win.”
When his son was a swimmer at Arizona State, Spetman – who oversaw a 27-sport intercollegiate program, as well as the physical education and intramural programs at Air Force – said, the school’s athletics director never made contact with swimming team because it didn’t bring in money for the university.
“That always bothered me,” Spetman said. “I want to know all the athlete’s names. That’s what keeps me energized. I run out of energy [in my office] and when I run out of energy I go around the teams. And just to be around the athletes and college students, that re-energizes me.”
When he first came to Logan, Spetman said he would be naive to say he knew how to fundraise in Cache Valley. Now, after a few months, he said he is getting more familiar with the challenge.
“I knew this was a conservative community, but it’s very conservative,” Spetman said. “There are a lot of younger families that don’t have a lot of discretionary funds. So getting them to come to some of our athletic events is going to be a challenge.”
Still, Spetman, a three-letter winner in football and a two-time heavy weight boxing champion at Air Force, said the university’s athletics budget will have to be increased by more than $4 million if the school is to be competitive in the WAC.
“Our budget has to be increased,” Spetman said. “We’re below Louisiana Tech. We’re below Idaho in what our budget is. That’s not good news. If we think we can go to the WAC and remain with the status quo, we’re going to be very sorry.”
Spetman said a commitment to academics among the athletics department was a main attraction for him in coming to Utah State.
“From President Hall on down they believe academics first,” Spetman said. “Wins and losses are important to us, but what’s most important is that we get student-athletes to graduate.”
In his 18th move in 28 years, Spetman said he is enjoying living in Logan.
“My wife Becky and I both love Logan,” Spetman said. “It’s a great community. People care about people here.”
Spetman replaced former director Rance Pugmire who resigned from his post at USU in April.
-acf@cc.usu.edu