The retiring of legendary football coach Bob Spoo, the heightening career of Brady Sallee and the aftermath of the #FIREMIKEMILLER campaign each left Athletic Director Barbara Burke to lead a nationwide search into for leaders of more than 107 Panthers over the past semester.

University procedures jumpstart the campaigns, with required checkpoints at each stage of the hiring process in order to keep all offices in the loop.

“We work with internal offices to properly post for the job,” Burke said. “We then set up a selection committee that meets to gauge interest in the position,” Burke said.

Selection committees can be found at all levels below professional sports in order to gain a wide perspective into which candidate is best for the school.

In pro sports, this is taken care of in front offices and at the owner’s desk, which can sometimes lead to dissatisfaction with fans.

The university processes are generally favorable to campus communities, despite the fact that interviews and hirings are mostly behind closed doors versus the mounds of candidate coverage splashed across ESPN for the pros.

Once interest is gauged by the committee, skill sets are measured, Burke said.

“We work to fit resumes to make sure that each candidate meets the criteria for the job,” Burke said. “Then we do phone interviews, followed by a request to bring candidates to campus. From there we are granted permission to offer,” Burke said.

The vice president and the Office of Civil Rights are the final hurdle of the hiring process, with them holding the power to grant that permission.

After scouting nationwide for the one person to get the job done right, all eyes are finally opened to new faces of the programs.

Dino Babers replaced Spoo, Jay Spoonhour replaced Mike Miller and Lee Buchanan took the reigns from Sallee.

That’s plenty of work finally cleared from Burke’s desk.

“It feels wonderful. It has been a long process and long year for all three, but it’s been great, and I think the process helped us identify quality candidates for each position,” Burke said.

“It does feel good to have it done. But more importantly, in my heart, I feel like we have the right people in place to lead these three programs,” Burke said.

Overall, the job isn’t finished. Babers will be the first coach under the spotlight to show off Burke’s searching skills in his first Panther football showdown on the night of August 30 versus in-state rival Southern Illinois.

Joshua Bryant can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].