Missouri Tigers A.D. Mike Alden To Step Down

Apr 19, 2014; Columbia, MO, USA; Missouri Tigers athletic director Mike Alden stands on the sidelines during the Black & Gold Game at Faurot Field. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-USA TODAY Sports

When Mike Alden arrived to Columbia from Texas State in 1998, there was an immediate and aggressive microscope placed upon him. The Missouri Tigers athletic program was a storied sports entity. Fans were dedicated and spirited. But sports at Mizzou had begun to wane.

As success on the field and court had begun to dwindle, it was the right time for a change. Enter then 40-year-old Mike Alden, who quickly stepped into the Athletics Director role and began just that: change.

On Thursday, the last change became imminent, as Alden announced he will be stepping down from the A.D. position in late August after 17 years at the helm. If the announcement wasn’t exactly shocking, surely the timing was.

Alden said in a letter released by the University: “After several months of contemplation, I have decided that it is time for a change, both for me and for the University that I so dearly love… We are proud of what we have accomplished over the past seventeen years, which is a lifetime for an athletics administrator.”

For many, this was a long time coming. Mizzou fans had grown tired of failures “on and off the field,” so to speak. For others, Alden will be the guy who just couldn’t quite get the program “over the hump” under his watch.

There are also many advocators of Alden, those who realize what good he really has done for the program. And those who come with that mindset are surely saddened to see him go.

While his tenure was controversial, with as many negative headlines as positive ones, it cannot be argued with that the state of MU athletics is far better off as he leaves it than when Alden arrived.

When he walked through the door, Mizzou’s athletic budget $13.5 million. When he walks out the door, the budget will be over $83 million, according to the Kansas City Star.

One of those first big changes Alden made when he arrived, was to orchestrate the retirement of legendary basketball coach Norm Stewart, and bring in the ethically challenged Quin Snyder to replace him. It was an unpopular change at that, and Snyder resigned 7 years later after seriously poor performances followed allegations of recruitment violations and the program being put on probation.

Still, the football program is as good of a place as it’s ever been. That is thanks in large part to head coach Gary Pinkel, who Alden brought on board way back in 2001.

Pinkel, a little known coach at Toledo, wasn’t exactly anyone’s favorite choice when he took over, but he did nothing more for Alden than become in the winningest coach in Mizzou football history and remains there as Mizzou comes off back-to-back SEC Championship game appearances.

Gary Pinkel is the most successful hire Alden’s tenure. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports.

Between these two big measuring sticks for success, football and basketball, was a score of accomplishments and controversies for Alden.

Low times ranged from the death of a football player, Aaron O’Neal, during a workout in 2005, to a hodge podge of serious legal allegations upon student athletes.

Star running back Derek Washington was dismissed from the program and later convicted of felony sexual assault, while basketball star Mike Dixon was forced to leave after being accused of similar actions.

We all remember the recent wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who did nothing but embarrass Alden’s university during his time there with multiple run ins with the law, drug consumption and domestic assault investigations before being dismissed.

Perhaps the biggest failure, would be the death of swimmer Sasha Menu-Corey, who committed suicide after she reported being sexually assaulted by football players and the University and its athletic program failed to act.

Frank Haith was a controversial hire. Mandatory Credit: Dak Dillon-USA TODAY Sports

Despite it all, there were many highs. Alden has seen football grow into its brightest years. He moved the entire athletic program to the Southeastern Conference, and the school has benefited from it.

Today, Missouri is in all around a better spot than in 1998, there is no doubt.

Mizzou is in a strange flux right now. In the midst of an extremely active beginning to the football off season, the Tigers appear to be building upon immense success in that department.

But where football has perhaps overachieved, the other important sport, basketball, has been in a static limbo for years. While the status of the team on the hardwood may not directly be the motivation behind this move, certainly it was a variable.

While Mizzou has had remarkable stability on the sidelines and on the field in football, basketball is a different story.

In recent years, Mizzou has struggled to put a consistently successful team on the court. A couple of deep trips in the big tournament were not enough to distract detractors from the year after year underachieving, whether it was, as a No. 2 seed being knocked out in the first round of the tournament by 15^th seed Norfolk State in 2012, or being dominated in SEC play in its first three years in the conference, Mizzou basketball has seen its share of tough times.

Missouri Tigers /

Missouri Tigers

The revolving door of basketball coaches is perhaps the biggest mark on Alden’s record, from a “success of a team” stand point. The latest transition was the exit of Frank Haith, who had a controversial three seasons at Mizzou and left to avoid getting fired.

Say what you want about all of the other sports, football and basketball drive the revenue and the fan base in college athletics. And there will always be those who weren’t happy with Alden in some of his handling of those two programs.

Still, he has a lot of positive things to reflect on.

“I am most proud of our tremendous coaches, staff and student-athletes and how they represent our University with academic integrity, social responsibility and competitive excellence.”

Despite the many lows during his tenure, there is still a lot to be proud of. And Alden recognizes that. And he knows when it’s time to pass on the torch to the next Athletic Director.

Regardless of the feelings toward Alden as a person or Alden as an administrator, there’s no doubting that he leaves a program in far better shape than when he left it.

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