College Sports

JACKSONVILLE — Jim Fuller hasn't set an exact date for his formal retirement as Jacksonville State's athletics director, but Wednesday he said he planned to work in his Kennamer Hall office through the month of August.

In those five weeks, he said his main objective is to prepare the way for his successor, widely speculated as longtime college athletics administrator Oval Jaynes.

"I've been here for five years and worked on some things that we haven't been able to do," Fuller said, "but my priority the last month and a half or two months is trying the best we can to get the very best people in position within the administrative office so hopefully (it) will function and function smoothly for that other person to come in and transition."

To that end, the 63-year-old former football coach has rearranged his department's organizational chart from within, including elevating three longtime JSU administrators — Greg Bonds, Jim Skidmore and Greg Seitz — to associate athletic directors to bring order to the transition.

Bonds, most recently the school's director of compliance, will oversee budgets, compliance and academics. Director of sports medicine Skidmore will serve as the liaison to the coaches. And Seitz will continue to oversee media relations.

"Everybody knows in the department now who they report to," Fuller said.

Among the other shifting sands, Tracy Broom will succeed retired Debby Bishop as the Senior Women's Administrator while maintaining her academic responsibilities. Special projects coordinator Misty Cassell moves into the compliance office, assistant strength coach Ricky Rutledge will oversee facilities and events, and Fred Sington soon will replace Jeff Dunnavant in the sports information office.

With Mike Parris going back to the broadcast booth full-time, the marketing and development spot is open. Fuller's secretary Jan Evans is temporarily handling a messy ticket operation that Fuller called his "biggest concern."

"I met with all these people as a group, and as individuals, asking them what their goals were, what they wanted to do and how I could best help them achieve their goals and still making sure they were the best for that particular position," Fuller said. "Getting all this set was my primary goal before I left. Everything is organized and set and ready to go."

Fuller's five-year run as athletic director has coincided with JSU's association in the Ohio Valley Conference. During that tenure, the Gamecocks have won 31 OVC titles — more than any school in the league during that stretch. He also hired five head coaches, most recently basketball's James Green, who he predicts "is going to be a really good hire for the university."

His biggest regret is not seeing through the renovation of the school's athletics facilities, although he was in place when Paul Snow Stadium was fitted with artificial turf. He also won't be in place if the school follows through with a proposed move to the Football Bowl Subdivision, a move he doesn't entirely favor.

"Its time; it's time for me to leave," Fuller said. "When I talked to the president about this job, we talked about three to five years, and I've gone through that. And it has been a fast five years.

"As I said in the board meeting the other day, I was not worthy of being fired in my position as athletic director; neither was I worthy to take all the accolades for what success we had here; you always fall somewhere in the middle. Our people have won more conference championships in the last five years and I would like to honestly say that I had something to do with that, but the people in place who did that are the ones who made that happen. All I was was a popcorn eater and supporter."