Upon Further Review
Coaching Resume 'Irregularities' Force Closer Look, Locals Not Immune
By John E. Sacco

Relying on the honesty and integrity of a new coach or athletic administrator is not good enough anymore for universities and colleges across the nation.

The embarrassment of finding out that a school's new coach or athletic director isn't what he or she said they were can be overwhelming and bewildering.

Within days of being hired as Notre Dame's football coach, George O'Leary admitted he had lied on his resume. He never lettered in football at New Hampshire as he claimed, and he did not earn a master's degree from New York University.

The former Georgia Tech coach was disgraced, as was the Fighting Irish's process in hiring him.

Tyrone Willingham, who is perceived nationally to be an honorable man who ran a clean and quality program at Stanford was brought in to restore order.

Had it not happened at Notre Dame, it is unlikely the matter would have received the national attention it did.

But it brought the issue of simple clerical errors, half-truths and long-forgotten lies on resumes to light and within weeks inaccuracies were found in biographical information of coaches in Division I football and basketball across the country.

o   Charles Harris withdrew as athletic director at Dartmouth hours before his hiring was to have been announced in mid-June.

o   Inaccuracies were found in the information for Georgia basketball assistant Jim Harrick Jr. and Charlie Partridge, director of football operations at Iowa State.

o   Two assistants at Georgia Tech, hired by the Yellow Jackets' new coach, Chan Gailey, were found to have misleading bios. That led to Rick Smith losing his job as defensive coordinator and to the demotion of Georgia Tech's director of communications Mike Stamus.

o   In May, United State Olympic Committee President Sandy Baldwin resigned after admitting she'd lied about the academic credentials on her resume.

It's hit home as well.

In June, Blair Hrovat, who was Allegheny College's football coach, resigned after confirming that his resume incorrectly listed a bachelor's degree from Edinboro.

Late in the month, Mike Wilson, a Bethel Park native, was fired as an assistant basketball coach at Richmond because of inaccurate biographical information.

Hrovat, who led the Gators for four years, was hired, in part by former Allegheny Athletic Director Rick Creehan in 1998. Hrovat was a standout quarterback for Edinboro. He was small college player of the year in 1982 and was coached by Denny Creehan, Rick Creehan's brother.

Wilson, who had developed a reputation as one of the best recruiters in Division I college basketball, claimed to the Richmond Times-Dispatch in June that he never handed a resume to a university that was not accurate. He stressed there is a difference between a resume and a bio.

"We've put more emphasis on checking things more thoroughly," said Dean Kenefick, Villanova's sports information director and a Washington, Pa., native. "With the media guides and bios being such an important part of what we do, we made each individual coach and assistant review their bios. I went around to each person, had them read the bios, look at it and sign a form that verified that all the information contained within was accurate and correct."

Kenefick said in the past a lot of resumes were accepted at some schools as fact and went without review. "The issue is definitely at the forefront now. People are double and triple checking these things. It's funny how one situation can change the landscape of how you do things."

Due diligence

Paul Burd is vice president of student affairs for California University (Pa.) He maintains there is a way to limit such inaccuracies or misinformation from misleading search committees or administrators in the hiring process.

"Something like that is always in the back of your mind," Burd said.

California requires official transcripts of candidates to be on file. The university employs one person to handle the search for those official transcripts. That person becomes the secretary for the specific search committees hiring a coach or administrator.

"We haven't had problems with it," Burd said. "That's not to say somebody couldn't fake a transcript, especially in this day of technology.

"I learned long ago you can put anything you want on a resume and send it in. It seems to be proper for the institution to call for some scrutiny and review of the process. Why would you take a person's word from a resume without verifying some official documents?"

Kurt Kehl, a Baldwin native, currently is head of communications for the Washington Capitals. Prior to joining the organization in the spring Kehl was associate athletic director­communications at Princeton.

He said when he served on search committees it was his duty to talk with references and verify experiences on a candidate's resume.

Kehl said the Tigers' human resources department was heavily involved in the process and "conducted the majority of the screening of candidates."

Burd said things happen much faster at the Division I level in terms of hiring high-profile coaches.

"In Division I, they are hiring the name," Burd said. "That's not something we experience here.

"It's certainly important in your present review with athletics to have a trust and confidence that you're not hiring some far out or way out person who could do irreparable damage to a student, an athlete or the university. If a person goes as far to falsify a resume, you're talking about the character side. We're responsible.

"Mistakes happen and I acknowledge that. But you don't want to err because you lacked rigor in the process or in your search. You need some due diligence there. There's public trust involved."

Liar, liar

Tim Johnson was fired in March 1999 as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays after admitting to fabricating stories to the organization and his players about him serving in Vietnam. Johnson never served in Vietnam and a review of his service record showed Johnson entered the Marines in August 1969. He did his basic training in San Diego and then advanced infantry training at Camp Pendleton, Calif. That was the extent of his active duty time, according to the service records. After infantry training, Johnson was assigned to units in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Johnson isn't alone in baseball in making false claims.

While former Pirates' outfielder Al Martin has not said he was a war veteran, he has apparently attempted to misguide the public.

In August 2001, the Seattle Times reported that Martin, then a Mariners outfielder, had lied about playing football at the University of Southern California in the late 1980s, as he claimed for years.

According to the paper, coaches and players at USC and at Martin's high school in West Covina, Calif., said they had no knowledge of Martin ever attending or playing at the university.

USC has no record that Martin ever enrolled, received scholarship money or played in a game, the paper said.

The Mariners' media guide said Martin "attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship" and "played two seasons at strong safety for the Trojans."

It all became an issue in the previous spring training when Martin referred to a 1986 football game between USC and Michigan. The Trojans did not play the Wolverines in 1986, and the teams did not meet in the decade until the 1989 Rose Bowl.

Martin told the paper in July 2001 he would provide proof. That proof was never provided.

"I think sports have become so competitive, some people are willing to do anything they can to one up the next person," Kenefick said. "It's amazing the lengths people have gone to make themselves look better than they are."