By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A search is underway for the next Athletic Director at Missouri Western State University.
Josh Looney will be leaving the St. Joseph campus to take a similar position at the University of North Alabama in Florence September first.
Missouri Western President Elizabeth Kennedy says the ideal candidate must have the same personality, drive, and ambition Looney displayed.
“Also, it’s very important to me that someone have a sense of wanting to join the St. Joseph community,” Kennedy says, pointing out Looney and his family integrated into the St. Joseph community. “Me, personally, it’s very important to me that this is someone who can come into our community, work not only with our folks on campus, but also high schools, middle schools, those kinds of things; really get the entire community into Missouri Western and what our mission is.”
Kennedy says the university will use a search firm to find a replacement. An interim Athletic Director will be named in the meantime.
Kennedy says the position is an attractive one as the university comes out of the difficulties of 2020.
“And I think it’s a really good opportunity for someone who is maybe looking for this kind of athletic opportunity to say, wow, Missouri Western they’ve got a lot of great stuff going on and I want to be part of that team,” Kennedy says. “And I’m very confident we will find that individual.”
Kennedy says improvements to the St. Joseph campus made at the request of the Kansas City Chiefs for their training camp makes Missouri Western look more like a NCAA Division I program than a Division II program. Kennedy acknowledges the fact that the St. Joseph campus hosts the Kansas City Chiefs training camp is a selling point.
“But you can feel the excitement. You can see it. You look out the window (of Spratt Stadium) and you see where they’re going to be practicing,” Kennedy points out the Chiefs draw thousands to the campus. “What an opportunity for an AD to come in, to connect, to recruit, to fundraise, to engage with our community. It hits all the bells and whistles right off the bat.”
She says she wants a candidate with the same personality, drive, and ambition Looney displayed during his tenure.