Frenk To ‘The U’; What Does It Mean For Athletics?

It didn’t really have all the fanfare and hype of National Signing Day and watching a 5-star recruit pull a U-emblazoned hat out of a bag when choosing Miami, but in all reality it could prove to be the Canes’ biggest boom-or-bust “recruit” in years.

Harvard health dean Julio Frenk was named the sixth president in University of Miami history days back and the new president-elect will take over for the soon-to-depart Donna Shalala this June. Shalala ends a 14-year run in Coral Gables and upon her retirement, will take over the Clinton Foundation.

Dr. Frenk, 61, holds a medical degree and Ph.D.. He’s been Harvard’s dean for six years and minister of health in his native Mexico. He will also be the University of Miami’s first Hispanic president.

Frenk has been praised for his fundraising abilities; quadrupling the among raised by the school of public health at Harvard over his tenure. He also helped secure the university’s single largest-ever gift—a $350 million donation from a Hong Kong-based real-estate developer.

Due to the path Shalala blazed with the medical school over the past decade-and-a-half, it’s understandable that Frenk’s focus will remain in that field—especially with things taking some rough turns financially and administrative-wise over the past few years, as well as a documented and strained relationship with local Jackson Memorial; the breeding ground for UM’s medical students.

While all of this sounds like a strong move for the University of Miami academically and in regards to the medical legacy Shalala created, it still doesn’t truly address the orange and green elephant in the room; what does Frenk’s hiring mean for Hurricane athletics?

While that may not matter to the true-blue academic and casual sports enthusiast, fact remains that the majority of the University of Miami’s fan base didn’t attend the small, private institution and though those folks aren’t Canes alum, a large majority support the program through season tickets, merchandise and annual donations.

Football is important in Miami, as are sports in general. The Dolphins set the tone four decades back, the Canes carried on and off ever since, while professional basketball, baseball and big name, big money athletes have become synonymous with the Magic City.

South Florida loves a winner and isn’t afraid to check out when the going gets tough; as witnessed by all the empty sets at Sun Life Stadium the past few years—both on Saturdays and Sundays—as well as American Airlines Arena, which has been a shell of itself since LBJ took his talents back to Cleveland.

How important is athletics with this new regime?

The question was somewhat addressed in Frenk’s introductory press conference, where he cited his grad school experience at the University of Michigan and his true understanding for the role athletics plays inside a major university—especially one like Miami, where football truly put the college on the map well before it was revered as an academic institution.

Athletics are said to be a “central” focus on Frenk pending immersion into his role at “The U”. He also acknowledged that athletics are “an integral part of a comprehensive” education.

“I am, of course, very much aware of the important role that athletics play at the University of Miami … I look forward to learning more,” Frenk explained during his introduction.

While all that sounds good on the surface, Frenk’s lack-of-experience in regards to big time college athletics is a bit unnerving.

That’s not to say he will, or won’t succeed in any efforts to turn football (and baseball) into a winner again, while keeping basketball on track; but negotiating the rugged terrain that is the modern-day NCAA—that in itself can be a full-time job—as is putting together a powerhouse athletic department with a game plan to succeed at the highest levels.

The same tenacity that Shalala brought the medical school and Frenk will carry on; a similar expertise is required on the athletic side of things. A skills-set, tenacity, zest and desire to create a legacy, to dominate and to operate in a proactive, opposed to reactive manner.

Another name the Board of Trustees seemed high on over the past few months; Admiral James Stavridis, Dean of the Fletcher School of Law at Tufts University.

Rumors swirled that The Admiral—a West Palm Beach native who witnessed firsthand the Canes’ Decade of Dominance era—would put his stamp both on Miami’s law program, as well as bringing a competitive nature to the athletics department, realizing the potential revenue stream that existed and getting things up to snuff there.

The only perceived (and unspoken) “knock” against Stavridis; his right-leaning ways for a progressive, left-leaning university that spent the last decade-and-a-half getting Shalalacized. (That statement is neither positive or negative as this non-political blog has no dog in the fight; it’s simply fact.)

Whether that had something, nothing or everything to do with Frenk getting the nod, we’ll never know—but when it comes to athletics, looking at the two side-by-side (and knowing how rabid the Army v. Navy football rivalry is taken), Stavridis the South Floridian seemed like the better athletics fit, on paper.

Even from a psychological perspective; Frenk appears to have been hired to carry out the legacy Shalala built with the medical school and by all accounts, is a full-blown academic; having written 28 books and countless articles in academic journals, while serving in several academic roles, including senior researcher at the National Institute of Public Health and adjunct professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the National University of Mexico.

None of that is to say that Frenk lacks the capacity, desire or vision in regards to reviving the athletics department; but at first glance and based on his resume, it’s hard to believe it’ll be a top priority. There are much bigger fish to fry and battles to fight.

Frenk’s history is impressive and in regards to a quality hire for president at the University of Miami, this is certainly a driven man who is out to create a legacy.

Minister of Health of Mexico, shaping the country’s healthy care system. One-time candidate for Director-General of the World Health Organization. Former head of the Carso Health Institute; a non-profit aimed at helping Latin America’s poor.

Frenk was even tapped to serve as Senior Fellow in the Global Health Program of the Bill & Melinda Gats Foundation, where he counseled in regards to global health issues and strategies.

The more one reads as a supporter of the University of Miami—as a university—and it sounds like a home-run hire.

That said, as a football enthusiast who wants to see the Hurricanes competing along the likes of the Seminoles, Gators, Buckeyes or Crimson Tide—hard-pressed at this point to see how Frenk would dedicate much time, energy or brain-power to the future of Al Golden and who a potential replacement would be if another sub-par season is on the horizon.

All of that being said, Frenk certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt in regards to his abilities to bring Miami into the modern era athletically. UM has a fresh new partner in adidas; a dominant global brand that will give the Hurricanes the type of attention that Nike once laid at the program’s feet.

That, coupled with renovations to Sun Life Stadium just short of a half billion dollars (as well as on-campus athletic department-themed upgrades), recruiting classes that appear to be getting better and better and NCAA sanctions fading by the day—”The U” is certainly primed for a bounce-back.

It’s simply up to the new guy in charge to determine the importance of athletics and a find the time to create a next-level game-plan to push this full-of-potential program to the forefront, where it belongs.

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