Bowling Green State University Athletics
Paul Krebs Feature
March 24, 2006 | General
March 24, 2006
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor - Ohio has a wide range of universities supporting Division I athletic programs.
Bowling Green is one of six Ohio schools in the Mid-American Conference and there's also Ohio State University, Cincinnati, Xavier and Dayton and Wright State competing for state funds, sponsorship dollars and fans.
For the past seven years, Paul Krebs has led the BG athletics department as it battles to survive in the crowded landscape of major college athletics in the state, not to mention competition from the University of Michigan and Notre Dame.
Soon Krebs, 49, will be facing a different challenge.
He's leaving BG at the end of April and takes over as the athletics director at the University of New Mexico on June 1.
Calling the situation at UNM a double-edged sword, Krebs said: "There are not a lot of people in the state, but there are no pro teams. Lobo athletics, the University of New Mexico, is what people focus on from a sport perspective."
Even with financial battles and attendance struggles, Krebs was not looking to leave BG. His family has become established members of the community and he is a BGSU graduate.
"It's a bittersweet thing for me," he said. "We really like Bowling Green ... It's a great place to live and a great place to raise a family.
"It will be hard for me to leave the coaches and the staff," Krebs added. "I really feel like we created a sense of family, maybe one of our strongest attributes as a department and a university. I'm going to miss that. It made the decision very difficult."
Still, the opportunity was something Krebs felt he needed to explore for himself and his family.
"We have always talked, my wife and I, about living in New Mexico and at one time we considered buying some vacation property in New Mexico ... Out there, it's relatively close to my wife's family," Krebs said. "It's a part of the country that in it's own unique way is very beautiful and I find very attractive. The weather is outstanding.
"I wasn't looking to leave, but when the call came I had to listen."
Krebs impressed the search committee and the acting president at New Mexico during the interview process and was offered the job.
"There was just a lot that I saw that I really liked, in the state, in the university, in the passion of the fans committed to Lobo athletics. That really made a big difference for me," Krebs said.
Krebs' legacy
When Krebs was hired by Dr. Sidney Ribeau, BGSU's president, one of his main tasks was to balance the athletics department budget.
This year, the athletics department will have a hard time reaching the bottom line.
"It's been a struggle, but the last two years the budget has been balanced. It's always going to be a challenge," Krebs said. "We need fan support. We need people coming to games, buying tickets and private support."
This year, Krebs said increased fuel costs is a major problem.
"With the cost of fuel going up, that's hit us hard because travel costs have gone up for our teams in some cases once our budget had been finalized."
Krebs is pleased with the improvement within the department as well as the increased national exposure for BG during his tenure.
"I really feel in the past seven years we have made strong steady improvement," Krebs said. "In many cases it's improvement that people won't know, whether it's in our infrastructure in how we do business; whether it's in licensing; whether it's in some student athlete issues that aren't readily apparent.
"I know this is hard to measure, but I think there is a sense of pride in Bowling Green athletics and that pride transfers to the university as well. I didn't see that when I first got here. When I walked around campus my first couple of months, I didn't see anybody wearing orange and brown. I didn't see anybody wearing Bowling Green clothing and Bowling Green hats," he added. "Now I see a greater sense of institutional pride. I see a lot more orange and a lot more brown. I think there are a lot of layers that go into that, but certainly a stronger athletic program is one of them."
Krebs said another way to measure success is how the national profile of BG has increased through increased media coverage, television appearances, the expanded radio network and being able to purchase Falcon merchandise around the state.
"There are always things that you look back on and say I wish we would have done this better or that better or made more progress," he said. "You want to win all the championships you can. There are times that you wish you were a little more competitive in this program or that program or we were closer to a championship."
Dark day
In an effort to help balance the budget, Krebs and BG's administration decided to eliminate four men's intercollegiate sports in March 2002 -- indoor and outdoor track, swimming and tennis.
"At the time, it was the right thing to do for the right reasons and I know it alienated a constituency that probably will never come back and I respect their opinion and their view on it," Krebs said. "But there isn't any question in my mind and I think the mind of our staff, at the time is was the right thing to do for the right reason.
"We were running the largest program on the smallest budget and at the end of the day you just couldn't compete across the board in the programs we were trying to compete in."
Calling it the hardest thing he has ever done in over 20 years as an athletics administrator Krebs said: "We're a much stronger program for it in many ways ... I do have a regret about that, but I would not have changed the decision."
BGSU's future
"I'm leaving the program in much better shape than I inherited. I don't take the credit for that. It's truly a team effort," Krebs said.
Still, there is work to be done when the school's 12th athletics director is hired.
The budget has to continue to be managed, attendance issues must be addressed, the updating of facilities has to continue and while Bowling Green had a good run in football and several women's sports in recent years, the Falcons need to be more competitive across the board.
"The new great hurdle and one of the things we were going to focus on in the next five years was facilities," Krebs said.
Construction has started on the Sebo Athletic Center, which Krebs again emphasized will benefit all Falcon athletes. Also, plans are in place for work to start this summer on a new track and tennis courts.
Preliminary plans are in the works for a new locker room facility for baseball and softball.
And plans for a convocation center and/or a renovation of Anderson Arena are expected in the near future, Krebs said.
"There is just a lot going in the next three to four years ... Our goal has always been to be the dominant program in the league and we're on our way to getting there," he said.
Krebs said the UNM's average attendance is approximately 11,000 for women's basketball; 12,000-13,000 for men's basketball; and 30,000-plus for football.
That compares to BG's totals of 12,089 fans for 11 women's home basketball games this season (1,099 average); 22,927 fans for 13 men's home basketball games (1,764 average), with only one game over 3,000; and a total of 74,644 fans for five home football home games in 2005 (14,929 average), with no crowd over 20,000.
"Attendance continues to be a challenge," Krebs said about BG's fan base. "We'd have some improvement, but it's not where you want it to be.
"You're going to continue to work to develop that. We've made significant progress with our student body in supporting the programs. But there's still work to do in that area, particularly on a consistent basis, where you're not coming out one game a year."
Krebs said he would also welcome the opportunity to schedule contests between New Mexico and BG, including football.
