Utah athletic director Chris Hill couldn't ignore the newspaper and television reports — much less talk radio — even if he wanted to.

That's because they might contain something he should know.

For instance, one of his coaches is up for another job.

A year ago he set out to hire one of the hottest up-and-coming coaches in the country. He succeeded beyond reason. Now football coach Urban Meyer has been mentioned in connection with jobs at Cincinnati, Nebraska and even Notre Dame — which doesn't have a vacancy.

That's life when you hire good coaches.

"There are two kinds of coaches," says Hill matter-of-factly. "One is the kind everyone wants, and one is the kind nobody wants. If I have my choice, I'll take the one everybody wants."

Meanwhile, the AD can only hope someone else's offer isn't more attractive.

Why does it have to be this difficult? You work tirelessly to attract a talented coach, and if you succeed, some other school wants to steal him. That's the curse of athletic directors. The saying about success breeding success is true. But success also breeds turnover, or at least rumors of such.

Former BYU athletic director Rondo Fehlberg and current boss Val Hale experienced it with basketball coach Steve Cleveland, who was later a consideration at Fresno State. Football coach Gary Crowton was a hot candidate after his first season in Provo.

Is there such a thing as doing your job too well? Hill now has one of the best one-two combinations in the country in Meyer and basketball's Rick Majerus. While Meyer is a new commodity, Majerus' name comes up virtually every year. The list of schools he has been associated with include, among others, St. John's, UCLA, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Texas.

Highly successful Utah women's coach Elaine Elliott was a candidate for the Oregon job two years ago.

As an AD, you spend your time helping coaches succeed. If they do, you're madly hoping no one hires them away.

"Every day you get up and it's a battle," Hill continues.

In Majerus, he has a temperamental, demanding, smart coach who has taken his team to 10 conference championships, best in the nation over the past 13 years. He is a national figure, appearing as a television analyst when he isn't busy coaching.

The media and public love him. Apparently, so do athletic directors.

Then there's Meyer. All he did was win Utah's first outright conference title in 46 years and get named National Coach of the Year by The Sporting News. He is bright, motivated, disciplined — and currently the envy of half the colleges in the country. He hasn't said he plans to move — in fact, he's said he plans to stay — but if the success continues, leaving is almost a foregone conclusion.

As former NBA coach Dick Motta used to say, "Everyone's house is for sale at the right price."

In years past, a coaching move could mean a difference of a few thousand dollars. Now it might be a million. Even a long-term contract can be bought out.

Last year at this time, Hill was getting calls and letters from angry fans after he fired the popular Ron McBride, who the Utes kept for 13 seasons. Making things worse, McBride went public, saying the firing was unfair. Hill held his ground and hired Meyer, who ended up making him look good. But now Hill has to worry if Meyer will be lured away before his contract is up.

So exactly how does a school keep its coaches but win at the same time?

"I think in a lot of ways, you just have to get the best people you can and treat them as well as you can — given who you are; you can't be who you're not — and pay them as well as you can and keep going," says Hill. "You're always one phone call away from spending a lot of time doing something you didn't expect."

High salaries, as well as pressure from media and fans, have raised the stakes. At one time, coaches could stay for decades, because winning wasn't always the bottom line, and the money wasn't huge. Now even successful coaches like McBride must go if the program isn't moving forward.

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So here sits Hill, the happiest, most nervous guy in town.

"My whole job," says Hill, "is to help that person succeed."

Then comes the really tough part: convincing him to stay.


E-mail: rock@desnews.com

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