PROVO — The tumultuous past three months for Brigham Young University — including the scramble to hire a football coach and the firing of two long-tenured athletic directors — also brought the attempted resignation of the administrator who oversees the school's intercollegiate sport programs.
In an e-mail obtained by the Deseret Morning News after it was posted on an Internet site, Fred Skousen, BYU's vice president of advancement, told a Cougar fan he told BYU President Cecil Samuelson that he would resign — but the president rejected his offer.
Skousen became a lightning rod for criticism from fans who felt he was too callous when he fired athletic directors Val Hale and Elaine Michaelis in September.
Each had worked for more than two decades at the university.
"I believe that the decisions we have made recently are in the best interest of the athletic program and the university," Skousen wrote in a reply to Mike Sponseller, a BYU graduate living in Boston. "In retrospect, I also believe I could have handled the situations with Val Hale and Elaine Michaelis differently and better. . . . I am very sorry my actions have reflected negatively on the university.
"Recently I have offered to step down, as you have suggested. President Samuelson and those to whom he reports have asked me to remain in my position and to finish my assignment. Contrary to your position, they have been very supportive. And so, I must respectfully decline your suggestion."
Sponseller posted his exchange with Skousen on www.CougarBoard.com. Sponseller said Skousen's reply to his resignation request changed his mind about the vice president.
"You have my support now, and I'll pass on that show of support to friends," Sponseller wrote in a final exchange.
Through university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins, Skousen said the e-mail was intended to be a private correspondence and declined further comment.
Skousen intended to step down when former President Merrill Bateman left in 2003, but Samuelson asked him to stay, Jenkins said. Samuelson asked Skousen to guide the athletic department through the transition to a new athletic director.
The search for a new AD will begin next month.
Since the September firings, Skousen and a four-person transition team of associate athletic directors have been supervising the department. They recently have been lambasted by media and fans alike for taking trips while football coach Gary Crowton's job was hanging in the balance.
Skousen's team took more public hits when Kyle Whittingham was trying to decide between offers from both BYU and the University of Utah — to replace Crowton and Urban Meyer, respectively.
Whittingham ultimately chose the U. over BYU while Skousen and associate ADs Tom Holmoe, Peter Pilling and Brian Santiago were in New York City for the induction of retired football coach LaVell Edwards into the College Football Hall of Fame.
However, Samuelson praised the transition team Monday and used the word "superb" to describe Holmoe, a candidate for the AD job.
Holmoe defended the administration's moves, pointing out that he remained in Utah for BYU's final game — a 52-21 loss to the Utes on Nov. 20 — while Samuelson, Skousen, Pilling and Santiago traveled to Hawaii to watch the men's basketball team play in the Maui Invitational tournament.
That trip appeared to postpone Crowton's annual postseason review until Nov. 29. Crowton agreed to resign on Nov. 30 and stepped down at a press conference on Dec. 1.
Holmoe said Crowton's evaluation would have been postponed even if the entire administration had been in town.
"The season ended and Thanksgiving was on the following Thursday," Holmoe said. "That's not the best time for that meeting. I'm very sensitive to that. If that caused a delay, that's on me."
And Holmoe described the New York trip as a boon to BYU's effort to land Whittingham.
"It ended up being a benefit to me because the president was there and I had his counsel," he said. "And I was in a hotel room with no distractions and was able to work for two days straight without any distractions. That wouldn't have happened anywhere else."
Holmoe used the opportunity to meet with and obtain advice from Edwards and several former players — Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid, ESPN analyst Steve Young, Houston sports broadcaster Gifford Nielsen and Philadelphia TV personality Vai Sikahema.
"People make more of those trips than they should," Holmoe said. "It makes for a good story."
So did the final days of BYU's search — Samuelson even referred to the "ambiguities of the last few days" — which came down to an awkward decision between two of Crowton's former assistants, Bronco Mendenhall and Lance Reynolds.
Holmoe, Pilling and Santiago selected Mendenhall late Friday night and quickly won support from Samuelson and Skousen. The transition team spent Saturday carefully discussing the decision with Reynolds and others while Mendenhall worked with potential recruits visiting campus.
Mendenhall ironed out contract details Sunday and had a 9 a.m. meeting Monday with a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a requirement for all new faculty and coaches at the church-sponsored university.
Holmoe said BYU gave Mendenhall a multi-year deal but declined to provide details.
Samuelson rejected the criticism of BYU's process as well as the secrecy of the search's final days, when almost hourly leaks about Whittingham's decisions were replaced by near silence.
"We do this the Brigham Young University way," Samuelson told reporters during the press conference, "and we hope you understand that but don't worry very much when you don't."
E-mail: twalch@desnews.com