[OutsiderFan]

If I was hiring an AD for a Pac-12 school on the west coast, I would always choose one who is already an AD from a BCS conference school east of the Rockies.  The reason is because in general college sports play a much larger role in the culture there than they do places west of the Rockies.  Having an AD accustomed to having high interest in his sports programs will serve the Athletic Dept. well.  Bowlsby fit this bill to a T, and you can see the results, particularly in football.

It sure seems much easier for someone with experience dealing with highly popular sports programs and all that comes with them, to adapt to Stanford's academic constraints than it is to get someone from an academic-focused institution (like Harvard) with a low profile sports following, to adapt to being in a larger and more visible sports program. 

[OutsiderFan]

If I was hiring an AD for a Pac-12 school on the west coast, I would always choose one who is already an AD from a BCS conference school east of the Rockies.  The reason is because in general college sports play a much larger role in the culture there than they do places west of the Rockies.  Having an AD accustomed to having high interest in his sports programs will serve the Athletic Dept. well.  Bowlsby fit this bill to a T, and you can see the results, particularly in football.

It sure seems much easier for someone with experience dealing with highly popular sports programs and all that comes with them, to adapt to Stanford's academic constraints than it is to get someone from an academic-focused institution (like Harvard) with a low profile sports following, to adapt to being in a larger and more visible sports program.