Sayler building a 'Division I environment'

The Connecticut native was setting foot in the state for the first time in his life during that visit - South Dakota being one of the few places where a series of promotions within college athletics had yet to take him.

Curiosity, both on his part and on the part of the coaches and fans who were attending the announcement, was a big part of the deal that day, which included all the standard stuff except for one thing:

In defense of his predecessor Joel Nielsen, Sayler was likely the first to get an enthusiastic green light from USD President Jim Abbott to bring an assertive attitude to the public on the issue. But to Sayler's credit in the days since then, amid a balky economy and reluctance on the part of the Board of Regents, there has been no softening of the message.

"It drives me all the time," Sayler said this week. "I think about it all the time. ... I've never been a part of a project that could be this galvanizing for everybody. People understand this, they get it. They know there's a need. Now let's get it done."

Colleagues say commitment to the task at hand is a defining personality trait for Sayler, who carried a diverse set of titles with increasing responsibilities within the athletic departments at Connecticut, Georgia, Hartford, Houston, Bowling Green, Oregon State and most recently Rice, where he was the top assistant to AD Chris Del Conte. "He's really trying very hard to foster a Division I environment here," said men's basketball coach Dave Boots, who has worked for four different athletic directors since being hired in 1988. "With him, you're getting a straightforward guy who wants to take care of business. I enjoy that kind of relationship with an AD."

As Boots well knows, Sayler will be joining his coaches in presiding over a pivotal point in school history at USD. The difference is that, though there is a first season in the Summit League this year, the time is coming where the transitional process will no longer have specific days of reckoning. The novelty of reaching up to Division I is soon to give way to the grind of staying there.

"The Summit League is going to give us a base to see where we're at exactly," Sayler said. "It's going to give us a measuring stick, something every department needs. It will give us more of a sense of permanence with our fan base and everybody else in terms of what we have to do and what we were talking about for so long." Using Sayler's first year as another sort of measuring stick, those 12 months definitely had some bite, beginning with an attempt to find a permanent home for the football program - another of his announced Day 1 projects - that took unexpected twists and turns.

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