On Jugan's resignation at UGF...after 22 days

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By Jason Nitschke

When I got into the office today, our news director Chris Grogan stopped me and said, "hey the athletic director at UGF resigned." I thought, "What?!? That can't be right. He just started."

But when I sat down at my desk, turned on my computer, and read the email release from the University of Great Falls it all started to make sense.

And then I spoke with Andy Jugan. What he left unsaid made things more clear.

Now I can't be certain, but after speaking with Jugan, I made two assumptions. First, the job he signed up for became a monster beyond either his motivation or ability (I'd guess the former, because of the number of years he's already put into his career). Second, he didn't like it here. Let me remind you, that's my guess.

I came to these conclusions based on a few things.

1) My understanding of UGF and it's inner-workings is limited, so from an outsider's perspective, I've always thought UGF would be a tough place to recruit to.

Arunas Duda has done it with the volleyball team. Caleb Schaeffer has done it with the wrestling team. Gary Ehnes made some noise this year with the softball team. And men's soccer has become a program to be reckoned with. But the two programs that typically are the highest profile programs in any department, men's and women's basketball, play on a court that is more Class C than it is Major College. Compare it to facilities at Westminster, LC-State, Carroll, Rocky, Northern, or other schools in the region.

2) I work in an industry in which we hire people to move across the country. Our young reporters are hundreds or thousands of miles, and one, two or three time zones away from family, friends, and familiarity. They come here to central Montana with certain biases and more concrete backgrounds. Some love the change (ie: my future bride, a native of St. Louis). Others can't stand the size of our community, the pace of our lifestyle, or the perceived lack of culture.

3) And perhaps most telling were Jugan's own words: "After being here and spending time in the community, it was not as good a match as I originally thought." Sounds to me like the job was too much for him, he missed more familiar surroundings, and he didn't like it here.

But something else he said, was also very telling. "The (Great Falls) community is ready to support the program."

He just wasn't the right man for the job. It's too bad he wasted our time...but at least he made the decision sooner than later.

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