— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — It wasn’t exactly a victory lap, but Marshal University Athletic Director Christian Spears, on the job since late March, released a list of 36 accomplishments and project startups that are underway under his watch .
Two of those accomplishments were announced Wednesday as Marshall’s Board of Governors approved the return of a men’s track and field program 19 years after it was dropped due to budget constraints.
Less than a week after the departure of head baseball coach Jeff Waggoner, Spears also announced the appointment of longtime Ohio University baseball coach Joe Carbone as an advisor in both the hiring of a new Marshall baseball coach and design and construction of the new Marshall baseball stadium.
Carbone has Marshall roots and worked in the early 1970s as an assistant to MU’s winningest baseball coach, the late Jack Cook. Carbone also oversaw construction of a new baseball stadium at Ohio during his 24 seasons as the leader of the Bobcats’ program.
Spears says he has even greater goals for the baseball facility than previously announced and believes Carbone makes those goals more attainable.
“We still have things we want to add and it’s going to require some more fundraising,” Spears said.
He also believes Marshall can attract a program-building baseball coach, one that Carbone will have plenty of input on.
“He’s going to evaluate our current coaching staff, our current players and the program in general,” Spears said. “He thinks we can attract a person as head coach that can build a champion.”
Marshall is also hopeful the new baseball facility will be used in the summer as a possible home for a wooden-bat summer league team.
As for the return of men’s track and field, Spears said the Herd joining the Sun Belt Conference allowed for the move.
“A lot of times we look at what to cut in athletics, but we’re actually adding a sport,” Spears said. “We’re now going to have the only Division I combination of men’s and women’s track programs in West Virginia, and we think that the addition of the men’s team will augment the women’s track and field program.”
The MU men’s track program returns to competition with a home meet in the Chris Cline Athletic Center on December 9.
Spears’ three-page list of accomplishments and achievements for MU Athletics includes the creation of the Thunder Trust NIL program, reorganizing the athletic department, creating a fan committee, upgrading Joan C. Edwards Stadium and the creation of a Marshall-brand beer in conjunction with Lexington, Kentucky-based Country Boy Brewing.
“This is all the result of a team that’s here, the support staff and coaches, working to develop what we can all be proud of, and that’s competitive nationally,” Spears said. “We want to be in the hunt in every sport.”