Bad news: he is the new AD and was selected as the AD of the year for Division I-AA and his efforts at Southern Illinois University Central last season.

Well, so at least CSU has gone out and made a good hire. Anyone recognized by the NCAA for being at the top of the AD game has to be able to help the Rams out, right?

I certainly hope so. This upcoming season for the Rams is one of a lot of uncertainty. They named the field after Sunny Lubbick already, but they may consider painting over it after this year. One pre-season ranking I saw had them ranked 80th overall and had this to say:

Why to get excited: The defense, while it struggled throughout most of last year, has plenty of decent players returning. The offense gets RB Kyle Bell back, along with QB Caleb Hanie, who has some experience when Justin Holland went down in 2004. The corners should be among the best in the Mountain West.
Why to be grouchy: If last season was the rebound, this should be back to rebuilding, at least a little bit. Gone is Holland and WR David Anderson. The linebacking corps needs patching, and there are still issues on the rest of the defense that struggled throughout last year.
The number one thing to work on is: Stop the run, stop the run, stop the run. The Rams were shoved around all over the place by any ground game with a pulse. Missed tackles and poor positioning were partly to blame, but most of all, the front seven wasn’t physical enough, allowing 223 yards per game.

But I think the Rams will do much better than 80th. In the few years I have been following them they always seem to do well when nothing is expected. Unfortunately they also seem to tank when they are supposed to compete.

• Kowalczyk Earns Athletic Director of the Year Honors (CSURams.com