What happened to the process?

You know the one.

The process Marshall University supposedly would follow while identifying, interviewing and hiring a new athletic director.

According to Marshall's administration, the process was supposed to include the Dallas-based executive recruitment firm of Eastman & Beaudine, MU president Steve Kopp and a 10-person search committee.

The members of the committee included John Hess (chairman), Mike Perry, Bob Bookwalter, Camilla Brammer, Shari Clarke, Bob Plymale, Larry Tweel, Sean Hornbuckle, Mark George and Steve Ellis.

But, so far, the only searching this search committee has done is search for answers why the majority of the members have been kept completely in the dark.

That unexpected detour in the process came to light last Thursday in a published report.

According to the Charleston Daily Mail newspaper, Eastman & Beaudine presented the names of four finalists to Kopp.

The four finalists are believed to be Mike Hamrick, the director of athletics at UNLV; Ross Bjork, senior associate athletic director at UCLA; Brian Wickstrom, UTEP's senior associate AD; and either Steve Becvar, associate athletic director at the University of San Diego or Mike Vaught, SMU's deputy athletic director.

And, then, the detour happened.

Instead of presenting the four finalists to the search committee and allowing the 10-person group to interview the candidates, Kopp and Beaudine apparently opted for secrecy.

According to the Charleston newspaper, all or most of the four finalists were interviewed by Kopp, Beaudine and two unnamed members of the search committee in Dallas.

One of those members is presumed to be Hess, who was known to be out of town.

As for the rest of the search committee, I know of five members who had absolutely no knowledge of the interviews.

And guess what?

They aren't happy about it.

Their names were published in The Herald-Dispatch and other media as members of the search committee and, then, they discover they weren't even kept in the informational loop.

Peruse the 10-person list again.

As Marshall supporters go, there are some heavy hitters in that lineup. It certainly doesn't seem very smart to upset, alienate and embarrass people like them.

But that's precisely what happened when the process was ignored.

And it was indeed ignored.

When the search committee was announced, Kopp said, "The committee will be working with our search firm, Eastman & Beaudine Inc., to select the best candidate possible."

Yet, when it came time to work together, Kopp, Beaudine and only two committee members skedaddled to Dallas for secret interviews.

And, now, sources say Beaudine plans to bring only one potential candidate to Huntington for an interview with the complete search committee.

If so, that's a rubber stamp, not an interview.

And should that happen, some of the already perplexed members of the committee indicate they won't stand for it.

What can they do?

Nothing, really.

Except become even more disenchanted.

And that's not good. Considering Marshall's current state of disrepair in athletics, the Herd needs all the support it can muster.

That's why ignoring the process wasn't a very smart move.

Were secret interviews worth the loss of credibility?

I don't think so.

The next time Marshall asks for $50,000 from supporters to fund a search and, therefore, a process, the administration may discover just how much the loss of credibility costs.

It carries a hefty price tag.

Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.

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