Third generation athletic director Rick Hart will help lead the SMU’s athletic program in its move to the Big East. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)

In mid-July, SMU announced that it had hired new athletic director Rick Hart to lead SMU’s athletic programs. With a move to the Big East ahead, Hart’s decision will have long term impacts on SMU’s Second Century Campaign goals to be a perennial powerhouse.

This announcement was only one of many recent changes occurring in the athletic department. Following the hire of legendary basketball coach Larry Brown, new women’s soccer coach Chris Petrucelli, the coming move to the Big East conference, the renovation of Moody Coliseum and the construction of a new tennis complex, Hart is welcomed to the Hilltop at a time of, in his own words, “palatable excitement.”

Despite all the anticipation, Hart did not come to campus with complete confidence.

“When you start there’s all that excitement, and obviously you do your best to confirm that it’s a place where my family can be happy, where I can grow personally and professionally and help advance our department,” Hart said.

“You confirm those things but you still don’t know beyond that if it’s going to meet your expectations. And so now that I’ve been here a week, I’ve found that it does. It meets and/or exceeds my expectations as it relates to getting exposed to more people, to the area, to the institution. It has confirmed and supported what I hoped it would be like.”

The search process, which began after the firing of former AD Steve Orsini in May, was only a few weeks for Hart, during which time he was the AD at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Hart worked in Chattanooga administration since 2006 and was at Oklahoma for the seven years before.

“We [Hart’s family] felt very fortunate that we really loved Chattanooga so there was no part of us that felt like we had to leave,” Hart said. “What really drove [the move] was the unique opportunity to come to a campus that is going through some transformative change, that’s had some success and has some momentum and strong, respected leadership. It just seemed like the right time and the right opportunity.”

With all the change occurring on campus, Hart is not yet sure what his contribution is going to be and says he doesn’t “pursue change for the sake of change.”

“SMU athletics is a program that has a lot of great things already happening for it,” he said.

“There’s a lot of momentum, good people and success. It’s not as though I’m coming into a situation where there’s a multitude of challenges. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”

One issue that Hart is inclined to address is student attendance to athletic events.

“I think that [student attendance] is always a challenge today because of the demands on students’ time. What’s unique about SMU is I think our student-athlete population is about 7 percent, so it really is a pretty significant peer group. So at some point I think it has to be an effort by the student-athletes.”

However, Hart believes all the changes in athletics will be the beginning of the solution to the problem.

“Look at our home football schedule this year,” Hart said. “The quality of the opponents, the quality of the team, the product – as that improves I think more and more people will want to participate. All of the sudden being in the stands watching the game will become more important.”

Hart’s move to SMU also made him the boss of big names Brown and June Jones.

“Whether it’s a coach, staff-person or a student, it’s great to work with anyone who is accomplished, respected and has achieved success at the levels that those two individuals [Brown and Jones] have,” Hart said. “I look to learn from them, be around them and figure out how they became successful. And while they’re known for championships that they’ve won and some of the athletic accolades, they’re just good people.”

Hart is a third-generation sports administrator and was brought up around education and athletics – two things that collide in collegiate athletics.

“I’m not really passionate about professional sports, I’m passionate about the amateurism,” Hart said.

“I’m always in awe of our student-athletes. They inspire me with the way they balance their academic, athletic and social obligations at such a young age.”

The SMU athletic department is welcoming one more exciting change as Hart becomes accustomed to campus, and, he says, lost in the construction.

“You can sense that there’s a real eagerness about where we’re headed. To be able to be a part of that is certainly something that attracted me to the position and I look forward to helping it foster – keep doing the things that we’re doing well and find a way to do the other things better.”