The last six months have been a whirlwind for Jason Trufant.
Whether it has been hiring coaches, doing paperwork, unveiling a new athletic logo, compiling manuals, or traveling throughout the Golden Triangle, the new director of athletics at Mississippi University for Women has had plenty to do to increase awareness about the school’s plan to bring back women’s intercollegiate athletics and to introduce men’s sports for the 2017-18 school year.
The Owls won’t play their first intercollegiate sporting event for another seven or eight months, but Trufant who celebrated the six-month anniversary of his first day on the job in Columbus on Tuesday, has stayed busy to keep The W on schedule to play its first sporting events in nearly 15 years.
“It is (surprising it has been six months on the job) only because it hasn’t seemed like too much like work yet,” Trufant said. “It has been a nice journey. We have had 33 on-campus interviews with coaches, and we finally have four — you will see our baseball coach here in the next two weeks — coaches (to lead our teams). Roxanne (Hernandez, the school’s volleyball coach) was our first one here. That was kind of a breath and then it was like, ‘Well, wait a minute, we have three more.’ Six months later, we have accomplished quite a bit, and there is still a lot more to do.”
Trufant said he was on the phone with the NCAA on Tuesday talking about the next step for The W. He said that step involves completing applications for the NCAA and another organization that The W can be involved with “to create championship experiences” while it proceeds with the NCAA.
As for the coaches, Trufant said they continue to work on recruiting and to formulate schedules for their sports. He said each sport will have to play a minimum number of games/matches against four-year schools, per NCAA rules, and that The W, which will play at the NCAA Division III level, plans to play opponents from several organizations — NCAA, NAIA, National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) — to fill those schedules. Trufant said the coaches are going to be allowed to schedule games/matches against junior college competition once they meet the NCAA minimum requirements for scheduling.
Trufant said he wasn’t able to name the other organization The W will work with because the school is still involved in the application process. He referred to the organization as a “spin-off” that “allows us to do a lot of good things in a short amount of time.”
Once 2017 hits, Trufant said The W will begin to look for a sports information director and an athletic trainer to help it continue preparations for the 2017-18 school year, when baseball, softball, men’s soccer, volleyball, and men’s and women’s cross country will play their first seasons. He anticipates hiring a cross country coach early in 2017.
Trufant said work is “90 percent” completed in determining the sports The W will add the following season. He said The W needs to have a minimum of 12 sports, and that he hopes to have 13 or 14 in place for the 2018-19 year. He said he hopes to have coaches for those sports hired in July or August to give them a full year to establish their programs.
“It will give us the room to be successful,” Trufant said. “We don’t want to be too big, but we have to meet certain minimums.”
In the last six months, Trufant has talked at various civic organizations throughout the Golden Triangle to raise awareness about The W’s decision to bring back women’s sports and to introduce intercollegiate sports. He feels the page has been turned from people asking what The W is doing to when it is doing it. He believes that is a good sign.
“I think it is more of a reality,” Trufant said. “It was my hope to bring a program to light without student-athletes, coaches, or 100 percent facilities. I think we have done that. I think we have been able to get this program in the media, on the face of everybody in the community, and we’re starting to see a return on that from the interest coming in.
“The logo (an owl) in October was huge. That created a face and an identity. (The coaches) are creating a unique buzz. It has been almost 15 years since this campus has seen a volleyball tossed or a basketball shot, so I think it is now a reality.”
Trufant said the ability to hire coaches he sees as “the right fits” has helped The W push its agenda forward. He called Hernandez, Tim Gould (men’s soccer), Tatjana Matthews (softball), and Brooke Beasley (assistant volleyball coach/assistant athletic director) “unique” individuals because they are able to convey the message needed at a school whose athletic teams won’t offer athletic scholarships at the Division III level. He said it is important to have coaches from different parts of the country to extend The W’s reach.
Trufant feels the addition of athletic facilities will be another factor that will draw student-athletes to the school. He said The W has had conversations with two local high schools about using their baseball fields and with the city of Columbus about using the downtown soccer complex. He sees the school using those facilities early on while it moves toward its goal of building a soccer and a baseball facility on campus. Trufant also said The W will refurbish the existing softball facility on campus. Trufant feels those facilities will enhance The W’s atmosphere and close in the campus in a great way. He said he has talked frequently with MUW President Jim Borsig about those facilities, and that they see a soccer facility just outside the doors of the Cromwell Communications Center, where Trufant’s office is located. He said they also see a perfect landscape for a baseball diamond diagonally from the softball field.
“Those are important things to us,” Trufant said. “The Division III model lends itself to high-quality facilities. It is a driving factor with recruiting. I think it is important that we spend our time doing it right rather than doing it fast.”
Trufant said planning and development meetings will happen in the next few weeks to determine what step the school will take next and how it will answer questions about facilities.
“I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised when the outcome is final,” Trufant said. “It is probably going to take a couple of years.”
In other news, Trufant said new adidas merchandise with The W’s new owl logo is expected to be available later this week. It originally was supposed to happen earlier this month, but Trufant hopes everything will be ready by Friday in the school book store and online.
n Trufant said The W is talking with bus companies and athletic training companies in town to finalize details. He said the athletic teams primarily will use buses to travel to events.
n Trufant said a coaches manual has been completed and a manual for student-athletes is in the final stages. He said both items will detail polices that are focused on doing what is best for the student-athletes.
n Trufant said a “long-term deal” with adidas has been finalized and that the company will outfit all of The W’s athletic teams.
n Trufant said The W has created an Owls Fund Club, which is designed to help the school partner with individuals interested in making financial contributing. He said information about the fund is on the school’s website at www.muw.edu under the “Give” header.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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