BIRMINGHAM, Ala. >> Former University of Alabama at Birmingham athletics director Herman Frazier said he was not pressured to leave and simply accepted a good opportunity at Hawaii. [UH ADMINISTRATION]
Frazier denies
departing under pressureAssociated Press
In April, the University of Alabama system trustees said they would drop athletics if the program wasn't financially self-supporting in two years. UAB president Ann Reynolds, who hired Frazier, retired after their statement.
Board members have since backed off from that ultimatum, and Frazier said neither situation prompted his departure.
"There was never any discussions with anyone on the board," he told The Birmingham News in a story yesterday. "After (Reynolds) left, I received all sorts of support from the administration."
Frazier's last official day at UAB was July 15, but he is remaining with the department through Wednesday, finishing contracts and helping interim AD Watson Brown.
Frazier said he intended to fulfill his UAB contract, which ran until fall 2003, and twice told Hawaii representatives that he wasn't interested in the job.
"I was going to finish my contract, no question," Frazier said. "That was my goal and commitment."
In the end, Frazier said a more solid financial situation at Hawaii and improving football and basketball programs helped make the school's offer too tempting to refuse.
He believes he's leaving a positive legacy from a 22-month tenure at UAB, including the hiring of men's basketball coach Mike Anderson.
"My legacy is putting structure to a department that was going in a lot of different directions," Frazier said. "My legacy is going to be Mike Anderson and what he's going to accomplish."
Frazier also cited his negotiation of Brown's contract extension as head football coach when several schools were pursuing the coach.
"If we would have had to make a change in the coaching staff at that time and bring in someone else and pay them more money, you're talking about a deficit," Frazier said.
"UAB is a tough job," he said. "Things aren't easy but I knew that coming in. As I leave, I think it's a far better place than what I inherited."