Displaying items by tag: Athletic Director

The Norton Panthers have a new athletic director in the fold, and with the changes going on with the district and some new facilities going in place, he knows he'll have an exciting challenge on his hands.

Don Shimek, the new Athletic Director joined Sam Bourquin Friday to talk about the new job.  With the renovations and things taking place, he knows that there's a lot of moving pieces and parts there.

 "There's quite a bit that's going on there," Shimek said. "They're going to to be moving to a new high school in December, and there's a lot of construction going on to meet those needs."

Shimek comes to Norton from the North Canton school district.  The Panthers compete in the Portage Trail Conference.  He says that it's a competitive conference with a lot of tradition.

"There's a lot of great coaches, super kids, and great community support to provide the best kind of facilities and the best kind of opportunities for kids in the Norton district."

For the full interview, click here.

There's been a lot of talk about attendance at University of Akron football games, with the university being forced to buy tickets to clear attendance standards.

In the end, athletic director Larry Williams says it does come down to winning, and the fact that the Akron football program hasn't done a lot of it in recent years.

"We don't have the luxury of having a Division I team that has a long list of accomplishments at the highest level," Williams tells WAKR's Jasen Sokol. "Very good teams, but especially recently, that is in the mind of potential guests or customers, there really hasn't been a lot of success here."

Williams says that he's much more optimistic about the program, thinking it can build on winning and going to a bowl game under head coach Terry Bowden.

Williams says that it's a tough, competitive environment in college sports...where for most people, winning is expected.