Associate Athletic Director Clarence Hudson lashed out at the NIU Athletic Board Wednesday in opposition to the board’s attempt to increase its power.

The board passed a resolution that, if adopted by the University Council, would require a majority vote of the board to approve the firing of any head coach.

The resolution was proposed by the board’s executive committee in response to Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell’s dismissal of men’s basketball coach Jim Rosborough March 8. The board’s major concern was that Rosborough was fired in apparent breach of the four-year commitment made to him at the time he was hired.

Hudson’s remarks were made outside the Holmes Student Center’s Capitol Room South while the board met in a closed session to discuss Rosborough’s firing.

“When you get right down to it,” Hudson said, “this (the board’s attempt to increase its power) isn’t about Jim Rosborough. It isn’t about integrity. This isn’t about that. (It’s) because a couple of guys in there (the boardroom) have got a damn bone to pick, and that’s it.”

“It’s an NAIA-, small-college-, teacher’s college-attitude. If you want to be a Division I institution in athletics, this is not the way to get it done.”

Board members Earl Seaver, Gary Glenn, and Joe Koch make up the executive committee, which made the proposal.

“I’ll stand by what we did today,” Seaver said. “People are always entitled to their opinions. The resolution that was voted on and the resolutions that are left are meant to be proactive.”

Six more proposals related to the one already passed have been set aside until the board’s April 12 meeting.

Hudson went on to explain why O’Dell and NIU President John LaTourette are qualified to fire coaches without letting the athletic board have approval power.

“Who’s going to give him (LaTourette) input?” Hudson said. “The University Council. His staff.

“The athletic director (O’Dell) is gonna get input from his staff. From his people that surround him. He’s in at work every day at 7 in the morning. He’s there at 9 o’clock at night. He takes work home with him … He’s on the road … He knows what’s happening. They (athletic board members) are not the voice of the community. They are not the voice of the rest of the university. They are an advisory board to the president. Period.

“This (the controversy over the firing) is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. This (coaches being fired) is something that happens in the coaching business all the time.

When asked if Rosborough’s firing was made with his knowledge, Hudson said, “Yes it was discussed. Was I a main person (in the decision)? No. Gerald O’Dell made the decision.

“I’m responsible for basketball. I did not make the decision, but I had input and we talked about different situations.

“We talked about where the program was going. We talked about how long it would take us to get there … We talked about events that had occurred. And from that type of discussion, along with our honest opinion, it was (decided) we had to make a change.

“Mr. O’Dell has said several times that it was more than wins and losses, that the program was not going in the direction that we felt like it should go, and, therefore, we felt like it was time that we needed to make a change.

“It’s the erosion. That’s exactly what he (O’Dell) said. He said it’s an erosion in the program, it’s an erosion in the confidence of the basketball program and it’s also the direction in which the program was going. Those are the reasons. You can read into them what you want to, but I’m gonna tell you something. You never want to start listing this, this, this and this. That’s asinine.”

“They (athletic board members) are not the voice of the rest of the university.”

Clarence Hudson, associate athletic director