• Job title: University of Miami athletic director.
• Age: 36.• Hometown: Sherman, Texas.• Job experience: June 2005-Feb. 2008 Ohio University AD; six years at University of Oklahoma, the final few years as Associate AD for External Operations and Sports Administration; NCAA Asst. Director of Licensing; Kansas State athletics department; Internship, College Football Association.• Playing career: Kansas State linebacker, 1990-95. Led Big 8 in tackles as a junior and earned All-Conference honors.• Education: Kansas State, Bachelor of Science, 1995; Oklahoma University, Master's of Education, 2001.• Personal: Married (Diane). Two sons (Drew, 6, and Brooks, 4).Kirby Hocutt grew up playing football in Sherman, Texas, a sleepy town of 36,000 which might as well be the set for Friday Night Lights, where the most exciting things to do are bass fishing on Lake Texoma and watching the Sherman High Bearcats and Denison High Yellow Jackets duke it out every year in the Battle of the Axe.
Like most boys in Sherman, Hocutt dreamed of becoming a Dallas Cowboy. He worked like the dickens to earn himself a Division I-A football scholarship, but his body wasn't as big as his heart. He was 5-10, and only one school came calling. It happened to be Kansas State, the worst team in the nation at the time, a team Sports Illustrated had dubbed ''Futility U'' on its cover.
Hocutt was thrilled to have an offer, and packed his bags for Manhattan, Kan. Over the next four years, the feisty linebacker proved he belonged with college football's big boys, leading the Big 8 in tackles as a junior and earning all-conference honors.
He feared nobody. Once during a game, he took a swing at Nebraska's 6-5, 310-pound Outland Trophy winner Zach Wiegert, an ill-advised move his friends still razz him about. The Sporting News named Hocutt one of the nation's top 20 ''underrated'' players.
And here he is again, at 36, about to tackle what might appear an overwhelming job for a man of his youth -- University of Miami athletic director. Hocutt can't wait. He was hired in February to replace the soon-to-be-retired Paul Dee, and beginning June 1, he will set out to prove he can still hang with college sports' heaviest hitters.
He is among the youngest athletic directors in Division I-A, but spend an hour with him, and he appears wise beyond his years. He learned from his career stops at the College Football Association, the NCAA, Kansas State, the University of Oklahoma, and, most recently, Ohio University, where he had been athletic director since 2005. Some of his most valuable lessons, though, he learned in football pads.
''Being an undersized middle linebacker taught me two things,'' Hocutt said. ``It taught me the importance of having talented people around you. We had very good defensive lineman. They'd do their jobs, keep blockers off me, and make it easy for me to be in right spot and make tackles.
``I also learned to outwork people. I had a dream and nobody was going to stop me from achieving it. I used what some might perceive as limitations to my advantage. Being a 5-10 linebacker, it was harder for tall offensive linemen to block me at times because I could get under them. I studied the game. I knew where everyone was supposed to be, and where I was supposed to be. I always tried to be in the right place at the right time.''
SAME APPROACH
He will use the same strategy as he oversees a budget of $50 million-plus, 15 varsity sports and one of the country's most prominent athletic departments. He plans to surround himself with good people, let them keep the blockers off him, find the problems that need tackling, and go at it full bore.
He has been commuting the past few months from Ohio, where his wife, Diane, stayed with their sons -- Drew, 6, and Brooks, 4 -- until school is out. The Hocutts bought a home in Palmetto Bay, and will be moving in sometime next month. He has been working out of a temporary office in UM president Donna Shalala's office, and living in a dorm room at Eaton Residence Hall, where he was awakened by a faulty fire alarm three times in his first six nights.
''Brought me back to my college days, that's for sure,'' he said, laughing.
Once he takes over, Hocutt said his first order of business will be getting to know his staff, coaches and student-athletes. After that, he will begin evaluating what needs fixing and get heavy into fundraising, one of his areas of expertise.
PREPARED FOR UM
Under his watch as an assistant athletic director at Oklahoma from 1998 to 2004, the Sooners' donations rose from $3.4 million to $17 million, a 400 percent increase. He went on to increase Ohio University's fund-raising by 75 percent, including securing the second-largest gift in school history.
Those who know him best say Hocutt is ready for the UM job, and then some.
His former boss, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, said: ``Reflecting on my background as a native of South Florida, a former intern for the Hurricanes Athletic Department and a person who worked with the new athletics director, I can say unequivocally that Kirby Hocutt is a phenomenal hire for the University of Miami. His impeccable character, high energy and passion for excellence combined with his leadership skills create the perfect blend to advocate for student athletes, coaches and the university in today's world of intercollegiate athletics.''
Hocutt's college teammate and close friend, Mike Ekeler, now an assistant coach at Nebraska, said: ``Kirby's smart, fiery, incredibly organized, remembers everybody's names. He's one of those unique individuals everybody likes. And as a former football player, he truly understands what student athletes need and want.''
His college position coach, Jim Leavitt, now the head coach at the University of South Florida, said he always knew Hocutt would make a bigger name for himself off the field. ``Kirby Hocutt is one of the most impressive young men I have ever had the pleasure to know and UM is very fortunate to have him. He is passionate, focused, disciplined, driven and handles people very, very well. He's a natural leader.''
`A RISING STAR'
Dutch Baughman, executive director of the Division IA Athletic Directors Association, calls Hocutt ``a rising star in our profession.''
And this, from Hocutt's mother, Karon, who lives in McKinley, Texas, with his father, Larry, an insurance executive: ``Kirby always set big goals, and some of them we thought were out of reach, but he always reached them. Other than never becoming a Dallas Cowboy, that young man has achieved every goal he ever set, and I can hear the excitement in his voice when he talks about this new job.''
Hocutt is flattered by all the praise, but he's not naive. He knows the job will be extremely difficult. He realizes he will be asked to sell college sports for a small private school in a city with a transient population that doesn't necessarily bleed orange and green. He realizes the Hurricanes must compete with beaches, boating, night life and professional sports.
Miami is not Sherman, Texas. Or Manhattan, Kan. Or Norman, Okla. Or Athens, Ohio.
He also is well aware some of his decisions will be unpopular. He learned that lesson at Ohio University last year, when he announced the school was cutting women's lacrosse, men's swimming and diving and men's track and field because of a lack of funding.
Hocutt became the target of harsh criticism, and disillusioned athletes and alumni blasted him in letters, Internet message boards, blogs, and even on a billboard on Route 33.
TOUGH SITUATION
Hocutt calls that decision ''the most challenging professional situation I've been through.'' Ask him about it, and his demeanor changes.
He gets quiet, and pensive.
''Jan. 25, 2007, is a date I'll always remember,'' he said. ``As AD, we often say student athletes are the most important thing, and they are. To be in a position to have to adversely affect a large number of student-athletes, to tear away everything they've worked for, was not easy. It hurts. It's still not easy. But as a leader, you have to sometimes make difficult decisions that are not popular.
``I learned that being a leader can be tough, and lonely at times. But I'm going to always do the right thing and make decisions consistent with our mission and core values. If I do that, I can sleep well at night.''
Unless, of course, a fire alarm goes off.
