Pat Tintle
Sports Editor
With St. Bonaventure’s announcement of Tim Kenney taking over the duties of Athletic Director, Ron Zwierlein will step down from his position as interim athletic director.
Zwierlein, who held the AD position between January of 2004 and January of 2007, replaced former Bonaventure AD Steve Watson, who departed from Bona’s and accepted the job as AD at Chicago Loyola.
Zwierlein also served as an administrator in athletics and student affairs at Bowling Green State University before coming to Bonaventure.
One of Zwierlein’s most notable accomplishments was extending women’s basketball coach Jim Crowley’s contract in 2006. In that time, the women’s team had four 20-win seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen in 2012 with a 31-4 overall record.
Zwierlein said Crowley has fully earned his contract.
“All coaches want to win,” Zwierlein said. “But it’s not all about how many ‘W’s’ and how many ‘L’s’ you have. It’s predicated on the quality of the program, the quality of the student athletes you recruit. Our academic successes of our student athletes have been outstanding, and that’s because they’re not only getting basketball players, but they’re getting smart basketball players, in the case of Jim Crowley, so that’s a factor.”
Crowley not only proved himself on the court, he also proved to be a true ambassador of Franciscan values, according to Zwierlein.
“A lot of people think,” Zwierlein said, “if they win enough games, they’re going to get a contract extension and have there been any major NCAA infractions or violations? Have they contributed to the community in some way, shape, or form? Have they helped promote the athletic department through some fundraising initiatives, like a golf outing, or something like that, where they’re bringing money into their program? There’s a whole host of things that they’re evaluated on, and at the end of the day, when you put those together, people like Jim Crowley deserve contract extensions because in that way, it gives them job security.”
Before being named the interim AD, Zwierlein was a peer reviewer for the NCAA Certification Team, an experience Zwierlein found useful in his interim role at Bonaventure.
“It gives you a bigger perspective of athletics instead of just looking at one function,” Zwierlein said. “During our particular time frame that we’re on these campuses doing these peer review units, you get to see operations from a different perspective—what they might be doing—and I’ve done 14 or 17 of them now—but you get to go on campuses and see what they’re doing and then you can take some of the goods that they’re doing and bring them over to your campus or back to this experience.”
Zwierlein has served collegiate institutions for decades. But as the doctor of philosophy looks to continue his interrupted retirement, Zwierlein will be found either with his grandchildren or on the green setting up for a putt.
“I see in the future maybe more golf if the weather breaks,” Zwierlein said. “I see opportunities to spend more time with my family.”
