Fresno State community coping with loss of Bohl

By Robert Sinclair     Jun 30, 2001

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
Allen Bohl ponders a reporter's question during a press conference Thursday, when he was introduced as Kansas University's athletics director. On Friday, Fresno State where Bohl was AD for five years pondered the university's future without him.

? The sun did rise and life went on during Day One of the post-Allen Bohl era at Fresno State.

School officials went to work certainly pondering the possibilities to replace Bohl, who left the athletics director’s post at FSU to assume the same position at Kansas University on Thursday and students attended classes.

There was even a basketball game taking place in the North Gym, with the game’s sounds echoing through the dark halls of the athletics department.

But while there appeared to be a sense of normalcy across the campus, there also was an underlying feeling of shock and uncertainty.

“I was surprised how quickly it happened,” said Steve Weakland, FSU’s assistant athletics director for media relations. “It definitely caught me off guard. It was less than a week from when we first heard he was interested to when he took the job.

“There’s mixed emotions. I’m very happy for him. He was a great boss, a great guy to work for.”

But Weakland also was sorry to see Bohl go, adding that the Bulldogs still were coping with the loss of their leader.

“Today was a quiet, sad day,” Weakland said, “from all this happening.”

At the Bulldog Brewing Co., a popular restaurant/bar surprisingly similar to Lawrence’s Free State Brewing Company from the T-shirts for sale to the large metal serving vessels of beer behind a window by the bar most of the conversation centered around making plans for the weekend.

But eventually talk turned to Bohl, and the mood often turned somber.

“Anytime somebody leaves a position like that, there’s going to be some kind of resentment, especially if they were comfortable with him,” said Brian Locey, a manager at the restaurant and the Bulldogs’ mascot. “He was a really well liked athletics director.”

Locey said Bohl even came in every now and then to the Bulldog Brewing Co., which is men’s basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian’s favorite hangout.

Across town, the athletics department-owned Bulldog Shop located in Bulldog Plaza, of course was closed for the day. No, it wasn’t out of respect for Bohl, but rather to take inventory.

“This is a chance for him to step up and an opportunity for him to grow, and we support him,” said J.D. Hicks, a four-year employee of the store. “We’re going to miss him.”

Tony Diadado, the host of a local talkshow on “The Big Dog” sports radio station, KFIG-AM, had another take on the situation.

“It’s tough for Fresno State,” he explained, “because every time you get an AD, if you think he’s doing a good job, more than likely he’s going to move on. If he’s not doing a good job, then the university is being stifled. It’s a very, very difficult assessment on whether Al drove the university or Al was a passenger to what happened at the university.”

Regardless of their feelings, almost everyone admitted Bohl would be missed.

“He did a lot of stuff for Fresno State,” Locey said. “He’ll be hard to replace.”

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