Growing a program in Logan

LOGAN — Rance Pugmire is in his fifth year as the athletic director at Utah State University, and he has seen many changes at the school since coming aboard.

The Aggies fell out of the Big West in football, joined the Sun Belt conference and finally, in 2005, they will join the Western Athletic Conference.

More changes are in store for the Utah State University athletic program as renovations of its facilities will soon begin.

Pugmire recently sat down with Deseret Morning News sports writer Jay Hinton and discussed some of those issues.

Deseret Morning News: Being ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in 33 years, I'm sure, has brought some excitement to Logan?

Rance Pugmire: It has. We've had a lot of in-state recognition and national recognition . . . The ranking itself, in my opinion, is long overdue. We've had a lot of good teams up here for a number of years, and I'm not just talking about Stew's (Morrill) era. Larry (Eustachy) had some good teams. Rod Tueller had some good teams. Being in the West and being a bit isolated is hard. I think that even the pollsters don't realize we have a long streak . . . To get more recognition and to get into a position to where Utah is, when they are preseason in the high 20s or 30s, and they have a better chance of moving (up) more than we do.

Deseret Morning News: Speaking of Stew, a couple of weeks ago when Rick Majerus stepped down, Stew's name went right to the top of the list.

Rance Pugmire: It's not unexpected. His name has been at the top of the list for a lot of jobs, and when you have the coach the quality of Stew Morrill you worry about this every year. If it's not Houston it's TCU. If it's not TCU it's New Mexico. If it's not New Mexico it's Fresno. If it's not Fresno it's Utah. If it's not Utah it's Iowa State. There's always a job out there that I think 'is this the one?'

Deseret Morning News: What kind of bargaining power do you have to keep him?