From Deseret News archives:
Barnes angling for USU success
Aggies' new AD planning three-pronged program
The next day, USU's new athletic director spent hours working harder than ever not encouraging the next donor to plunk down cash to advance another athletic project on campus, but rather in pursuit of a rare salmon fly.
After four hours of searching, Barnes finally found one. He grabbed the fly, tossed it in the river, then followed it for 100 feet before a trout came up and snagged it. Barnes figured he had the perfect opportunity for a catch, so he threw his own fly in and waited, knowing a bite was coming soon. Eventually, the fish came up and pulled on the line, but the new leader of Aggie Nation missed the catch.
"That was the only action I had all day," Barnes said.
In the past, with the exception of basketball, Utah State athletics has been much like Barnes' experience fishing a huge investment of time and work, but very little action.
On March 8, USU hired Barnes with the charge to direct the Aggie athletic program and resuscitate USU football. Former A.D. Randy Spetman had recently resigned for a job at Florida State and a roughly $400,000 pay raise.
"We wanted to find a place where my experiences could effect positive change," Barnes said of the choice to leave tradition-rich and resource-rich Washington. "We wanted to find a small-college community in the West, and preferably the mountain region for my passion for fly fishing and the outdoors. Logan is the right place to effect positive change, it's right for our family long term, and it's obviously a great career opportunity."
President Stan Albrecht said USU needed someone who could see the opportunities and challenges in the athletic department, adding Barnes was one who had "clearly distinguished himself" as a well-qualified candidate.
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