In his first two days as the athletics director at Lambuth University, Ken Brown said he was extremely busy looking for a new football coach.
Brown said he talked to Ball State University football coach Brady Hoke about possible candidates, including some from the Cardinals' staff.
He asked Hoke for recommendations for Lambuth's vacancy and the two men talked about people from Ball State and elsewhere, he said. For now the search remains wide open.
The first two days of work were very busy but good, Brown said. The search for his new football coach has occupied a lot of his time.
"[Monday] was really a hurricane," Brown said. "[Tuesday] was a hailstorm."
Brown accepted the athletics director job at Lambuth after 17 years at Ball State. He most recently served as the deputy athletics director under Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins.
Brown said he always wanted to be an athletics director. However, he did not consider a job at a small school until two or three years ago.
"At first I always thought I wanted to stay in Division I," he said.
Lambuth is a school with about 800 students and is part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
The facilities and number of students are different, Brown said, but he realized he just enjoys working with young adults. He enjoys the passion of the students.
Brown said a friend of Lambuth's president talked to a friend who called him. The contact between the people led to him getting the job, Brown said.
"It was very difficult [to leave Ball State] because of my long term employment there," Brown said. "I had some good friends there."
The most difficult part of the transition is being away from his family, Brown said. His wife and a couple kids visited him in Jackson, Tenn., but returned to Muncie.
The family is excited about the move but still has to sell its house in Indiana, he said.
While he too is excited about moving, Brown said, he has nothing but good memories about Ball State.
Collins said Brown's move came as a surprise to him.
"It's a big loss for us," Collins said. "But he had a wonderful opportunity."
There is no timetable to find Brown's replacement, Collins said. There will be an interim plan, though, to make sure everything gets done.
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