ROB
LS 2012 DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS
University of Idaho (PhD, 1989) University of Montana (MBA, 1983) University of Great Falls (1980) Butte, Mont. Wife, Sandy Daughter, Morgan
When Rob Spear took the reins of the University of Idaho Department of Athletics in the winter of 2003-04, he was inheriting a program in flux. They needed updates and enhancements to their 30-year-old facility. They needed new revenue streams and more fans in the seats. As he set about tackling the facility and funding issues, he was resolute in continuing to hold Vandal student-athletes to the high academic standards that reflect very favorably the University of Idaho’s legacy of producing leaders of vision and integrity. With a staff in place to guide the academic progress of the Vandals, he started chipping away at the laundry list of facility and financial needs. First was a new Strength and Conditioning Center, which remains one of the jewels in the renovation project with two-story, floor-to-ceiling windows that provide an expansive view of the campus. Among the state-of-the-art training and rehabilitation equipment is a hydro-therapy pool – one of the first in an on-campus setting in the Western United States. With the old weight room vacated, an ambitious locker room project began. When it was finished, football, women’s basketball, track and field, and swimming had new facilities in place to match the oak-and-marble rooms already in existence for volleyball and men’s basketball.
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That is what was happening indoors. Outside, the grass field used for football practice as well as intramurals was undergoing its own update. By the time it was completed, the Vandals had back-to-back 70-yard SprinTurf practice fields – with lights. Next was the turf inside the Kibbie Dome. Because of the multiple uses of the building, it has to be portable. Spear secured funding for Real Grass Pro, which, when it’s not in use for football, can be stored to make way for basketball, commencement, track and field, and even an annual home and garden show.
SPEAR
He worked collaboratively across campus to secure the funding for life safety improvements, which included replacing the 30-year-old plywood end walls with translucent panels. The panels, along with a facelift for the entire stadium, make for a sense of daylight. Even when it’s 30 degrees and snowing outside, it’s warm, dry and windless inside the Dome. There was much more to what he wanted the Kibbie Dome to become. He wanted it to provide the best premium seating in college football. In 2011, it became reality with the opening of the Litehouse Center/Bud and June Ford Club Room. The club seats, loge seats and suites are up-close and personal.
The student-athlete wasn’t put aside as the facilities were transformed. Before the premium seating project was launched, private monies were raised for a suite of team rooms and the complete renovation of the athletic training and equipment rooms. Alongside the team rooms are study centers to ensure the continued academic success of the Vandals, who continued to graduate at a rate 30-40 percent higher than the general population at the University of Idaho, which in and of itself is by far the highest in the state. Collectively, Vandal student-athletes have a 3.05 grade-point average.
He touched the hearts of Vandals far and wide, young and old when he established the Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame. A charter class of 100 individuals and five teams was inducted over a two-year period to make up for more than 100 years of the absence of a way to honor Idaho’s most cherished players, coaches and contributors. That legacy continues today with a bi-annual induction ceremony.
DAHO FOOTBALL