Max Urick
- Thread starter Acylum
- Start date
He had a tough deal when he was the AD at ISU, working with an administration that was quite anti-athletics at the time, although perhaps starting to turn at the end of his tenure. Don't blame him at all for leaving ISU.
Max was a great guy. Super nice man. Sad to see him die
I got to work with Max a fair amount in my younger years. He was a very good man with a very good heart. Very sorry to hear this news.
I was only a sophomore but Mike was in my Spanish class his senior year at AHS.
He also was AD when the XC plane crashed, which happened 40 years ago tomorrow. I can’t imagine needing to lead the department at that time.
RIP Max.
There was an excellent documentary made on that event. It was on Cyclone TV a couple of years back.
Max had to personally call the families of the athletes that did not survive the plane crash. I can’t imagine a harder message to deliver.
Rest in peace Max.
I worked at Hilton, and the rest of the ISU Center from 1971 to 1983, the last 9 years on salaried staff. Worked a lot with Max in his position as Assistant/Associate AD under one of the toughest ADs ISU ever had, Lou McCullough. Lou was tough, but also was good at what he did.
Max was the assistant primarily responsible for Hilton sports. Bob Marcum was the assistant primarily responsible for football and fund-raising groups. Max was ISU AD from 1983-93, replacing McCullough. After 93, Max went on to Kansas State to serve as their AD. Marcum moved on to KU to serve as the AD. I'm not sure when Bob left ISU. Max was a great guy, much easier to work with than his predecessor.
Bob Marcum passed last summer. Both he and Max did a great job for ISU. It wouldn't be where it is today if not for some of their efforts and foresight.
Max was the assistant primarily responsible for Hilton sports. Bob Marcum was the assistant primarily responsible for football and fund-raising groups. Max was ISU AD from 1983-93, replacing McCullough. After 93, Max went on to Kansas State to serve as their AD. Marcum moved on to KU to serve as the AD. I'm not sure when Bob left ISU. Max was a great guy, much easier to work with than his predecessor.
Bob Marcum passed last summer. Both he and Max did a great job for ISU. It wouldn't be where it is today if not for some of their efforts and foresight.
Wasn’t McCollugh the one that made 0 effort to keep Earle Bruce and ushered in the dark days of ISU football?
IIRC, Max did hire Criner, but Max had John Cooper (Iowa State Dirty Thirty player) lined up to be the Iowa State coach until Prez Bob Parks unexpectedly veto'd the hire. Max then had to quickly find another coach and hired Criner.
In my opinion, Bob Parks was the main culprit in Iowa State's football problems in the late 80's and into the 90's. What did you get for it? The library named after him. Go figure.
Max was a good guy. Can't blame him for leaving ISU for KSU.
I wasn’t sure on Criner since his first year was the same year as Max. I thought maybe the coach was hired before he stepped in.
Cooper was in play to replace Earle Bruce after the 1978 season and he got turned down (supposedly by Parks) due to his alleged involvement in a minor recruiting violation when Cooper was an assistant to KU.
I don't recall Cooper being in play to replace Donnie Duncan when Criner was hired instead. Obviously, both of those hires were poor decisions. Max hiring Walden wasn't a bad hire. The problem there was more so Gordon Eaton replacing Parks in 1986 and not being a strong advocate/supporter of ISU Athletics which handcuffed Walden and Max.
Max was a great guy. I went to school with his daughter he was at our house a few times over the years. RIP Sir-
