Indiana University Athletics
Mark Deal: From Varsity Player to Varsity Club
4/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Varsity Club
April 10, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Former IU standout Mark Deal took time out of his busy schedule to speak with IUHOOSIERS.com about his current position with Indiana as well as his thoughts on the current football program. He also provides some advice to current student-athletes and thanks current donors to the athletic department.
What is your current position and what does it entail?
MD:I am assistant director of the IU Varsity Club. Basically, we are the fundraising arm for the athletic department. We raise the money to pay for the scholarships of all of our varsity sports. That is a very busy and challenging job considering our scholarship bill every year and the amount of money we need to raise. It is an exciting job. I get to meet a lot of great people and get to talk to people I know from before as a student-athlete and as a coach. It is a great job.
Is there anything specific you would like to say to donors that read this interview?
MD:Thank you. That is the biggest thing I would like to say. We couldn't do it without them. It is a huge undertaking to raise more than $6 million every year in our annual giving fund to pay for all of the scholarships. A lot of people don't understand the challenge that it is. Football and basketball get all of the hype and publicity, but I like to tell them your donation not only pays for football and basketball, and the scholarship is not just for Marco Killingsworth, James Hardy or Blake Powers. It is also for Christina Loukas. Some people don't know how good Christina Loukas is and what a great diver she is. I also bring up Kayla Bashore and Joe Dubuque. It is not only just the most highly visible athletes, even though Dubuque is up there with two straight national titles, it is those people too. I try to say thank you not only for football and basketball, but for all of our varsity sports. That is what I say to donors is thank you, because we couldn't do it without you. We appreciate all of our donors at every level, whether it is at the Hoosier Hundred Scholar level, or at the Hoosier Fan level. Everyone counts and we appreciate them all.
You have seen IU as a player, coach and an athletic department staff-member. What differences and similarities have you seen at each level of development?
MD:I think I have seen it as a fan also. As the son of an alum and former player (Russ Deal), I went to games as a five-year-old. I came to Old Oaken Bucket games since the early 1960s. There are so many things I could see develop and transpire. Obviously, the biggest thing is the athleticism of the players. That is the biggest area of development I have seen. When you look at the guys I played with, the biggest guy on our offensive line was 250 pounds. We had one 300-pounder on our entire team back in the 70s. Now, football has just totally exploded that way. Even as you look at the heights and weights of the players in the 80s, there weren't that many over 300 pounds. It has just gone crazy. The physical development of the players is one thing.
Obviously, the rise of women's sports is a huge development. Because of my daughter (Carrie Deal) playing volleyball for IU, I am partial to that. I think that the opportunities for women's sports are fantastic. That is a tremendous advancement from the days of watching my brother play in the 60s to when I played in the 70s. We had women's sports then with basketball, volleyball and field hockey, but it wasn't near the level it is now. I think it is fantastic.
Those would be the two biggest changes with the advancement of women's sports and the athleticism of players, specifically in football. I think basketball also has developed physically as well. Although, having seen the 1976 basketball team up close and personal in all the home games, some of the road games and went to the NCAA Tournament up in South Bend, Ind., that starting five could walk into the gym today and match up with any team in the country, physically. That group could play in any era and any way. I don't think the change in basketball is as big. Kent Benson and Scott May could play right now.
On having his daughter Carrie Deal carry on the family's Hoosier tradition as a third generation letterwinner:
MD:I couldn't be more proud of her. I don't think there are many, and you would have to look it up, I am sure there aren't many third generation varsity letterwinners at Indiana. I am very, very proud of her and of that accomplishment. She loves the team, the coaches and her teammates. She is getting better. I know she is looking forward to this spring season and to next year. They are looking to get better. It is great to have her here. There was never really much of a doubt where she wanted to go to school. We moved here when she was in third grade, and she has been brainwashed by IU her whole life. I am very proud of that. I know there aren't many, and I am very proud of the fact that we have three generations of letterwinners at IU.
What are your outside interests?
MD:I like to play golf. I also coach my son's Babe Ruth team. He is 15-years-old. I have coached his team for the last three years, and this will be my last year doing that. I just enjoy my family. It is a full-time job. There is no question about that. With everything we do and going to all of the football and basketball games, with trying to watch my kids' games, IU is a very dominant aspect of our lives. I am also a huge baseball fan. I am a huge Chicago White Sox fan. I loved the World Series, and am still reveling in the championship from last year. Mostly, I just try to spend time with my family.
What do you think about the excitement surging around the program right now with Terry Hoeppner and his coaching staff?
MD:I love it. I am a big Coach Hoeppner fan. I have known Coach Hoeppner since he was an assistant coach at Franklin when I was an assistant at Wabash. I started my job in 1980, and I think Hep started his the same year. We have known each other since that time. When you are in the small college circle, you get to know the people in the state. The neatest thing about Coach Hoeppner is that he is the same guy now in 2006 as the head coach of a Big Ten school as he was at Franklin College in 1980. He is absolutely the same guy. I think he is absolutely the right guy for the program.
Many people have said this in the past and I said it when Rick Greenspan was looking for someone to hire, I thought we needed somebody who was a combination of Lee Corso and Bill Mallory. I certainly think we have that, and I mean that in a great way. I played for Lee Corso and I love him. I would do anything for him. I would jump off the balcony at Assembly Hall for Lee Corso. I love Bill Mallory having coached for him. I have the utmost respect for them both. I think that Terry has the most positive qualities of both Coach Corso and Coach Mallory.
I can't wait until football season. I have been out to practice three times this spring. I am very encouraged about our defense flying around out there. I love our receivers. I think we have as good of a receiving corps as a group as there is in the Big Ten. I love our receivers. We have Blake Powers back at quarterback. I also think that Graeme McFarland has looked pretty good as well. I really am excited about our team.
I think the public is excited about football. I sense that when I go out and talk to donors. They are excited and on the bandwagon. They pick up the fact that they like Terry Hoeppner too. They see a lot of Lee Corso and Bill Mallory. They see those good qualities of Coach Corso and Coach Mallory in Hep. The people pick up on that. There are so many things that he has done that we needed. Some of the things like the Walk and the Rock that he instituted. We needed those things. I am in the Stadium Club on game day, so I never got out to the Walk on game day. I was never there and people would tell me about it. Before the Purdue game, Hoeppner wanted all former players out there for the team during the Walk. He wanted us to wear our letter jackets, and I had my old jacket on. Here they came. It was really cool and special. There were George Taliaferro, Ken Kaczmarek and Doug Crusan out there. There were all of these guys who are IU legends out there high-fiving the team and coaches. Also, Coach John Pont was on the Walk with them. It was really a neat thing. I think our fans can get behind that. I think Indiana fans are really behind the football program all the way. I think Coach Hoeppner will have us in a bowl game very soon.
What is the most important piece of advice you would give to a current student-athlete?
MD:Get your degree and go to class. Our academic support system is great about that. Enjoy your four or five years here. It is an honor and a privilege to wear the Indiana uniform. No matter whether it is volleyball, football, basketball, swimming or any other sport, it is an honor to be an Indiana Hoosier. Enjoy that moment. One of the greatest things, when I think back to 1977, we were playing Purdue at home and it was the 10-year reunion of the 1967 Rose Bowl team. I am getting ready to play an Indiana-Purdue game, a game that I watched when I was 5-years-old. I run out onto the field, and lining the field is the Rose Bowl team. My brother (Michael) is standing there in a No. 47 jersey. I am running out on the field and slapping hands with guys like Kaczmarek, Terry Cole, John Isenbarger, my brother, Jade Butcher and all of those guys that I watched as a 10-year old 10 years before. I am playing in this game right now. My brother is standing here on the sideline. Then, we won the game and the bucket. It was the greatest moment of my college career. Nothing was better. The neat thing, I was able to enjoy it and take it all in. Whether it is playing whatever sport, enjoy that moment. Enjoy that moment and enjoy all of it. It may not be an Old Oaken Bucket game, but there will be a moment for every student-athlete at IU where they will be there and enjoy it. That moment might be an Indiana-Purdue competition. One of the things you miss is hanging out in the locker room with your teammates, going on trips with your teammates and being on the bus with them. Those are the things that they need to enjoy, because when you have your reunions 20 years later, those are the things you think about. When you play golf at the I-Men's golf outing, you talk about those things.
IU's 2006 spring season concludes with the annual Cream and Crimson intrasquad game on April 15 at 4 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
IU season ticket holders will also have the opportunity to renew their season tickets before the April 17 priority deadline to save 10 percent off the price of an adult ticket. Please call 855-4006 or 866-IUSPORTS for more information.
