MEET BILL SCHOLL

Moving from a small, private university drenched in tradition to a still-evolving, large, state university was not an easy decision for Bill Scholl, Ball State’s newest Director of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Since age 11, Scholl called South Bend, Ind., his home. He graduated from Notre Dame University in 1979 and worked there for over two decades. He wore many hats during his tenure there, his most recent being the deputy athletic director for external affairs. Scholl had many reasons for deciding Ball State was a good fit for him after hearing former athletic director, Tom Collins, was stepping down.

After a long career as an assistant, Scholl wanted to see if he could step up to a director position of a prominent, collegiate athletic program. In switching jobs, Scholl also wanted to remain at a collegiate Division I school: a school that plays football at the highest level.

Geographically, Muncie, Ind., was perfect for Scholl because it’s only two and a half hours away from his mother and mother-in-law, who still live in South Bend, Ind. Scholl also experienced Ball State through a parent’s eyes when his daughter attended the university and graduated in May 2012, just a few days after he started his job as the new athletic director. 

 “In the last five years, it’s been remarkable as a parent to see how the campus has transformed physically and how the academic side has grown in stature,” Scholl says. “It really helped make the decision to come here much easier.”

At Notre Dame, the football team is a member of a Bowl Championship Series, the budgets are bigger and resources are more readily available. Scholl knew things would be different in Muncie, but much to his surprise, Ball State and Notre Dame share similarities.

“The fascinating thing for me is that when it comes to the coaches, the student athletes and those who are trying to make Ball State athletics good, there is no difference,” Scholl says. “I have been incredibly impressed with the abilities of our student athletes on and off the field, in the classroom and as competitors, but more than anything, by [their] effort and desire to succeed in everything they do.”

Since he arrived in late April 2012, Scholl’s duties include overseeing the entire athletic program, which includes 19 sports, 459 student-athletes and 17 head coaches. He also manages budgets and revenue generation. He believes the most important goal is creating a strong athletic program that takes Ball State from where it is today to where he hopes it will be.

 “I would hope five years down the road that we have created one of the model programs within the Mid-American Conference,” Scholl says. “I would like when people think about MAC schools and successful MAC programs, for Ball State to be in that discussion.”

Scholl doesn’t think Ball State has reached that level yet, but it’s achievable with the continued recruitment of student-athletes and raising the bar in all phases of the program.

 “On the academic side, I think our student athletes are achieving at the highest level. I think on the athletic side, we need to be better,” Scholl says. “You don’t get better by just wishing for it; you need to put things in place to make that happen.”

Scholl also hopes to improve attendance at sporting events. After more than 6,500 students attended the first home football game, Scholl is optimistic for higher numbers that will surpass those of 2008, the year Ball State went undefeated in the regular football season.

“A college football game without students is not a football game, it’s just not,” Scholl says. “The students are the ones that make it fun. They make it loud; they get crazy; they’re the ones this is all about, and if they continue to support the program, the other side of the stands will fill up.”