Alden leaving job on his own terms - STLtoday.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. • For nearly 17 years Mike Alden has detailed most major decisions he’s made as Missouri’s athletics director with a meticulous timeline, down to the hour he woke up in the morning to the type of eggs on his breakfast plate. A day after he announced he’s stepping down as the leader of Mizzou’s athletics department, Alden shared a rare personal peek into his childhood, a promise to his wife made on a sorority house porch 25 years ago and the reasons behind his stunning... Above all, Alden insisted on one thing: He’s leaving on his own terms. 31, Alden will become an instructor in MU’s College of Education — though he didn’t rule out someday returning to the world of college athletics. Alden cited a 1968 speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as inspiration for his decision. Alden said he listened to the speech “The Drum Major Instinct” on Friday before his news conference at the Reynolds Alumni Center. “It talks about how all of us have the desire to be the drum major,” Alden, 56, said. But what it comes down to, the people who are doing it the right way are also the people that aren’t always leading the parade. This time of year, Alden said, is ideal for schools to recruit ADs. Alden said he’d been “toying” with the decision to step down for the last couple of years. Football coach Gary Pinkel, whom Alden. Source: www.stltoday.com
