Blake James was headed out of his office to the airport on Thursday for a flight to Chicago when his phone started ringing.
The caller? University President Donna Shalala.
“I said, ‘I better pick this one up,’ ” James said.
Good thing he did. Shalala was calling to tell James that he was being named interim athletic director following the resignation that morning of Shawn Eichorst, who served in the position only 18 months.
James, meeting with reporters during halftime of Saturday night’s Miami-Notre Dame game, said Eichort’s departure and his own ascension to the top post in UM’s athletic department “was something that caught me by surprise.”
“Obviously I was excited by the opportunity,” said James, 43. “I’m going to take the baton and move the program forward.”
James said he was unsure what the timeline is to name a permanent athletic director. UM is now looking for its third athletic director in less than five years.
Asked if he were interested in the full-time position, James did not answer directly.
“It’s a great institution, a great program,” James said. “It’s a very attractive job.”
Prior to being named interim AD, James was in charge of development and ticket sales at UM. He was previously athletic director at the University of Maine.
James said he was not involved in the NCAA’s investigation into allegations of improper benefits to UM athletes before being named to the interim position.
King makes first start: Defensive tackle Corey King, a redshirt freshman from West Boca Raton High School, made his first career start against Notre Dame.
King started in place of sophomore Olsen Pierre, who missed the game because of an undisclosed upper extremity injury sustained against North Carolina State. Pierre started the Hurricanes’ first five games.
The 6-foot-1, 292-pound King missed most of fall practice while recovering from a knee injury and did not play in Miami’s first two games. He was credited with three tackles in the Hurricanes’ most recent three games.
Seantrel Henderson made his second consecutive start at right offensive tackle over freshman Ereck Flowers.
Middle linebacker Denzel Perryman was back on the field after missing two games with a high right ankle sprain. Gionni Paul, who started in the middle last week in place of Perryman, opened Saturday’s game at weak-side linebacker.
New uniforms for Notre Dame: Viewers tuning into Saturday's night game might have spent part of it adjusting their televisions thanks to new uniforms worn by Notre Dame.
For starters, the Irish’s traditionally bright gold helmets were split with a blue section highlighting a large white Leprechaun graphic. The jerseys featured gold metallic numbers with “Irish” in Celtic font while the gold pants had a blue stripe on the left leg with a Leprechaun graphic.
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