Major college athletics serve as an ideal form of advertising — elite athletes in bright colors drawing thousands of people wearing university apparel to public spaces.

If college sports didn't already exist, Big Marketing would invent them.

Not all advertising reflects well upon its brand. The University of Minnesota may be doing itself more harm than good these days.

Minnesota's athletic department is in disrepair, especially in positions of power, where key decisions are made and examples are set.

In 2011, Minnesota hired Eric Kaler from Stony Brook University to replace Robert Bruininks as university president. Kaler became the commander in chief of a large athletic department despite never having operated in the world of major college sports.

Kaler has been charged with making one major decision involving Gophers sports: replacing retiring athletic director Joel Maturi in 2012. He hired Norwood Teague, who became an embarrassment, resigning after revelations that he sexually harassed two female university employees.

Brian Stensaas — Associated Press, Star Tribune
University President Eric Kaler and interim athletic director Beth Goetz have little experience in big athletics.

With Teague removed, Gophers athletics have operated in a power vacuum, with Kaler appearing reticent, and interim athletic director Beth Goetz appearing similarly tentative.

Kaler does not appear to know how to oversee a major athletic department. Goetz has never run one before. She came to Minnesota from Butler, where, according to her University of Minnesota biography, she "served as the sport administrator for softball, volleyball and the men's and women's soccer programs."

Butler is known to sports fans for one reason: the success of its men's basketball program. If Goetz wasn't in charge of that — and she wasn't — her résumé is not nearly impressive enough for her to be considered a serious candidate for athletic director at Minnesota. She is in place only because there are so few other qualified candidates on campus.

Football remains the most important sport for most major universities, because a good football team can generate large revenue, and a bad football team can create red ink.

The Gophers football program has not finished above .500 in Big Ten play in consecutive seasons since 1967-68. The program is now in the hands of Tracy Claeys, who is getting his first chance to be a college head coach at the age of 47 because his mentor, Jerry Kill, retired due to health problems.

The Gophers basketball program has not finished above .500 in Big Ten play in consecutive seasons since 1996-97. And thanks to NCAA sanctions, the Gophers haven't officially finished above .500 in Big Ten play in consecutive seasons since 1972-73. Their last winning Big Ten season was 11 years ago.

The basketball problem is now in the hands of Richard Pitino. His teams have won eight, six and two games — with a chance for a third victory Saturday at Rutgers — in the Big Ten since he replaced Tubby Smith.

The Gophers women's basketball team became a phenomenon during Lindsay Whalen's career. The program has not won an NCAA tournament game since 2009, despite the recent presence of the most productive player in program history, Rachel Banham. Thursday, Marlene Stollings' second team was upset by Northwestern in its first game of the conference tournament, likely ending its chances of making the NCAA tournament.

The Gophers hockey program has more built-in competitive advantages than any other major athletic program at the university. Don Lucia has not won a national title since 2003, and he has become our Skinny Tubby: content to remind fans of his distant successes.

Kaler, Goetz, Claeys and Pitino will have to prove they can operate in the world of major-conference sports. Stollings has failed to capitalize on Banham's greatness. Lucia is not what he once was, and neither is his program.

Claeys will have the opportunity to prove he can coach at this level, and Pitino likely will be given a chance to coach a promising recruiting class. There is always hope in college sports.

At the moment, though, the University of Minnesota appears to have no idea how to compete in major college athletics.

Jim Souhan's podcast can be heard at MalePatternPodcasts.com. On

Twitter: @SouhanStrib. • jsouhan@startribune.com