When he reached the coaches’ offices, he found Rachel, Coach Farrow’s daughter, at the reception desk. When she saw it was him, she rolled her eyes and sighed loudly.
“You’re certainly different, aren’t you, Rach?”
“I don’t know. Is that good different or I-should-come-with-a-warning-label different?”
“I guess that depends on the day. Are you inclined to tell me why I’ve been summoned?” David asked.
She gave him an unbelieving look.
“And spoil the fun?”
“Dawson, quit flirting with Rachel and get in here,”
Coach Merritt called from his office.
“Until next time,” David said as he gave Rachel a bow.
He could see the sides of her mouth quirk up involuntarily. He kept his own smile in check because he knew he was wearing her down.
David walked in and found that Coach Merritt wasn’t alone. He was with Drew Langford, USC’s new athletic director, and Brent Allison, the Pac-12 commissioner. He had a feeling he knew what this was about.
“Brent, how’s your wife doing?” David asked as he shook his hand.
Drew gave them a surprised look, so David enlightened him. “Brent came to my birthday party this summer.”
“I told Governor Blackfarmer I’d be seeing you today. He said he’d like to sit down with you and discuss the homeless situation. He was impressed with all the money you raised,” Brent said.
“It probably won’t amount to anything, but I would be open to talking to him,” David said.
“His people will be in touch,” Brent said and then shifted topics. “Why don’t we tell David why we asked him here?”
“I understand that you have an agreement in place concerning your image,” Drew said to begin the meeting.
“Because of my other activities, my image is important to me. Before it’s used, I would like my PR people to approve any promotions using my name, image, or likeness,” David said.
“We’re asking that you do some short commercials for the university that would be run during football and basketball games. And the Pac-12 would like to use your name and image for similar endeavors,” Drew explained.
David expected this was coming, so he was prepared.
“Frank Ingram handles my PR. Let me give you his number. I pay him too much money to make sure my image isn’t tarnished not to get his approval before I do anything,” David said.
Coach Merritt handed him a pad of paper to write down the number.
“Once we get his permission, how soon could you do the commercials? We’d like to have them ready for Saturday’s game,” Drew said.
David wanted to tell him to stuff it because Drew had waited until the last minute but kept those thoughts to himself. Instead, he gave him a smile. David knew he might want to cultivate his relationship with the new athletic director since he would be hiring the next football coach.
“If you can work it in around my other commitments, I’d be happy to help.”
“Of course, football comes first.”
“And school,” Coach Merritt added.
“Yes. School is a priority,” Drew said to cover his blunder.
“What about you?” David asked Brent.
“Nothing concrete right now. I just wanted to see if you were open to doing something.”
“Do you have any pull with the Pac-12 Network?” David asked.
“They’re their own entity, but I do have some sway.”
“Could I suggest a student reporter? Tracy Dole covered baseball last spring, and she would make a perfect representative for USC,” David suggested.
“This is why I like you. You’re always thinking of ways to network to advance your goals. I’ll see what I can do,”
Brent promised.
“You don’t know how you can help me unless I tell you,”
David said with a big smile.
“And now you’ll owe me,” Brent fired back.
“I think it’ll be the other way around when you see what Tracy can do,” David said and then turned to Coach Merritt. “Anything else?”
“Are you going to see Cassidy?”
“After dinner.”
“Let me know how she’s doing.”
David nodded and left.
◊◊◊
After David left, Jason called in Amy Stackhouse and told her about the meeting he’d just had.
“I have to say, it was pretty amazing to watch David in action. Did you know that he’s on a first-name basis with Brent Langford, the Pac-12 commissioner? And that he knows and has met with NCAA President Mark Ellison? I can’t remember any player having those connections.
Anyway, by the end of the meeting, it felt like David had
called the meeting and had run it. He even worked to get another student a job.”
“And you’re wondering if Dylan was wrong in naming Matt the starter in spring ball?” she asked.
“I admit, I made some assumptions because I was focused on the defensive backs at the time. I didn’t pay close attention to the offensive side of the ball. It was right before fall practice began when I was named head coach. I know I said that all positions were open to competition …”
he trailed off.
“Remember, I told you the decision was going to be hard because they both played well,” Amy said.
“I’m starting to wonder if I’ve discounted David’s leadership abilities in favor of Dylan’s assessment,” Jason said. “Though now that I think about it, he was more than a bit biased toward his favorites. This may very well be one of those cases.
“You should have seen David at the end of the spring game. With the second-string offense against the number one defense, he turned a broken play into a long score.
Matt couldn’t have done that.”
“In the end, it’s your job to decide who starts. I suggest you sit down with all the coaches and get their feedback.”
“If it were you, what would you do?” Jason asked.
“I’d start Dawson because he’s shown his leadership, and I think the team will follow his lead. But then again, Matt has a much better grasp of running the offense.
Despite my concerns about Matt’s leadership, I think you can win with either.”
“David certainly learned the defense quickly. He may not be up to speed on the offense yet, but I suspect he’ll get there quicker than most people think. But none of that really matters; for this week, I have no choice.”
◊◊◊
Cassidy’s room looked like a florist’s shop. She had flowers from the rowing team and coaches, from the guys she’d trained for the NFL, and from the girls she’d gotten into shape. She even got some from the football team, which surprised her.
Cassidy was in a mood when David arrived. When Brook saw him, she pulled David outside so they could talk.
“She’s starting to internalize how messed up she is from the accident,” Brook explained.
“What did the doctors say?”
“That she might never row again. When she asked about the Marines, Cassidy learned it would never happen.”
“I wouldn’t count my little ninja out as far as rowing goes. You know how hard she will rehab,” David said.
“Her dad wants her to come home to Illinois to rehab,”
Brook said to drop the real bombshell.
“She’d have to take a semester off,” David worried.
“I know.”
The two of them were quiet for a minute. Finally, he sighed.
“We need to have a united front,” he said.
Brook gave him a funny look.
“What?” David asked.
“You make us sound like her parents.”
“In a way, we are. It’s our job to protect her,” he said.
“No, it’s not.”