In the 10-page document, released to the public Tuesday and located on-line, the only sport specifically signaled out was the football program; one at Lock Haven that has been looked upon in recent years. Last season, the Bald Eagles finished winless - for the second consecutive year - and had Division II lows in certain categories, specifically on offense. As a matter of fact, Lock Haven will take a 20-plus game losing streak into 2010.

In the report, there was a suggestion of maybe dropping football for what's known as sprint football, a sport which is limited by weight requirements. Mansfield University switched to this type of football a few years back when it dropped its Division II sport. There were also suggestions of dropping football for others- such as rugby - or another Olympic or club sports Lock Haven doesn't sponsor. Friday morning, Klacik sat down exclusively with The Express to talk about the assessment and the state of Bald Eagle football.

Here is what the fifth-year head coach had to say:

1. After reading the assessment, what did you think? "I read through it several times before coming up with a conclusion. To be honest, I was a little disappointed how our community was portrayed. Although their passion was recognized, so was their supposedly intrusive and uneducated involvement with the inner workings of the athletic department. Also, a supposed desire to divide athletics by gender. I have found community members to be just the opposite. They have a desire to be educated and find out how all our program could be successful and equitable. I was also disappointed about how we, coaches, were lumped into a group of not caring about the success and fairness of the entire department. Lastly, I thought university administration was given way too much blame for the shortcomings and not a lot of credit for successes we have achieved. "I was also disappointed a group could come to our university for three days and find so much disconnect amongst groups that should be able to work together. Athletics is about teamwork and communication in working toward a common goal. The assessment found those things lacking at LHU, which need to be corrected before we ever will be able to move forward."

2. Football was the only sports singled out in the report. Does that bother you? "It doesn't bother me, but it is disappointing on a few levels, though. First, the assessment found so many areas of disconnects that addressing a single sport should be the least concern. We better address the areas of communication and public relations first. Those are over-laying problems that, if not addressed, will not allow us to move forward as an athletic department. Secondly, Judy Sweet and Ron Stratton have no background in being at a university that has sprint football. I found it odd that sprint football would be presented as a specific suggestion in document full vague observations without showing any facts of how that would be good for our university. It would be interesting to find out where or from whom they got that information to lead them to that conclusion."

3. Why do you think they suggested sprint football? "I think they suggested it because it seems like an easy fix. However, when you look at the overall growth of the university, it seems unwise. I haven't analyzed the numbers. I had hoped, if the assessment team were to make such a suggestion, they would have taken the time to do so. However, I don't see a positive side to it. When you look at the benefits of not only retaining our football program, but aiding its growth, it seems like a no-brainer. We have a group of 90 diverse male student-athletes that wouldn't have attended Lock Haven if they weren't given the opportunity to play football. As a matter of fact, we could add many more student-athletes to our football roster if we weren't capped. "Perhaps the university should look at this as a possible source of extra revenue. With the information we have available, it seems as though the population of available college candidates within the state of Pennsylvania will drop significantly in the coming years. We should be looking at ways to maintain or increase our enrollment rather than decreasing potential revenue."

4. Where do you think football is at Lock Haven today? "That could be a long answer. I better answer by where we started when I arrived. We arrived right at the implementation of a new scholarship spending plan that our athletic administration knew would not help football. Knowing the situation, we developed a plan to exceed expected fundraising goals. Our program, with the support of the LHU foundation, key alums, community members and encouragement of Dr. Keith Miller, easily reached our goal. After that success, we developed a booster club and set our goals even higher. Our extra-point booster club, with the help of the earlier support groups, expanded our nets wider. We continue to attract new donors and our yearly fundraising continues to grow. Football continues to be one of the few programs at LHU whose fundraising efforts continue to exceed expectations. When we started this plan, we hoped to be a model for other programs at LHU. We aren't where we want to be, but will continue to challenge community, alums and friends to help us grow."

5. How does that relate to on-field success? "I knew with the spending parameters we were given when I got here, building would not be a quick process. I worked for two coaches that taught me valuable lessons for taking on a job like LHU. Jim Caldwell taught to fix the most important thing first. At LHU, that was fundraising and belief. I am so proud of how our core fundraising has developed. We have alum giving from every era of LHU football. They believe in the plan. We have many donors with no ties to LHU football, but believe in the plan. Jim Tressel taught me patience in the plan. Knowing what you are doing is right and teach every day until it becomes a reality, then it will last. So as our plan grows even during tough economic times, we must be patient and persistent in fundraising. As our team grows during tough times record-wise, we must be patient and persistent and success will come."

6. How has your record impacted recruiting? "I can't honestly say it hasn't. I don't sell wins and losses in recruiting. I will sell growing up. I sell caring. I sell education. I sell belief. I sell Lock Haven people. There are so many examples of people who got their degree from LHU or live in Lock Haven that I could show our players or recruits and say this is what you can be if you work hard. I tell recruits and their parents that Lock Haven is going to be a tough place for you or your son to be a football player. It has nothing to do with wins or losses. It has to do that we are going to challenge you every day to be at your best. That includes in the classroom, on the field, Friday night in a social setting or how you talk to the people who clean the locker room. Trust me, I want to win more than anyone, but the success of our program will never be defined by wins and losses. It will be defined by developing graduates who will represent what we believe in. I can tell you that over the next few weeks, you will see a signing class that will put us a step closer to achieving what we all want."

7. What is your biggest concern? "The reality is, even though our fundraising continues to grow, we still have the fewest scholarship dollars in the PSAC West and that means our efforts must increase. If we do get to our scholarship goals to make us a consistent competitor in the West, it will put pressure on all of our sports to increase their fundraising. This will be a tremendous challenge for them."

8. Is there a solution? What would it be? "Every year, I submit an end of the season plan and give suggestions for areas that would make our program better. The past three, I have asked for an effort to place our program in the PSAC East. Those schools have a much more consistent scholarship structure with that of LHU. We would be on level ground at our current level of fundraising. This, in turn, would not force programs at LHU to increase their fundraising but maintain it. I have not had much success in getting anywhere with this, but I feel this is a simple way of giving all our programs a chance to be successful. Before we look at eliminating or changing programs, both men's and women's, we should look at all other alternatives."

9. Do you think the assessment results will hurt your efforts? "No, I actually think it will help us. I have already been in contact with many supporters, both current and future, who are motivated to go forward. We are going to keep being patient and persistent. We'll do the important thing first and put us in a position to do great things. I think it helps when you know where people really stand, whether for or against you, and that is what the assessment did. I can only say from a football standpoint, we will continue to demand our best in everything we do. We will continue to respect the community we call home and continue to ask for help - both from old and new supporters. We will continue to believe every person that touches our program can be a difference maker."

10. What should the university do with the results? "I would hope the first thing we do, as a university, is do what we ask our students to do and that's learn. We must all realize we all had part of the results, good and bad. We can point fingers and say it was someone else's mess or the report wasn't good for this or that group. Or, we can self-analyze to get better. If we don't learn, we are destined to repeat performances. Also, I hope we would become a little more transparent. This would be a great opportunity for a series of town-hall type meetings for others to find out about the inner workings of how our university works in relations to athletics. This, obviously, would start to bridge any miscommunications from the past. If would also help us to find out what alums, supporters and other interested people would like to see out of our athletic programs at LHU."