As a former University of Hawai'i football player, graduate assistant coach and administrator, Jim Donovan had a 20-year perspective on what the school's sports program meant to the state.

But the man who yesterday was named to head the 19-sport, $26.6 million program as athletic director saw the importance of that relationship underlined by the Warriors' recent march to the Sugar Bowl.

"I just think there is so much potential for UH athletics," Donovan said.

"If you look at what happened in December, when the Warriors were going to the Sugar Bowl, I swear there was not one unhappy (fan) in the state. It was like at every water cooler, at every restaurant, everywhere, people were talking about 'are you going to New Orleans?'

"That's why UH sports is so important because it is embraced by the whole state. It can lift everybody that lives here. That's what will drive us to really work hard in this job, because it is for the whole state."

Donovan sat down with The Advertiser and talked about his new job and the challenges it offers in a 1 1/2-hour, wide-ranging question-and-answer session.

Q: Right off the top, what are your biggest challenges?

A: "One of the greatest challenges will be to get our annual operating budget in alignment and another will be to improve facilities right away.

I mean, I think it is clear to everybody that we have facility needs. We've been beaten up nationally on the condition of some of our facilities. So we have to do that right away. So, money will be a key part of the first few years for what we do."

Q: How bad is the budget situation right now?

A: "I can't say for sure because I haven't had a chance to look at those numbers first-hand. So far everything I'm getting from people there (in UH athletics) is hearsay. But it looks like the budget deficit will be challenging for the near term."

Q: How big is the accumulated net deficit?

A: "I'd say, right now, from what I'm hearing, somewhere in the range of $4 million to $6 million. I'll know more after I have a chance to look at all the numbers."

Q: What promises have been made on those issues by the upper campus?

A: "They have promised to work with us to help solve some of the annual operating expenses and facilities issues. I think that is in conjunction with the Legislature, major donors and public helping out. I think it is really going to take everybody to make it a better situation."

Q: What are the immediate needs in facilities as you see them?

A: "Cooke Field, the women's locker rooms, baseball locker rooms, coaches' offices. ...The women's locker room hasn't been renovated since 1982, when it was built. You have baseball players with lockers six inches wide ... There are so many things to be done. We have to do more for the student-athletes, we have to take a look at our coaches and staff and make sure their offices and facilities are comparable to the people they have to compete against."

Q: With all that, where do you begin?

A: "So many items are high-need, high-priority. There could be 100 items, 500. But our job is to, every day, start checking things off those lists. Like anything in life, there are going to be more added on, so we have to make headway and make sure we are checking things off those lists. The only way to do that is by making progress every single day. If we do that, it will eventually result in more W's (wins) than L's (losses) for our teams."

Q: Where does the Sugar Bowl money come in?

A: "To my knowledge, that hasn't been decided yet."

Q: How much will it be?

A: "I'm only getting hearsay on that total net amount but I would say the net amount will be in the neighborhood of $2 million. The question is how much of it is already accounted for (in shoring up the budget) and how much is left to spend. That, I don't know. Whether it is being used (to balance) the operating budget for the current fiscal year or for some other purposes, I don't know (yet)."

Q: As a former player and alumnus, what role do you see for those groups?

A: "We certainly want to embrace them more. We want to make them our 20th sport in a sense. We want to bring them back home. Who knows the program better and what it means to the state than someone who sweated it out on the field or court for UH? When they get to the point where they can give back (to UH), we want them to have the mindset that it is a good thing to do.

"When I look at UH in the 1980s, the mentality was that the state will provide. But the reality now for all state schools, not just here, is that the state will provide what it can but you have to look to the people, fans, donors, businesses, to help, too."

Q: What about the students?

A: "The student body president was on the (AD search) committee and I said, one of the things we've never done is ask them: What is it that you want us to do? I'd like to see a lot more communication with the students. What is it that we can do? Hopefully, once we start doing those things we can get them more involved. It has to be a relationship where the students feel there is a benefit in supporting UH."

Q: Do you plan changes in the athletic department staff?

A: "I was asked that by the selection committee and I told them, to be honest, I would have a hard time making an evaluation because I don't know what their marching orders have been. I want to go in and see what they have to say, what the coaches, students and support groups have to say. We'll develop a vision that all of us have input on. And I need those (staff members) to understand what their role in that will be.

"We have to get everybody moving in the same direction to meet those goals. If people aren't moving in the same direction, then, that's when changes would have to be made."

Q: This football season UH will play at Florida and at Oregon State just two weeks apart. What is your philosophy on scheduling?

A: "In a nutshell, you want to be competitive but I'd like to avoid the extremes of a very high strength of schedule like this (2008) year and very low of last (2007) year. My thinking is only one, at the most, Division I-AA opponent, a couple of Bowl Championship Series opponents and a couple from non-BCS conferences. I'll work with coach (Greg) McMackin and get his input.

"We have to think really hard about what are termed 'body bag' games where you're playing a BCS opponent on the road in front of nearly 100,000 people. It is very difficult for even other BCS schools to win those."

Q: Where did the previous administration go wrong?

A: "I don't like to spend a lot of time focusing on the past. I like to look at the past, learn from it and then start putting a plan together for the future."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com and Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.