LSU's Alleva: 'I really feel at home'

When LSU hired Joe Alleva as athletic director a year ago, it went outside the LSU family for one of the few times in its history. After 30 years at Duke, Alleva found himself in a new environment in terms of the school, the culture, the geography and the climate.

But Alleva says he's fitting in. He's had his ups and downs. The football team stumbled as defending national champions, but Alleva made a splash with his hiring of basketball coach Trent Johnson, who guided LSU to an SEC title in his first season. Times-Picayune LSU beat writer Jim Kleinpeter sat down with Alleva on Tuesday at the College World Series and filed this report.

Are you enjoying the baseball team's run to Omaha?

I love baseball. My two boys played college and pro ball, and I coached American Legion for seven or eight years. This is such an unbelievable experience. I've been to a lot of Final Fours and other great events. But this whole two-week period of time is terrific.

You spent 30 years at one school, and suddenly you aren't there anymore. How has the year of transition been?

It was really a lot easier than I thought it would be. I've got a good staff and good coaches. I hired a good guy, Trent Johnson, who picked up a down program. I think it's gone seamlessly.

I feel like I've been here a lot longer than a year. I really feel at home. I'm shocked at how much. What excites me about LSU is that we're good and we can be even better.

One thing you didn't do was clean house and bring in your own people, even one. What is your thinking on that?

When I took this job, I talked to four or five ADs I respect who changed jobs. I asked, 'What did you do?' One of them said 'the first time I got rid of everybody and brought in my own guys. That was a huge mistake. The next time I took my time, evaluated people, decided who the good, the bad and the ugly were and went from there.' That was my gut feeling all the time. I don't believe you get rid of people because you're the new guy on the block. If people do a good job, you keep them. If not, get rid of them. That's my philosophy."...