The resignation of director of athletics Mike Hermann Tuesday leaves Towson looking for their eighth director of athletics. Coaches say Hermann left his mark on the department.

“All of my experiences with Mike were positive,” baseball head coach Mike Gottlieb, who has been with the program since 1978, said. “I felt he was supportive of me as a baseball coach and I thought he was supportive of our baseball program.”

Head basketball coach Pat Kennedy, who has been with Towson for six years, shared Gottlieb’s feelings.

“He’s an extremely hard worker, extremely honest, ethical, good kind of individual,” he said. “I think he worked very hard here for four years trying to advance the program. I think he definitely advanced the experience of the Division I athlete. That was lacking before he got here.”

Now on the hunt a new director of athletics, Kennedy said the school should be focused on someone adept at fundraising. The university has plans to build a new arena and a new soccer field, but funds in the past have been too limited to complete such tasks.

“In a lot of areas the programs are still funded at the bottom level of the CAA and we have to get to the top level,” he said. “So fundraising and program development is going to be a major key, and Dr. Caret totally understands that.”