He was far and away the most appealing and desirable candidate from the start, even more so than when he was recruited to play quarterback for the Mountaineers in 1978, and it took some sweet-talking.

But first-year WVU president James P. Clements managed to win him over.

"President Clements is a tremendous recruiter," Luck said. "He reminds me of Don Nehlen in his best days or even Frank Cignetti in his best days, who was the coach who brought me to WVU."

Luck, the former WVU quarterback, Rhodes Scholar finalist, NFL player and for the past two decades a professional sports executive, was formally announced as West Virginia's new athletic director Thursday morning.

He will replace the retiring Ed Pastilong beginning July 1, although for the first six months of his tenure he will split his time between his new job and his current post as president of Major League Soccer's Houston Dynamo.

Luck's contract has not been written, but on Wednesday he signed a letter of agreement with the university that stipulates the initial contract will be for five years and pay him $390,000 per year.

"It's an incredible honor for me to be appointed as athletic director at my alma mater," Luck said during a conference call Thursday morning. "I care deeply about the school."

Still, it took considerable politicking by Clements to convince Luck to return to Morgantown. Not only is he deeply involved in a major stadium project for his soccer team in Houston, Luck also has family considerations. His oldest son, Andrew, begins his third year at Stanford in the fall and is the team's starting quarterback, considered one of the best in the country. He also has a daughter who begins school at Stanford in the fall and two younger children in school in Houston.

Luck reportedly said several times that he was not interested in the WVU job because of both his professional and personal situations, but Clements wouldn't say that Luck had turned down the position.

"I don't think I would say Oliver said no," Clements said. "But I think there were some things that he needed to think through. And I'm just thrilled that we reached an unbelievable and positive outcome.

"We found the right person to lead the athletics program here. We knew he would be a great fit and do great things for the university. As Oliver said, I'm a pretty good recruiter."

"I'll say again that Jim is a silver-tongued recruiter. He would do very well on the intercollegiate athletic front," Luck said. "We probably need to get [him] more involved in recruiting student-athletes, as long as it's not a violation of NCAA rules."

The reasons Clements wanted Luck are easy to see. In addition to being a WVU graduate, former star quarterback at the school and a Rhodes Scholar finalist, Luck owns a law degree from the University of Texas (earned while playing five years for the Houston Oilers of the NFL), was vice president of business development for the NFL and spent 10 years as president and CEO of NFL Europe.

In 2001, Luck became CEO of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, overseeing the development and management of over $1 billion of professional sports and entertainment venues in Houston, including Minute Maid Park, Reliant Stadium and the Toyota Center, home to Houston's three major league sports teams. He became president of MLS's Houston Dynamo in 2005.

"Oliver has an unbelievable background. He is a true leader, a strategic thinker, [he has] a proven record of success," Clements said. "You can look at his accomplishments, from being a two-time academic All-American to a member of the Academic All-America Hall of Fame, Rhodes Scholar finalist, the list goes on and on about what Oliver has done. In my eyes, everything he touches turns to gold.

"He comes in at a great time. We are riding at a high in athletics. Ed Pastilong has done a great job for 20 years and we're thrilled that we have a man of Oliver's level to come in and continue that level of success."

Despite the tight time frame, Luck will officially take over the athletic department on July 1, although he admits he won't be able to devote 100 percent of his time to the job because of his commitments in Houston, where he just finalized funding for a new soccer stadium. Pastilong's retirement agreement with the school, however, stipulates that he will spend two years as athletic director emeritus and will be available to fill any gaps.

"There's a few months of work I need to finish here in Houston, so really I'll be wearing a couple of hats for a few months," Luck said. "I feel an obligation to our Dynamo players and our fans here, as well as to the local city and county governmental folks who have supported us in this effort. I want to make sure that as we go into the next couple of months and into the fall that we've got all of our ducks in a row and that the project is in a position to be completed."

Luck said the transition will take six months.

"I'll be spending considerable time in Morgantown in that six-month period," Luck said. "Jim and I have termed it a NASCAR rolling start, that we'll be able to get rolling at full speed the beginning of the next calendar year."

Luck said he will be in Morgantown for four days beginning Sunday, then his schedule is up in the air.

"But I can guarantee you I'll be in Morgantown considerably throughout this transition," Luck said.

Luck's $390,000 annual salary is well above Pastilong's current $225,000 figure, but is not out of line by any means.

"We did a full review of AD salaries across the country in major conferences and he is right in line with his peers," Clements said.

@tag:Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.