Story by Blake Sandlin
Sports Editor
When 13-year athletic director Allen Ward resigned his position on July 13 to accept a job at Abilene Christian University, it took the campus community by surprise. But for all the shock Ward’s departure evoked, it was the announcement of his replacement that took the social media world by storm.
Ward named longtime women’s golf head coach Velvet Milkman as his successor. For those familiar with Murray State athletics, the appointment of the 25-year head coach was nothing out of the ordinary, but as we’ve come to learn, the internet can make the seemingly ordinary extraordinary.
A tweet from a local reporter announcing Velvet Milkman as Ward’s replacement ignited a social media storm practically unparalleled. Soon, everyone from Sports Illustrated to Barstool Sports to just about every person with a Twitter account began fawning over the enigma known as Velvet Milkman.
BREAKING: Murray State athletic director Allen Ward has resigned his position at Murray State. Longtime women's golf coach Velvet Milkman will take over as interim AD. pic.twitter.com/et9HdZHfW6
— Adam Wells (@TheAdamBWells) July 13, 2018
“Velvet Milkman is the greatest name in the history of college administration,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie wrote.
“Don’t care what sport she coach, I want to play for THE Velvet Milkman,” wrote Barstool Sports personality Trill Withers.
Even as recently as this week, there were more than 25 Twitter users with the name Velvet Milkman, including “Velvet Milkman Appreciator” and “Velvet Milkman Buddha”.
JUST IN: Murray State has named women's golf coach Velvet Milkman as its new athletic director.
Don't know how well she'll do, but she already made the All-Time Name Team. pic.twitter.com/md9xGVFYgv
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 13, 2018
Sports reporters like ESPN’s Darren Rovell, Yahoo! Sports’ Pat Forde and Kentucky Sports Radio’s Matt Jones each shared the bizarre name on their accounts, helping to propel “Velvet Milkman” to the No. 2 trend in the country on Twitter. Once Milkman learned she had gone viral, she immediately turned competitive.
“We were [trending at] number two at one point, and then I got competitive,” Milkman said. “The coach part of me was like, ‘Well, let’s go for number one if we’re just going to throw it out there.’”
Milkman inherited her last name from her husband, Martin Milkman, an economics professor at Murray State. Although she was surprised by her unexpected national acclaim, Milkman said this isn’t the first time her name has become the subject of discussion.
“I’ve been married for 25 years,” Milkman said. “It used to bother me a little bit more, but now it’s just normal. It doesn’t phase me. It did kind of blow up on me when I was playing in the state AM event, I made it to the finals and it blew up there, but that was before social media. So this did take me a little by surprise. It didn’t bother me, but it did take me a little by surprise because social media is so quick and so fast.”
Milkman said she received the name Velvet from her mother, who thought it was a rare and pretty name. By the time she started dating Martin, Milkman admitted she seriously contemplated what she was getting herself into.
“I thought, ‘Am I really going to go through life with this name?’ Because I’ve heard it all. Well, I thought I’d heard it all up until [Twitter]. But I’m old fashioned; we’re a team,” Milkman said.
When the name exploded Friday, Milkman had already left the office. When she returned the following Monday, she was welcomed by 25 missed phone calls, emails and an interview request from CBS Sports Radio.
“Anytime we can get Murray State’s name and athletic department out on a national level, I think that’s important,” Milkman said. “So you really can’t put a dollar figure on that. I didn’t think it was a negative in any way. I was hoping it wasn’t; that was my first thought. My peers, my coaches that I coach with that are my friends, I thought, ‘Here we go; we’re going to be a laughingstock’, but they weren’t. It was fun; it was a cool name. But that was my thought when it first came out, but it was all in good fun and it wasn’t anything negative in my mind and I thought it was funny.”
Nevertheless, Milkman has been adamant about her intention to not let her newfound internet popularity overshadow Murray State and her new job.
A veteran coach who has steered Murray State’s women’s golf team to 11 OVC titles since its genesis in 1993, Milkman has been a fixture at Murray State.
Only one other current head coach, rifle’s Alan Lollar, has been at the school longer (1992). Because of her longevity at the school, in addition to her experience as Murray State’s Senior Women Administrator, Ward said Milkman was an obvious choice to succeed him temporarily.
When former Murray State President Bob Davies approached Ward about the possibility of appointing Milkman, he was all for it.
“There are several people on staff that were qualified to take on the responsibility,” Ward said. “But I felt Velvet provided the best opportunity for both the internal and external operations to continuing functioning in a similar fashion. I had an excellent staff and was completely confident in their ability to move the program forward with Velvet at the helm. And considering the fact that football was around the corner, the fewer disruptions the better.”
Ward met with Milkman prior to his resignation to discuss the prospect of her inheriting the athletic director position on an interim basis.
“I had to think about it just because, one, I was a little surprised,” Milkman said. “That’s what had to sink in first, was the possibility he may be leaving. It’s something that I don’t take lightly. It’s a big responsibility in a lot of different ways. I also have a golf team that I’m really passionate about, and those 11 young ladies coming back, I needed to make sure that I was comfortable and could do both and not shortchange it. He told me I had a week to think about, so I took a week to think about it.”
Since accepting the position, Milkman has continued to coach the golf team. She said juggling the two can be a challenge, but ultimately she is prepared to steer the ship while Murray State actively searches for a qualified candidate.
“It’s been a challenge, absolutely, but I’m very fortunate that our staff’s very good and that I can rely on them, and that when I’m at golf practice I truly don’t worry about things going on at the office because I know they’re taken care of,” Milkman said. “But for me personally, balancing both of them has obviously been a little bit of a challenge because you’re adding a lot to your plate, but I’m getting better at it.
Boasting a finance degree and a master’s degree in business administration, Milkman has the credentials to captain the athletic department in the meantime – and possibly even long term. The 12-time OVC Coach of the Year said she’s unsure what the future holds, but wouldn’t rule out the potential of pursuing the role full time.
And while the future is still uncertain for Milkman, she certainly has a vote of confidence from her former boss.
“…No one is more respected than Velvet, both on campus and in the community,” Ward said. “She’s got what it takes to do the job and I think she’d be an excellent AD should she be interested in the permanent role.”
Whatever Milkman decides to pursue, it’s safe to say she’ll have the support of “Velvet Milkman Buddha” and the rest of her social media admirers.
