Jake Crouthamel began most days this summer in a similar yet foreign fashion. He’d wake up (sometimes not until after 7 a.m.) and walk to Nantucket Sound near his home on Cape Cod and let life happen.

It was different for Crouthamel because for 27 years he was on call full-time as Syracuse’s athletic director. It was difficult because he went from king of one of the country’s most prestigious athletic programs to a standstill in a matter of six and a half months.

But now as the weather grows cold, Crouthamel is forced to stay inside and do things that retired people do. And so far, it’s been challenging.

‘This is going to be the real test,’ he said earlier this month at his home in Centerville, Mass. ‘You don’t go through a training program (for retirement), it’s just that all of a sudden you are in it.’

Crouthamel has not stepped foot into Manley Field House since he left his office in December 2004. He has not returned to campus since he and his wife moved to the Cape in late June 2005. He has not spoken to SU’s new director of athletics Daryl Gross since the day he was hired.

But Crouthamel is anything but bitter or non-supportive; he is simply embracing retirement for one full year before he thinks about finding a new hobby. This summer, he spent a few weeks of his time helping to build a stone retaining wall at a neighbor’s house. His home, which borders on a marsh in the back, became the neighborhood launching point for kayaks and his four grandsons were frequent visitors.

Crouthamel’s home, which is on a secluded yet friendly street, was his wife Carol’s summer home for the past 13 years. While Crouthamel spent all but two or three weeks of his time in Syracuse, she began preparing for retirement.

‘We used to have a timeshare on Nantucket,’ Crouthamel said. ‘And I didn’t know at the time she was spending time looking at property around on the Cape. Then all of a sudden she advised me we’re buying a house on Cape Cod.

‘People talk about being on the ocean, but when you have the tides that we have and you see the wildlife that we have, it’s really fun. There’s something going on out there every day.’

This past fall, Crouthamel served as a voter in the newest component of the Bowl Championship Series, the Harris Poll. Though it was nothing like managing an athletic department at a major Division I school, he invested himself in it just the same.

‘I’d get up Saturday morning and go down to the harbor, make sure everything is OK and they don’t need me for anything,’ Crouthamel joked, ‘then I get back by noon with all my papers in front of me to see who is playing on what channel. Then I sit in front of the boob tube and watch football all of Saturday and Saturday night.’

Once he realized how extensive the process was, Crouthamel canceled three weekend trips during the fall, including one to Hartford, Conn., to see Syracuse play Connecticut. Still, he saw all but two of SU’s games from its 1-10 season, and he is hopeful for the future of the football program.

He has traveled to Syracuse once for a funeral, but other than having lunch with Jim and Juli Boeheim and picking up a stash of Marlboro cigarettes – his trademark – at the Oneida Indian Reservation, he didn’t stop to see old friends. He’s mailed two letters to former SU head football coach Paul Pasqualoni and hopes to meet with him during the NFL’s offseason.

Crouthamel doesn’t mean to be distant from the Syracuse athletic community, he just believes it’s better that he allow the new administration to work. He keeps in contact with friends in the athletic department and Syracuse Sports Information sends him frequent press releases to keep him abreast with Syracuse sports. He hasn’t ruled out coming to future games, and he will speak to a sports management class on campus in March.

‘It isn’t so much Syracuse, it’s the expectation of the positions I was in for the past 33 years. Not having that is really the dramatic change,’ Crouthamel said. ‘I’m not looking to be involved in Syracuse, it’s not my responsibility, it’s not my business, but I keep in touch with some of the people there and they keep in touch with me.

‘I’m not trying to meddle.’

For now, Crouthamel said he plans on reading a lot of history books to keep busy. There are still boxes in his basement that have yet to be unpacked and somewhere in one is his prized ukulele.

Crouthamel said he may consider helping the Eastern College Athletic Conference, which has its headquarters only a few minutes away, or the Big East in a volunteer capacity. But not until his trial year is up. After then, he will know what he wants to do.

During the winter, there is little going on in Hyannis Harbor, one of Crouthamel’s favorite spots to pass the time. Recently, though, a ship was laying cable between Nantucket and nearby Hyannisport, and it attracted Crouthamel’s attention.

‘Stupid things like that are fascinating to me,’ he said. ‘There’s a huge parking lot down by the harbor and the other day it was full of people just watching, including me. It’s amazing.’

Published on January 24, 2006 at 12:00 pm