Not only is Stacy Martin the most senior member University of Memphis athletic director Tom Bowen's senior staff, she has worked for him longer than anyone in Memphis.

She tells a story about her time with him on the staff at San Jose State, where he served for almost eight years before replacing the retiring R.C. Johnson at Memphis in July of 2012. He earned the nickname "Tornado Tom" because he would often come into a staff meeting with an idea requiring the department to make sudden modifications.

"It was like in 10 minutes your whole world was just upside down," Martin said. "But what you can take from that is he's a visionary and we're the implementers. Personally I like that role, but you kind of have to take a step back and say, 'What do we really want to do?'

"And then we'll figure out how to get there."

As Bowen pushes the U of M into what is his third full sports season as athletic director, he does so with a transformed department, one he and staff will point out often is the "leanest" in the American Athletic Conference. Some of the changes made under Bowen were forced upon him by budget realities, some involve the inevitable staff turnover that can occur when a longtime department chief like Johnson moves on after nearly two decades.

The transformation can be seen on the GoTigersGo.com website, on the staff directory page, where there are 44 new names on the administrative side (not related to specific sports) now that were not on an archive of the page dated to July of 2011. There are 34 names that are no longer on the administrative flowchart that were there in 2011.

Bowen is actually proud of a record going back to San Jose State of constant turnover he says is caused by young, hungry talent demonstrating a record of accomplishment and moving on to new jobs at more prominent institutions.

"My basic premise has always been that I am the most unimportant person by myself so I need to surround myself with the most brilliant and young talent I can find," Bowen said. "I've done that wherever I've been -- at San Jose State, I went through three sets of deputy athletic directors in my eight and a half years. "

In terms of holdovers, not including coaches and their assistants and support personnel, there are but 22 names, many of them administrative assistants, but some, like Lou Strasberg, a travel coordinator and business office veteran, date to the 1960s.

The changes can also be seen in the physical configuration of the athletic department offices at the far southeast edge of the main campus, on the corner of Southern and Normal across the railroad tracks.

About 18 months ago, an office was carved out of the formerly spacious athletic director's suite for Martin. More recently, Bowen's own office was chopped almost in half to make room for his chief lieutenant, deputy athletic director Wren Baker, whose office had previously been almost a block away in the suites above the school's athletic Hall of Fame.

Remaining in Baker's old wing (for now) are Ryan Bradley, associate athletic director for marketing and communications, and senior associate athletic director Adam Walker, who moved back over to athletics in the spring to take over the main fundraising efforts for the Tiger Scholarship Fund.

Other key changes to the department have included the addition of Thomas Carrier, who moved over from FedExForum in the summer to become assistant athletic director for facilities and events; Eric Sabin, now the assistant athletic director of business operations, who came from San Jose State in 2012; and Jason Gray (director of NCAA compliance) and Derek Houtz (ticket operations), both of whom were most recently at Southern Miss.

"Tom's a no-nonsense guy -- he's not trying to be the most popular person in the crowd or trying to win friends. He's trying to make the right decisions for the program," said Harold Byrd, the Bank of Bartlett executive who has been one of the program's most prominent boosters going back to the 1980s.

This time last year, Bowen faced the difficult task of instituting cuts related to an overall university cost-savings effort brought about by changes to the state funding formula that redirected money away from the U of M and toward other schools with higher graduation rates. He asked several veteran members of the department with decades of service to retire, including associate athletic directors Bob Winn and Bill Lofton (Winn and Lofton remain part-time consultants, Winn for the athletic department's letterman's club and Lofton with the university's business office).

When the U of M basketball team made its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in March, the crew of departmental personnel accompanying the Tigers to Raleigh, North Carolina, was completely different from those who had attended basketball coach Josh Pastner's first NCAA Tournament game as a coach, in 2011 in Tulsa.

If the Tigers attend a bowl under football coach Justin Fuente, something that is looking likely for this season, the athletic department's key leaders will be almost completely changed since the last bowl appearance, in 2008.

"They came into the situation with eyes wide open and ready to go attack it," said Fuente, who was hired before Bowen. "I know we don't have unlimited resources, but they are trying everything they can to help us build a football program. They understand the importance to this university, to this athletic department and to this community of building a football program. The future of our school and the future of our athletic department depends on it.

"I can't say enough about Tom and his staff and the support they've given us."

Those Bowen has placed in the highest positions are young (most of them in their mid-30s), have only a handful of years combined working for a Division 1 program and just a few years each living and working in Memphis. In interviews, they emphasize the passion, energy and teamwork that has been developed under Bowen, and some longtime U of M boosters express confidence, as well.

"Tom has brought in some really good, key people and I think we're really moving in the right direction," said Tom Watson, another longtime key booster. "I'm very high on them, I think they're all doing a very good job. They are doing what Tom wants -- Tom is strong at giving direction. He's established a very good team."

Behind the scenes, Bowen and his staff have been running a quiet campaign to jump-start a $40 million project to upgrade practice facilities on South Campus. The plans include new football and basketball training facilities, including an indoor one for football, along with improvements for other sports, as well. There also will be enhanced academic infrastructure for athletes.

That campaign will soon go public. Baker, Martin, Walker and Bradley, as Bowen's top executives, all will play prominent roles in making it happen, in addition to the day-to-day work being entrusted to them.

Here is a thumbnail look at those key athletic department leaders, with video interviews of them included at commercialappeal.com and on our apps:

WREN BAKER

Deputy Athletic Director

Baker, 36, came to Memphis in February of 2013 after stints as athletic director at Division 2 schools Northwest Missouri State and Rogers State (in Oklahoma), and has a background in college basketball, having coached at Rogers State and served in administrative roles for Oklahoma State's basketball team when Eddie Sutton was the coach. Baker met Bowen through industry networking and education opportunities, and Bowen targeted him as a young leader worth watching.

Quote: "Our fans are our biggest strength. This city loves this team and I believe we've done a good job of continuing to build on that loyalty and affinity for the University of Memphis. Our team is very goal-driven, we're cohesive -- we have a staff now that believes in each other and where we are trying to go."

STACY MARTIN

Senior Associate Athletic Director for Finance

Martin, 34, came to Memphis shortly after Bowen took over, in September of 2012, after working the previous two and a half years at Kansas State. Prior to that, she worked at San Jose State under Bowen, for four years handling fiscal oversight of the department's $20 million budget. From Nebraska, she had been a college gymnast at San Jose State.

Recently, she earned recognition as manager of the year from the College Athletic Business Management Association, an organization she once led as president.

Quote: "Our challenges are financially related. We are trying to compete with people who have resources five times what we have ... a daily challenge with us is keeping up with that. Conversely, there are opportunities ... but the challenge on a daily basis is about how can we take what we have and get better."

ADAM WALKER

Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development

Walker, 34, originally came to Memphis from Central Florida, in 2011, to work under former fundraising chief Bill Lansden, but took a promotion on the university side in development. Bowen persuaded him to return to the athletic department this past winter, and he'll play a major role in making the $40 million project become a reality.

Walker was a standout track and field athlete at Kansas State, where he competed in the discus and hammer.

Quote: "For us to compete with those Power 5 conferences, we need the best facilities, to attract and retain the highest talent ... We want to set ourselves up for any future possibility of success, whether that is being in the American Conference where we are very happy, or if that's a greater Power 5 conference."

RYAN BRADLEY

Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and Communications

Bradley, 32, worked with Baker as his right-hand man at Rogers State and, after succeeding him as athletic director, oversaw the process of transitioning Rogers State from the NAIA to Division 2. He joined the U of M in June of 2013, but worked in Memphis as an intern with the Memphis Redbirds in 2006 while a student at the University of Arkansas.

His team is implementing enhancements to what he calls the "gameday experience," including the efforts seen this year with home football games, like concerts at Tiger Lane.

Quote: "At Memphis we have a whole lot more than I had at a Division 2 school but we certainly have less than our competitors in the SEC and the Big 10 and the Big 12 who our fan base are watching what they are doing. So, finding ways to be more efficient be innovative and try to keep up with those guys as much as possible is the goal. And I certainly learned how to do that on a smaller scale in my previous position."

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