WEST LAFAYETTE -- Mike Bobinski wants his successor as Purdue athletic director to know what sort of place they are walking into.A sane environment in a relatively insane time in this world, Bobinskicalled Purdue during a media roundtable on Monday.The Boilermakers AD for the past 10 years sat for his first interview since announcing June 3 he will retireonDec. 31.The decision put the wheels in motion to findonly the third person to occupy that role in the past33 years.The Purdue Board of Trusteeshiredexecutive search firm DHR Global toassistthe process.Interviewsare imminent. This accelerated timeline would allow Bobinskis successor to settle in alongside the outgoing AD for a transitional period.Bobinskis decade in charge spanned a transformative, and at times tumultuous, period in college sports. The Big Tenemergedfrom theCOVID-19pandemic and expanded to the west coast. Then came name,imageand likeness compensation, followed bypaying athletes directly throughrevenue share.The economic structure under whichBobinskibegan his tenure -- or even the one under which Purdue football went to the Big Ten championship game in 2022 -- bears almost no resemblance to the one under which he exits.Bobinski said he has little involvement in the search process.Yet no one knows the opportunities and challenges the job presents. That gives him a useful perspective on the attributes andbackgroundmost crucial for Purdues next athletic director.Someone who embraces Purdues culture, its adherence to compliance, its educational mission those are given.Butanother critical non-negotiable? That person also needs to come in ready to generate new streams of revenue.Whatever theworldsgoing to look like going forward here, its not going to be less expensive, Bobinski said. That is for sure.Itsgoing to be more expensive.Sofinding ways to turnover every opportunity and turn those into actual real resources that can be used to support what we need to do going forward. Someonethatsgotaknowledge, anexpertise, ormaybe evensome hands-on experience doing thosekindsof things to me would bereallyimportant.Bobinski convinced Purdue can win with level playing fieldSince thebeginning of the player-pay era, Purdue has generally worked from the middle to lower-middleof the Big Ten Conference, depending on the sport. Bobinski expected the onset of revenue sharing to level the playing field.It has not, in part, because the continued tolerance for third-party NIL dealsabove the rev share cap -- $21.3 million for the coming academic year, covering all sports.The Athleticrecently conducted an anonymous survey in reportingBig Ten basketballpayrolls average $14.3 million.Coaches at SEC media days were throwing around estimates of $30 million-$40 million for football rosters.Bobinski supports the Protect College Sports Act, a proposed federal law which has risen from theapparentdead in the past few days.It would unify college sports under one set of rules,eliminatingthe constant pivots to the latest court rulings scattered across the country.For Purdue, it would also mean knowing from Day 1 what dollar amount it andall ofits Big Ten and power conference opponents were working with.Lets just figure out a system that has adequate resources init, andthen task our departments withmanaging tothose resources, Bobinski said. And thenyoullfigure outwhosgot a working strategy,whosgot the ability toidentifytalent and make sound, strategic resource allocation decisions.That to me would be a much better solution than trying to playletsmake a deal day-in, day-out, and every dayitsall emotion driven.One concept which came up in the past week was the idea of a retention pool. Thisadditional$20 million-$30 million on top of the $20-plus million in the revenue share pool would be used for teams to keep players already in their programs.Bobinski confirmed playercompensation obligationsin the past couple of years forcedPurdueto put off some planned facility upgrades.He believes stabilizing the payroll question even at a higher price would allow his successor to better manage thosesometimes conflictingfinancial needs.Well find a way, Bobinski said. That kind ofamodel, to me, is where we need to get to. Then the challenge will be here at Purdue for us to go out and generate the resources to make sure we can compete at the highest possible level.Bobinski made clear revenue generation cannot be the new athletic directors job alone. That individual has too many other things on their plate. But they will need to lead the administrative team whichfinds andcapitalizes onnew streams.Understanding Purdues culture will also mean pushing people out of their comfort zone at times.Itswhy the job calls for more than financial astuteness, asBobinskiputit. He recalled some of his conversations frompossible benefactorsa couple of years ago,when the radical shift to paying players was thrust upon Purdue and its more traditional preferences.A little too oftenthe answer was, Thatsa good idea. Someone ought to do that,Bobinski said.Congress may help Bobinskis successor close the gap with the deepest wallets in the Big Ten. No matter howmuch that person respects Boilermaker values,theyllneed to walk through the door with an action plan for a different kind of value.This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue's next athletic director must be revenue generator, Mike Bobinski says