Maybe it wasn’t be the best time for Oliver Luck to take over as West Virginia’s athletic director.

Or maybe the timing was perfect.

In light of allegations of five major rules violations within the football program, as well as a secondary infraction, dating back to 2005 and the Rich Rodriguez era, the timing was right for Luck to hit the ground running.

“I don’t know if it’s a good time or a bad time, but it is the time,” Luck said during the Mountaineer Athletic Club’s Summer Blitz at Tamarack Thursday. “I was aware of what was going on with the NCAA when I was on the (WVU) Board of Governors.”

The NCAA said Rodriguez and current coach Bill Stewart failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance.

And Luck, a former Mountaineer quarterback who played for Houston in the NFL, said he is determined to right the ship.

“It’s made me more determined than ever to stress succinctly that we are going to have a zero tolerance policy (with the WVU athletic department) in terms doing things within the guidelines (of NCAA policies).

“We have talked with our coaches, we have made it clear, what our expectations are.”

Clearly Luck, who was hired to replace longtime AD Ed Pastilong on June 10, and started his duties July 1, is a no nonsense leader.

The Mountaineers have already hired a new compliance director. Keli Cunningham, a West Virginia native and WVU alumnus, will oversee the Mountaineers’ compliance department after serving in the same role at Maryland since June 2004. She was previously a compliance assistant for the Big East Conference.

“We have 17 head coaches, a large athletic department, and that is a lot for a four-person compliance staff,” Luck said. “We need to have cooperation from everyone inside the athletic department to make sure we are doing things correctly.”

Luck said he is convinced the problem has been eradicated.

As a former football player, he said he enjoys attending football practice.

“I try to get out as much as possible,” he said. “Even if it’s for 10, 15 minutes. I like to follow what they are doing.”

Luck also has a son, Andrew, who is one of the nation’s top college quarterbacks at Stanford. Obviously, he won’t get to many games.

“Maybe three or four, if we are playing on a Thursday or Friday,” Luck said.

Which brought up the interesting dilemma for the nation’s athletic directors of playing games on weeknights and how it impacts a university.

“In a perfect world, Friday night would be high school games, Saturday would be colleges and Sunday would be the pros,” Luck said. “But we are never going to turn back the clock. When ESPN puts the money on the table ... we have to fund our programs.

“I know it is a major concern for high school coaches. And I do appreciate that. I understand that concern.

“At the same time, it’s TV. And WVU has the best Thursday and Friday rating on ESPN. So people are going to watch.”

Luck said when he was at WVU, “I’m not sure we ever had a national television appearance, with the exception of the Peach Bowl.”

He said he has enjoyed being on the road with the Summer Blitz.

“We’ve met a lot of people and actually get a lot of unsolicited opinions, what people are thinking, and that is enjoyable,” he said. “A lot of times we’re isolated in Morgantown, so it’s neat to get out with the people and hear what they’re thinking and what they have to say.”

“It’s a grassroots effort, a chance for us to get out and meet with the fans,” assistant athletic director and MAC executive director Niles Eggleston said. “We have a large, passionate fan base around the state and we want to thank those people for supporting us the way they do.”

“We’ve been working towards this the whole summer,” Casey Cunningham of the MAC added. “There’s a lot of distance between (Beckley) and Morgantown, and we wanted to get out and meet people and let them know what we’re doing.”

The Blitz also stopped in Bluefield, Logan and Summersville Thursday.

Accompanying Luck were coaches Mike Carey (women’s basketball), Greg Van Zant (baseball) and former athletes Reed Williams (football) and Meg Bulger (women’s basketball).