I know that the director and assistant director at one point had a bowl bonus of like $1000 which may have come from Athletics, but I don't think the majority of their salaries comes from the Department of Music. Athletics does fund a portion (I would guess a LARGE portion) of the band's budget. Athletics certainly has a vested interest, but the hiring committee was 100% driven by the Director of the School of the Performing Arts who has been involved in big time hires throughout his career. There was definitely a lot of interest, and I felt like the final 3 were all very strong. Hopefully they'll announce soon.

As far as getting routines ready and all of that it is not ideal to only have a month or so to prepare for the season. That being said, the band is student-led. The band elects an Executive Officer who appoints members to officer positions. Those kids, along with the director, choose the rank captains and section leaders as well as the drum majors. All of that has already been decided. The schedule has already been set. I'd be willing to bet some routines have already been decided on. Logistically that's just how it had to work.