I wrote a story on Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson for Thursday's paper.
Here are some leftover quotes from my interviews with Anderson, former Terps men's basketball coach Gary Williams and former Maryland star football player Shawne Merriman:
KEVIN ANDERSON
On whether there were any wins or moments during the football team's regular season that were particularly special to him:
"From the very beginning, we talked about going into the Big Ten and being competitive immediately, and that's what the football program has proven to be. I just feel great for our coaching staff, our administration and our student-athletes to be able to come in and to have the kind of season that we've had. I thought going into Indiana, winning our first Big Ten game on the road was special. Then, we go and we beat Penn State at [Penn State], which we had never done before, and then we go up to the 'Big House' and win at Michigan. All those were special. It's been a great season. And particularly to go 5-1 on the road, it just made it a very special season."
On his every day responsibilities and how he — as the athletic director — can help Maryland's athletic programs improve:
"My main job is to run a fairly large business that allows the student-athletes to pursue their dreams, both academically and athletically. And also what we want to do here at the University of Maryland is prepare these young folks for their future beyond athletics and that they're going to be great citizens wherever they live, whether it's in this country or we have international students too. That's how I feel that I'm fulfilled and that I can measure my job by those kinds of results."
On whether there are any other projects the athletic department is working on to help with the advancement of its teams, in addition to the $155 million indoor athletic complex:
"We'll continue to always look at facilities and upgrading them so that we give our student-athletes every opportunity to compete at the highest level. But the other projects we're looking at, particularly with our Human Performance Center that we'll renovate Cole [Field House into], it has many academic components to it. It's going to bring the medical school on the campus, and we're going to be able to establish one of the best orthopedic sports medicine programs in the country. We're going to have research components to be able to look at things such as concussions and how we have people perform at a high level. And we're not only talking about our student-athletes. We're talking about faculty and staff. Our students will be served there and then the broader community. We'll open this up and we'll look at having partnerships with local government, police and firemen and [more]. We also have a relationship with the National Health and Science Department, and we're looking at how we can work with the military and things that will enhance performance but also address severe injuries. But then the last thing that's most important is that it brings a lot of different elements into one focal point and one center, and it's going to be the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It will link us with the Business School, the School of Engineering or the School of Journalism, with the School of Public Health and also with the School of Agriculture. So this is going to be a university project that is going to be outstanding. And if I look at one of my proudest accomplishments at the University of Maryland, it's being able to be a partner in this endeavor."
On whether there is anything special about Maryland's bowl game being in San Francisco, his hometown:
"Yes, and I'll tell you why it's significant. Being around the football team and knowing the young men like I do, I would say half, if not more, have never been on a trip west of the Mississippi. And for them to be able to go to a great bowl like this that the host city is San Francisco — and then they're opening their arms to do everything they can to make these young men have a great experience — and then for them to go down to Santa Clara and play in the 49ers' new facility, which is probably one of the best professional facilities in the country, that's my excitement."
On if he feels like everything is starting to come together for the football and basketball teams:
"I knew the quality of the people that not only I hired for the football and basketball programs but also the other people that we've brought into the department. And I'll say this. I feel I have the best coaching staff and the best administrative staff in the country. I would take them and compete against anybody in the country with the staff I have and feel confident that we would win more than we would lose, a lot more than we would lose."
On what his primary goals are for his athletic programs going forward:
"Our mission from the very beginning was to provide a quality education for all of our student-athletes. And in that aspect, we want to stay in the forefront and we want to be leaders when it comes to making sure we're doing everything to provide a quality education for these student-athletes, and we really want to work with the NCAA on developing programs and keeping ahead of the curve and making sure that we're addressing the needs of these 21st-century student-athletes and going on and staying ahead of the curve rather than staying with it or falling behind. I think we're in a very good place now as far as intercollegiate athletics that we are going to be able to stay ahead of what we need to provide these great young people as far as academics and athletics and concerns about their health and well being."
On what his schedule is like on a typical day:
"I get up at about [4:45 a.m.], and those first 15 minutes I'm answering emails from [Senior Associate Athletics Director of Media Relations and Strategic Communications Zack Bolno]. I work out for an hour. Then, I come here, try to do more of my emails, and then it depends on my day. But I'll probably be in meetings with my staff and with people from the university. Fifty-percent, I would say, of my responsibilities and what I do too is fundraising. But whenever I get frustrated with the adults, what makes my day is I'm able to go out to practice and interact with our student-athletes, and it makes things far better. And then the last thing, the greatest days that I have here, and an example of that was [last Saturday] when I was able to attend graduation and see 25 student-athletes walk across that stage. That's when I know that I've done my job. So you asked me about the coaches. And I'll leave you with this, and this is when I was interviewing [football coach] Randy Edsall. I asked Randy, 'So tell me how you measure your success.' And Randy told me, 'Kevin, it's not the four-year experience, five or six years. It's when I walk into that grocery store, through the airport or wherever I might be and I run into one of my former football players and they're with their family and they tell me how they're doing and how successful they've been and how they're helping our communities.' He said, 'That's how I know when I've done my job.'"
GARY WILLIAMS
On what is unique about Anderson as an athletic director:
"I think any job where you're dealing with people all the time, I think that's sometimes an overlooked skill is just being able to deal with people. In addition to the technical part of the job, you have to be able to communicate, especially nowadays. Athletic directors are such important parts of fundraising now, not just for athletic departments but for the entire school. And I think Kevin has that ability. That's the thing that impressed me most when he first came to Maryland was his ability to reach out to people, and he's himself. He just puts himself out there and he doesn't try to hide a lot of things. What you see is what you get."
On the state of the football and men's basketball programs:
"I think you look at results. And the bowl game the football team is going to and playing a quality opponent like Stanford certainly says something for that. And then of course the AP poll has basketball 15th this week. If you look around the country, there are not many schools that have those two major programs ranked that high at the same time."
On Maryland's move to the Big Ten:
"People said we couldn't compete in the Big Ten, and that bothered me because why can't we compete in the Big Ten? We've been competing in the ACC. And certainly going to the Big Ten will be tough and everything like that, but we can compete. And the thing I've liked most about Kevin is he has a very positive and realistic idea of what we can be. In other words, he is very optimistic about Maryland's chances going into the Big Ten in terms of as an athletic department."
SHAWNE MERRIMAN
On Anderson:
"One thing I love about Kevin is that he is really hands-on with everything. He makes the truehearted, best decisions for the program. … I've known several athletic directors at big universities that are not as hands-on as Kevin is. And if he says he's going to do something, he does it. And you'll see him at football games. You'll see him over here having a conversation with this group of people and then over there having another conversation with another group of people. He does a great maintaining a face-to-face relationship with all of the people he's either working with or going to work with, and he does an excellent job of doing that and being a man of his word."