COLLEGE PARK — Maryland's president said Friday that the search for outgoing athletic director Debbie Yow's successor would begin immediately and that his impending retirement should not affect the process.
Yow, 59, announced Friday that she was leaving to take the same position at North Carolina State and was introduced at a news conference in Raleigh. She signed a five-year, $350,000 contract. Maryland President C.D. "Dan" Mote Jr., who is set to retire Aug. 31, expressed concern about delaying the search.
"If you start the process after the new president arrives, even if that president should arrive on Sept. 1, which is not a given by any means, it's going to take two or three months before you get an athletic director," Mote said Friday.
"That's too long for a high-powered national class athletic program to go without an athletic director. There's lots and lots of decisions that are made constantly that are significant ones that we really can't afford to wait."
Mote said a search committee will be formed in the next few days and that an interim athletic director would be named next week. Mote wouldn't speculate whether he or his successor would name the next athletic director, but he hopes that whoever is hired will have experience running an athletic program.
"We're going to look for an experienced AD. That doesn't mean that we wouldn't consider a candidate with less experience who's been an associate [AD]," Mote said. "But I think the thought would be, 'This is a big program, this is a high-profile program, a lot of issues that you'd like to have somebody who's been around these issues for a while so they're more likely to make a strong decision and set the right tone all the time.'"
Dr. William E. Kirwan, the chancellor of the University of Maryland System, said that "we will have identified the next president by the time the search [for an athletic director] is complete. My expectation is that the next president will have the final say."
Yow said in a teleconference with reporters Friday afternoon that she has recommended to Mote that Connecticut athletic director Jeff Hathaway, a Maryland graduate who previously worked in the athletic department when Lew Perkins was the athletic director, be hired as her successor.
"I did actually offer an unsolicited suggestion as a nomination for the AD position at Maryland because I care about Maryland," Yow said. "The ACC, I think, offers stability and with the new TV contract better money. At some point I will make a call personally to Jeff asking him to consider that."
Asked whether she thought that recent admissions of NCAA rules violations within the Connecticut men's basketball program could hurt Hathaway's potential candidacy, Yow said, "I would suggest that when things go wrong, a lot of times the AD is not aware and is usually part of the solution, not part of the problem."
Yow, who will remain at Maryland through July 20, said she will not be involved in the search process and would not offer any advice for her successor.
Hathaway, whose relationship with the Maryland athletic program goes back to when he was a student manager for Lefty Driesell, was not available for comment. Hathaway's senior associate AD, Neil Eskin, is also a Maryland graduate.
If Mote wants to select someone as interim athletic director with direct knowledge of the department, he could look at Charles Wellford, the faculty athletic representative to the NCAA. He could also consider Kathleen Worthington or Chris Boyer, who are both senior associate athletic directors.
Mote said he was "not very surprised" by Yow's decision to leave Maryland after nearly 16 years and that the two had spoken in recent weeks about the possibility but that "it moved a little more quickly than I anticipated." Mote made it clear that Yow, who had three years left on her contract, made the decision on her own.
"There is no reason to think that Debbie was driven out of here by the normal tensions that come with an AD's job," Mote said. "It's not a question of getting away from stress, it's a matter of going where her home is; she's a graduate of Elon, she's on the board there. The Yow name in North Carolina is iconic in many ways, and if she wants to live there subsequently, this is a good place for her to be."
Yow said her discussions with N.C. State began "somewhere between two weeks and a week ago" and that her decision to leave Maryland had more to do with the emotional pull of her home state and her family's legacy with the Wolfpack than anything that had happened in College Park.
Yow's older sister, Kay, was a Hall of Fame women's basketball coach at N.C. State for 34 years before dying of cancer last year. Her younger sister, Susan, was the Wolfpack's first All-American in women's basketball.
"I was raised in a home where Everett Case [the legendary men's coach] was an icon, just heard a lot of positive things about N.C. State, and between that and the level of involvement of both of my sisters, there has always been an affection there," Yow said. "You add that to the fact that Dr. Mote is retiring, and it's kind of nice to pick my new boss. It's kind of a new season in my life. It just felt like it was time to go home."
Mote said he knew that his impending retirement could have also been a factor.
"It's not uncommon when a president steps out and the people around them think about what's the situation for them," Mote said. "This is a time for someone to say, 'Do I want to start with a new president and get into a good rhythm and go ultimately where I want to land?'"
Yow's resignation comes about a month after she was criticized for not renewing the contract of men's lacrosse coach Dave Cottle despite a successful record. Yow's long-standing feud with men's basketball coach Gary Williams might be seen by some as an impetus for her departure.
"I think anytime someone does a job for 16 years, issues arise and they live with you," said Kirwan, who hired Yow when he was the university's president. "The decision to leave is a complicated thing. I don't think either of those were a deciding factor in her decision to leave. I think she felt she had done all she could do here and it was time to go home."
But Mote acknowledged that he hopes Yow's successor has a better relationship with some of the Maryland coaches, in particular Williams.
"This is a time for everyone to restart things," Mote said. "I think everybody has seen the negative consequences of a lot of acrimony between the athletic director and the coaches. I think it's a time for everyone to think how they can get past that and get onto a new footing. I hope everyone will give that consideration."
Yow recently nominated Williams for the Naismith Hall of Fame and asked university officials to consider naming the court at Comcast Center for the school's longtime basketball coach. Asked if her relationship with Williams ended on a positive note, Yow said: "I wish him nothing but the best. That's all I've ever wanted for him."
In a brief interview Friday, Williams declined to talk about his relationship with Yow or how it might be different with another athletic director.
"You've watched that for 15 or 16 years. I'm not reacting to anything," Williams said.
Football coach Ralph Friedgen, who was hired by Yow in 2000, said he expects that a new president would hire Yow's successor.
"I have confidence that we'll get the right person for the job," Friedgen said. "I have a lot of confidence that will happen."
In a statement released Friday, women's basketball coach Brenda Frese said, "Selfishly, we're going to miss Debbie, but if she feels moving closer to her home is best, then we're happy for her."
Baltimore Sun reporter Jeff Barker contributed to this article.
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