Sept. 7, 2010

Introduction of Kevin Anderson as Athletics Director

Interim University of Maryland President Nariman Farvardin

"Bearing in mind that it would be difficult to find a successor to Debbie Yow, whose 16 years at Maryland were filled with extraordinary accomplishments, we conducted an extensive national search... The process of the search was a very rigorous and insightful process, and we are grateful for the input of so many members of the University community and friends of the University outside. The search committee worked very hard and spent many hours on the search. Their recommendations were extremely valuable. Dr. Loh and I were in complete agreement of who would be the best person to lead the University of Maryland athletics department at this juncture."

University of Maryland President-designate Dr. Wallace Loh

"This is a great day for Terrapin Nation. You know the credentials, you know the experience and you know the accomplishments of Kevin Anderson. At the end of the day, as one who has never hired an athletic director, but I've hired faculty members, it's not what they have done that makes the difference, it's their values and the content of their character. When you do a thorough, national search on a level playing field, by the time you get to that short list, whatever the search is, you have people that have been vetted very thoroughly and every one of them can do the job. So then it becomes, not a matter of credentials and experience, it becomes a question of the intangibles, of values, of character and the fit of the culture within the institution.

"When I picked up the phone and called Kevin to offer him the job, my style is to do this as a team. So I consulted with Interim President Farvardin, with Vice President Linda Clemens, and with other people. So this is not some new president free-lancing on the phone, but relying on the wisdom and experience of dedicated Terrapins who know the institution. Based upon that input, I made the phone call to Kevin. He was thrilled, he was excited and then he said, `Of course, I need to talk to Moira, my wife. We need to think about it and we need to pray about it and then I'll call you back.' Three hours later, he called me back. He said, `I accept and I'm excited to be a Terrapin. Let's work together to take Maryland to the next level of accomplishment.' I said to myself, `So what about salary?' He accepted the position before we even talked about salary. This is a man of integrity, but more importantly, this is a person who is taking on this position, just like I accepted my position, because it's a cause greater than ourselves. That cause is to take the University of Maryland to the next level of excellence."

Maryland Athletics Director Kevin Anderson

"It's a great day to be a Terp. Great football win yesterday, Coach Friedgen. In my five years at Army, we never beat Navy, so thank you very much. They told me, don't come back without a win.

I'd like to thank again President Loh and Linda Clement and the search committee for selecting me to be the next athletics director at the University of Maryland. My family and I are very proud of this opportunity and we promise not to let anybody down.

I'd like to take a minute to express my thanks to all my friends and all my staff and coaches at West Point... I want to thank the cadets. All of those cadets that touched my life and my family's life because... I can tell you our country is in good hands because those people I worked with, fighting for our freedom, are outstanding Americans and human beings.

Today is a new day at the University of Maryland. I am excited and looking forward to building an incredible team. That was the main thing when President Loh called me, he talked about me being a part of his team. That's what sold me right away because that's how I grew up in athletics, my family and in everything else. It's always been about the team. I definitely am glad to be part of your team and the University of Maryland's team. Trust me, you've done good and great things, but we're going to do better and greater things.

I also want to acknowledge Debbie Yow. Longevity speaks for itself and that's quite an accomplishment.

As I take over in the coming months, I'll be looking to build cohesion in the athletics department. I will take time to observe and evaluate the program. I will seek input from the coaches and the staff. You will quickly learn my leadership style. Believe that I am demanding, but I am fair. Maryland Athletics is in good shape, but we do have our challenges. It is my vision to take the program from good to great. It is my expectation to get everyone on the Maryland bus. It's necessary to link the entire institution. I will be committed to building partnerships with everyone inside the walls of the institution, as well as going outside and strengthening existing relationships and forming new ones.

My passion, my calling for athletics is driven by developing student-athletes. I am committed to our student-athletes and will do whatever it takes to have them be successful in the classroom, on the field and in the community. Our ultimate goal, and I stress our ultimate goal, is to provide productive citizens for our country.

In closing, I'd like to talk about my expectations and what we're going to do as a department. We're going to compete, and we're going to compete at the highest levels and we're going to compete to win. The University of Maryland does not finish second. We finish first in everything we do. One of the reasons why I wanted to come and be your athletics director is everywhere I've been, the reputation the University of Maryland has has been top-notch and everything that you do has been first class. You compete for national championships and you compete the right way. You compete within the rules and that institutional control is first and foremost in everything we do. We go out and we recruit the best student-athletes - I want to repeat that, student-athletes. That's what I am going to expect and what you already produce. We're going to have our young people compete in the classroom, doing the right things, and achieving what they need to do, so then they can go out on the field and represent the University of Maryland the way it should be represented. I've already got the commitments from the coaches, that we're going to bring the right student-athletes and the right people that are going to represent the University of Maryland the right way. I'd like to close with Fear the Turtle and Go Terps!"

On his perspective of Maryland football and basketball from afar over the years:

"Both of them have been top-notch programs and leading our country as far as competitiveness. When you talk about the basketball team, you're talking about a national championship, and just a couple years ago you're talking about the football team going to bowl games. That's how I have viewed the University of Maryland's football and basketball programs, but I want to take that to another level. When you think of this athletic department, you think of what it's been able to achieve and the national championships that the field hockey and the soccer teams have won and lacrosse. You're looking at one of the premier programs in this country, bar none."

On how he will work with coaches:

"Well, I just met with the coaches this morning and we shared my philosophy and how we're going to work. One of the things that I like to think that people think of me and how I told them my management and leadership style is that you'll always know what the score and the time is. There's not going to be any surprises because if there are surprises, I haven't done my job and the people I work with haven't done their job. We're going to be very clear. The coaches are going to be involved in everything that we do. We're going to sit down and we're going to meet. I'm going to talk to them and they're going to talk to me about how they're recruiting. We're going to talk about the budget. They're going to be a part of everything that we do. This is a team thing. Everything we do is going to be inclusive. There are no "me's" here. It's all about we and it's all about the team. When we all work together, we're all successful together and we're going to take this to the next level."

On working with the athletics budget:

"Everywhere I've been, there have been budget issues, so it's not a unique challenge coming to the University of Maryland and having those sorts of things. We're going to come in, we're going to evaluate, we're going to see where we are as a program. We're going to see where we are financially. Debbie and Randy have done an excellent job of preparing an analysis of how we're going to move forward. We'll sit down, look at that, and we'll see where we go. I think there are some unforeseen things with the ACC and the new television contract. There are going to be revenue streams that will be allotted that we haven't had before, so there are ways that we can generate revenue. Until I get into it and really sit down, talk with everybody and start to understand it, I'm not going to make any snap judgments. We will be fiscally responsible."