Kevin Anderson -- the non-rev perspective

[Fekula]

I am hopeful that the new AD will continue the active support for the non-rev sports that we enjoyed for the 16-year tenure of Debbie Yow. All I have to go on at this point is his resume, but that is a hopeful sign, especially based on his recent previous assignments at Army and Oregon State.

Army has a large multi-sport program including 24 sports: 15 for men, 9 for women. Of course, being a service academy, some of the sports are a bit esoteric, i.e., rifle, sprint football, men's gymnastics, etc., but there is no question he maintained a long service academy tradition of support for a broad program of athletics. The fact that he had ten different sports making it to the NCAA tournament during his tenure is encouraging to say the least. One always has to keep in mind that Army is not recruiting athletes per se. They are getting the people who want to drive M-1A1 tanks and Apache helicopters -- sports is a "nice to know" matter for a service academy candidate. The fact that they do this well in any sport is a tribute to the athletes and coaches.

His tenure at Oregon State may be more relevant, given the greater similarity to the situation at Maryland. Here again, we see a 17-sport program and his responsibilities included supervising seven of those sports. It is always good to know the AD had experience working closely with a number of coaches in different sports.

Last and far from least, his background as a fundraiser is crucial, especially in this economy. The old pattern has always been that when the revenue sports catch a cold, the non-rev sports get pneumonia. Hopefully, Kevin Anderson can head off that cycle. As an old Terp, I wish him the best of luck in what is going to be a very challenging job.

 

[ccterp]

Thanks for the commentary. I like this hire.

Of note as well...UMD enjoyed support and success for many of the non-revenue sports long before D.Yow arrived in CP. I appreciate the job she did and I think Kevin will build on that.

Go Terps!

 

[Fekula]

Good point

I think it would be fair to say that Jim Kehoe is probably the one who gets the most credit for building the department into the multi-sport program that it is now, albeit Col. Tom Fields also played a major role on the financial side of things. I frankly felt that, after Kehoe's tenure, the department had too many financial problems related to the whole Bias/Bob Wade/basketball probation conundrum to really be able to grow beyond the point that Kehoe had brought them.

Dick Dull was one of the victims of the whole Bias tragedy; his successors including Lew Perkins and Andy Geiger were pretty much treading water for the relatively brief periods they were here. The latter two men were faced with having to eliminate sports wholesale. Debbie Yow was the first to find a way to move the department forward. Hopefully, Kevin Anderson can help them take the next step.

I did manage to catch his presser on TerpsTV just now and was impressed, especially when he made it a point to mention the Field Hockey along with soccer and women's lax as having recent national titles. Glad they are on his radar screen.

 

[ccterp]

Re: Good point

Like I said, I think KA is a very solid hire.

Yes, Kehoe did great things along with Col. Fields. You are correct about some of the problems there in the 1980s-most in fact caused by the Administration. Onward and upward though...I am excited about KA!

 

[Fekula]

Re: Good point

I am as well. Feel even better after watching the presser. He seems like a personable guy, seems to connect well with people.