University of Massachusets Athletics
Press Conference Quotes
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July 15, 2002
Chancellor John V. Lombardi, opening comments:
"I am delighted to be here representing UMass Amherst and introduce our new athletic director. For those of you who have followed this process, you know that it began before I was here. It has been an interesting experience to walk-in in the middle of the process that's rolling right along, but fortunately the people involved in this process did a great job surveying the world. I confess that I did a little extemporaneous survey of the world myself before I showed up to find out who was there and what would be possible. When I got here, I discovered that the committee had identified a certain group of candidates that we were going to review and look at. I felt very secure and as we worked through this process and talked with people and ended up where we are today, I came up with two conclusions.
"This is an institution whose athletic program commands tremendous respect. I found that out before I got here when I called around the country and asked people what's the story at UMass Amherst. They told me that this is a program with an extraordinary collection of coaches and players. It has a reputation in athletics that is exceptional, but does not have a lot of money. They pointed that out to me and I said that I am from Florida and know about money. I thought maybe I could bring some with me, but I don't think they would have let me. So I came here and began to learn more about the programs, met the people and got very excited. It was fun participating in the last rounds of the search, talking with various candidates, all of whom reflected the same understanding of the qualities of this program.
"As a conclusion of it all, we have a fine candidate to introduce to you today. He has compiled an excellent record and has stellar references. People around the country whom I have talked with tell me great things about him that reinforce all of my own instincts and those of the committee. It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you the new athletic director at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Ian McCaw."
Ian McCaw, opening comments:
"Well, I am certainly very appreciative of the extraordinary opportunity that Chancellor Lombardi and the search committee have afforded me in finding me to serve as the athletic director here at the University of Massachusetts. As an alumnus, this opportunity certainly has special significance to me. I assure you that I will handle my duties with great pride and passion as we endeavor to move this athletic program forward in years to come.
"I couldn't be more excited about the personal and professional opportunity that the University of Massachusetts will afford me and I am anxious to begin work. We are going to have an athletic program here that will be very focused on our student-athletes. We want to provide them with a very high-quality experience academically, athletically and socially. We want to build very highly-competitive athletic programs and a very competitive campus recreation program. We want to maintain the values of this institution and are going to be very serious about reaching out to our alumni and friends around the state and country. We are going to find innovative ways to connect them and the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with this upright program.
"We have a lot of work to do and this athletic program is one that certainly has a great tradition and we are looking to build upon it. We have an athletic department that is going to be very professional and customer-service oriented. We are looking forward to all of the challenges that face us down the road. I am really looking forward to working with each of you, senior administration, the Board of Trustees, government officials, faculty and staff in moving this program forward. I believe we have a very bright future and we are anxious to get started and see what unfolds."
Media question:
Please, talk about your experience in fundraising.
McCaw answer:
"Fundraising, first of all, is something that I enjoy very much. I had quite a bit of experience with this over the past five years at Northeastern building up our development program and also as development director at Tulane for two years. It is something that I very much enjoy and view as an extension of my personality. I enjoy dealing with people and it is really just a matter of connecting the donor's interest with your program's needs. Again, both places I have worked have been very successful in growing a donor base and I think that's a big part of my job, really all of our jobs. We have to reach more people and connect them with the University. Really, that's how programs flourish."
Media question:
Chancellor, can you talk a little about what went into the selection criteria and how you came about your decision.
Lombardi answer:
"I think the search committee was very clear on what it was looking for. It was looking for an individual with a demonstrative track record and success working within an intercollegiate athletic program. We wanted somebody who was familiar with all of the parts of an intercollegiate program. One of the things about intercollegiate athletics is that there are lots of components that make up the department and you need to know about them all. It is not enough to just know about fundraising, managing a budget, managing relationships with conferences or knowing what the sports are. You have to know how to work with it all and touch it all. We were looking for people in particular who had this kind of broad experience and could deal with the kinds of issues that we have.
"Secondly, we were looking for people who had talent to complement the talent that already exists within the department from the people already here. This is not a program that was invented yesterday. This is a program with great depth and strength in its coaching and administrative staff. It is a program with an extraordinary set of records to its name. It is a program that has had remarkable support from its students and its institution. When you look at the financial structure of this program, one of the things that attracts your attention, especially if you are from someplace else, is the strong support that the institution and its students provide the program. So, we wanted to get somebody who could start off right away with his base of experience and to move it rapidly where we need it to go. At the same time, while we have all of these strengths, we also have some challenges. The committee discussed these in great length. One of the challenges that we all know is that the financial base for intercollegiate athletics depends not just on the support of the institution and its students, but also on the support that can be generated from alumni, friends, people who attend games, sponsors and people who want to see their name in lights. There are all kinds of people that we want to talk to who need to be engaged in this program. So fundraising is a critical part of the success of the future of this institution. We were looking for people who had experience in all of these opportunities."
Media question:
What are your opinions on gymnastics trying to be reinstated?
McCaw answer:
"I'm not sure I can speak real well to that question, it's one that I would need to be brought up to speed on all of the issues."
Lombardi answer:
"I'll speak to that. Obviously any time you have to reduce the size of your athletic program it's an extraordinarily painful thing and this institution went through that pain last year and brought its programs down and cut out seven of them and produced now a program panorama of 22 intercollegiate sports which is itself a significant challenge for an institution of this scale and none the less a commitment to sustain those. Other programs obviously we'd like to add, we'd like to reestablish or add or expand any time the financial base makes that possible and at the present time the way you have to look at that is to figure out what is would cost to establish a new program. You have to figure out whether you have the funds available to do that and you have to figure out who's going to carry the risk and I've had conversations with many people who interested in various programs being started or reestablished and we've been very clear on that. When you talk about adding a program, you have to cover the risk because the institution is already covering as much risk as it can so consequently the burden on adding programs is to create a base that's capable of sustaining a risk, a financial risk of doing right by student-athletes. You have to pay attention to the student-athletes, you know you can't start a program well we love you this week and tomorrow we're out of money and too bad. You have to be sure you can stay with it so that's the basis on which we move forward and for those who have met with me on particular sports, I have a letter that will go out today that will clarify exactly how you go about doing that."
Media question:
What are some of your fundraising ideas?
McCaw answer:
"We have to be obviously very innovated especially in reaching out to the Boston area alumni and friends and quite frankly I think we'd be up to do a lot in the Boston market because it is a very prudential area and we are going to have to work extremely hard putting together attractive alumni events around the athletics contests we have there. One of the great assets that I feel we have is we are the University of Massachusetts with the flagship campus in the commonwealth and I think we need to do a better job of reminding the state of that and really promoting ourselves as Massachusetts's team and I think there are a number of marketing and fundraising issues that we need to get moving on to particularly reach that Boston market as it is so critical both in terms of its fundraising potential and also the number of people in that market that are connected to this institution in some way."
Media question:
What are some of your other ideas to improve the department?
McCaw answer:
"Some of the things I've mentioned, I want this to be a very student-athlete oriented program. I want our student athletes to derive a very high quality experience here, we need to be successful in ensuring that they graduate, that they have a good experience and they become productive alumni so we need to do everything to endeavor to insure that happens. We need to have very high quality programs. We have a wonderful coaching staff in place here one of the certain assets we have here I've been very impressed with the head coaches and obviously the success that many of the programs have enjoyed are reflected in the great work that they have done. Again, we need to work very hard in marketing and growing our donor base here. We need to really actively connect effectively with all of the constituencies on this campus. Sometimes athletic departments become an island unto themselves within a university community and that's not a good formula so we're going to work hard to work with all areas on campus to garner their support as well."
Media question:
What are your plans for your first day on the job?
McCaw answer:
"Well the first thing I want to do obviously is deal with the internal issues. I want to get together with our head coaches, speak to them, find out what their areas are of concern, what issues need to be stressed. I want to get a great amount of time with the administrative staff and find out what we're doing that works and also find out some areas that need attention. The day one type issues are going to more be on the internal side but we want to very quickly get to the external constituencies as well."
Comment by women's tennis head coach Judy Dixon:
"Chancellor I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to call the coaches because I know that meant an awful lot even though you did disrupt the Koch household the other night. That was a very wonderful thing and thank you."
Media question:
Being a UMass Sport Management alum, will they have a role in the athletic department?
McCaw answer:
"Well there are certainly some incredible professional faculty over there that have great insight and great understanding of intercollegiate athletics and sports in general, so I want to take advantage of their expertise in various areas and I would want that to be a relationship that works very close with the athletic department."
Lombardi closing comment:
"In addition to all of the things we have talked about here, and probably goes without saying, which is why nobody's probably mentioned it, but intercollegiate athletics is about winning. Nobody wants to forget that, nobody wants to lose sight of that. We're going to do all of the things that it takes for student athletes to have a great experience, we're going to do all of the things that connect intercollegiate athletics with the campus and to the larger constituents. And along with doing that and as the vehicle for doing that, our coaches, our student-athletes are going to win. They're going to win games, they're going to win tournaments, they're going to win championships and we're all going to celebrate their tremendous success every place we go. So I'm really looking forward to going to a lot of games and making a lot of noise and I think its going to be a hell of a good time. Go UMass!"