Q&A with new AD: Debbie Yow comes home

On the last day of Lee Fowler’s tenure as the University’s athletics director, Debbie Yow, the new athletics director, was returning to College Park to finish her reign at the University of Maryland before returning to her roots at N.C. State.   Yow has been the athletics director for the Maryland Terrapins for 16 years.  During that time, the debt of the athletic department has decreased $45 million and University of Maryland has won 20 national championships. In an interview with Technician, Yow discussed her future with the Wolfpack, her love of sports and the Yow legacy at N.C. State.  Can you tell me some of your plans for what you’re going to do at N.C. State?I’ve already met with 15 individuals while I was on campus Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  They all gave me a lot of good information about what is expected and what is needed.  I met with some of the coaches as well.  When I come back permanently on July 15, I will finish meeting with the coaches and everyone else I need to meet with.  For now, this is a time of listening and learning for me. Do you anticipate making any major changes to the Department of Athletics?I don’t anticipate any changes right now.  This is a time where I need to listen and to learn about N.C. State and the athletics.   You mentioned in another interview about sharing values with Randy Woodson. Can you elaborate as to what those values are?Chancellor Woodson is a winner and he has a big vision for what N.C. State can do. I feel very challenged by his vision and his goals. He has a great respect for what athletics can bring to the school.  He has a sense of pride in N.C. State and sense of teamwork I was very comfortable with. Do you plan on bringing any new sports programs to N.C. State?No, not at the moment. Michelle Lee, the associate athletics director for compliance, will go over the Title IX plan for N.C. State with me.  Maybe at that point, but that will be in the future, so right now I have no plans on bringing new sports programs to N.C. State. Under your directorship at Maryland, your teams won numerous national championships. In your eyes, how soon will N.C. State be able to contend for a national championship in one of the three major sports (women’s/men’s basketball, football, baseball/softball)?Actually, no one should ever try to predict when a team will be a contender for a national championship.  It is a process, not an event.  To begin with, you have to change the culture.  To do that, everyone has to buy into the concept that it’s actually a possibility.  It really depends on what the coaches need and making sure they have everything they need to be a contender.  To be candid with you, after winning 20 national championships at Maryland, it involves a little bit of luck in terms of everything falling into place at the right times.  I think it’s a real possibility for N.C. State to be a contender soon. We’re going to start the process on July 15 when I come to State permanently.   What was your No. 1 reason for accepting the job at NCSU?I didn’t have just one reason.  I had multiple reasons.  I am a firm believer in the idea that there are seasons in a person’s life.  I think it’s time for me to start a new season, meaning it’s time for me to come home.   It had to be North Carolina, my home state, and it had to be N.C. State.  Also, the sense of family involvement from N.C. State means a lot to me.  It started with [my sister] Susan being the first All-American in basketball and then Kay coaching there.  Also, the fact that Randy Woodson and I share so many values and ideas had a big impact on me accepting the job.   What is your fondest sports memory?I’m not sure I can point out one. I have so many fond memories, both as coach and administrator. I really enjoyed the years where both my sisters and I were coaching.  I remember one year where Kay’s team played Tennessee one Saturday, Susan’s team played them the next Saturday and then my team played them the following Saturday.  That time was a lot of fun for us as a family. We were constantly on the phone with each other talking about the team.  In all honesty, I’m glad my team was third. The outcomes of the three games were: State lost, Susan’s team, East Tennessee, lost, and my Kentucky team won. My sisters constantly teased me that my team won only because of scouting reports they gave me.  What do you see as the biggest challenge in your new job?I see a really big fiscal challenge, especially in balancing the budget.  I’ve started looking at the budget. We’re doing quite nicely in men’s basketball and football, in terms of the sports being self-supporting. There is work to be done in Olympic sports though.  Another challenge will be the culture change.  Everyone will have to truly believe that it can be done.  There’s a difference in talking the talk and walking the walk.  Also, we’re going to have to match the resources to the expectations.  There is going to be a high level of expectations, so the resources will have to match that. What was the Department of Athletics like at Maryland when you got there and how did you improve it?They were $51 million in debt and had not balanced the budget in 10 years when I started there. Now, the debt is down to $5.5 million and in the last 16 years, all the budgets balanced. We won 20 national championships while I was there. We built the Comcast center as well as several other facilities. The Department of Athletics is very different.  I’m proud of the work we, collectively, did there. I feel like I’m leaving Maryland in better shape. How do you feel about coming to the University where your sister was so loved and idolized? Do you feel that you have to live up to that? I don’t feel like I have to live up to something. I feel like I have to continue the Yow legacy with N.C. State. The Yow legacy has been in place longer than the 34 years that Kay coached. It has been in place before then with our father’s respect for Everett Case. I love the aspect of continuing the Yow legacy at N.C. State. Debbie Yow not only has been the athletics director at the University of Maryland, she also serves as the current president of the national Division 1-A Athletic Directors Association and as a member of the National Football Foundation Board of Directors.  During her time as the Terrapins athletics director, she helped them to achieve the highest student-athlete graduation rate in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Chancellor Randy Woodson says he is confident in his decision to hire Debbie Yow.   ”At the end of the day, the reason Debbie Yow was hired is because she has been very successful as an athletics director.” said Woodson.  ”In the 16 years she has been at Maryland, those teams have won 20 championships.  I don’t think N.C. State has been that competitive during that time.  She was hired because she has been very successful in the past and I feel confident she will be successful here.” Woodson denied the rumors that Yow was not recommended by the University’s search committee, which was hired to recommend the new athletics director. ”It wasn’t a search committee, it was a nomination committee,” said Woodson.  ”On top of that, she hadn’t applied by the time the nomination committee made their recommendations, but her name was on the list of people [the nomination committee] were interested in.  After the nomination committee made their recommendations, Debbie Yow applied for the position.” Woodson said he doesn’t think N.C. State fans will have higher expectations of Debbie Yow than they would of any other athletics director the University could have hired. ”I think N.C. State students and fans would have high expectations for any athletics director, regardless of if she is Kay Yow’s sister or not,” said Woodson.  ”Students and fans want their athletic teams to perform at the highest possible level.” Kelly Hook, a member of the nomination committee, said she is pleased with the decision to hire Debbie Yow.  ”Debbie Yow was an extremely high-profile candidate,” said Hook.  ”She is hands down the best candidate we could have had.”