Athletic Director Mark Coyle Quotes
Mark Coyle Introductory Press Conference
June 22, 2015
Iocolano-Petty Football Auditorium, Syracuse, N.Y.
Athletic Director Mark Coyle
“Thank you Chancellor for those kind words. What I’d first like to do is to take a second to introduce my wife Krystan and my children Grace, Nicholas and Benjamin, and a dear friend of mine Ed Lewis flew into town last night as well so thank you for being here.
“Before I move forward I want to take a second to recognize Boise State, President Kustra and his wife Kathy gave me and my family an opportunity almost four years ago to be the athletics director there and I’m so grateful for that opportunity and I’m so grateful for his leadership while I was at Boise State. I can’t tell you how hard it is to leave that staff there.
“A lot of people in this room work in athletics and they realize that the athletic director cannot do it without his staff. I had an incredible staff at Boise State and I’m going to miss working with those people terribly, but I want them to know how much I appreciate how much they did for me and our program. But most importantly our student-athletes, who bought into what we were trying to do and believed in what we were trying to do to make it a better place.
“Again, I want to thank Chancellor Syverud for this opportunity. I can’t tell you how excited me and my family are to be at an institution with such an outstanding academic reputation, to be at a school with such a phenomenal sports background, and I can’t tell you how excited we are to be here and to help this program grow and do even better things in the future.
“I want to thank Steve Ballentine and the search committee, I also want to thank Glenn Sugiyama and Pat Richter; these things are very complex and these jobs are very competitive. I can’t tell you how honest and forthcoming the search committee was with me and how Glenn and Pat were throughout the entire process, and I hope you guys know much I appreciate that, so thank you to both of you.
“I want to make sure I recognize two people who have been very influential in my career. Mitch Barnhardt, who is the Athletic Director at the University of Kentucky; I can tell you that I would not be here today if it was not for Mitch. I spent seven years working with him and you will not find a better person. I also had an opportunity to work with Joel Maturi, who was the Athletic Director at the University at Minnesota.
“When the Chancellor talks about my integrity and my values system, those are two men who taught me a great deal about doing it the right way and being honest and transparent about everything we do. I’m so grateful for their leadership, their mentorship and their friendship throughout my career.
“As I touched on before, Syracuse is a special place. I think sometimes when you’re in Syracuse and you’re in it day in and day out, you sometimes lose sight of what this program represents nationally and internationally. When this opportunity became open, I can’t tell you how quickly I picked up the phone and called Glenn, because I knew this was a special place. It’s a special place because of its history and its tradition.
“It’s a special place that’s going to go through transition, but I promise that I’ll give you every ounce of energy I have to help this program continue to improve and grow. My expectations are simple: I want to make sure that we provide a nationally-competitive, broad-based program that focuses on every student-athlete.
“We’re going to get our degrees, and we’re going to compete for championships. I want to make sure everyone understands that, and I’ll talk clearly with our staff and our coaches, that we want to have a broad-based program that competes at the highest level in the ACC and we’re very excited about that process.
“Finally, I just want to make sure, for our athletes, coaches and our staff, we have a great responsibility to this institution, to this community and state. I want to make sure that everything we do is first-class. When we travel, when we go to class, when we compete we want to do it the right way because being a student-athlete is an awesome responsibility, and you get to do a lot of special things. We want to make sure that we represent this place in a first-class manner in everything we do.
“So again, thank you for this opportunity Chancellor, and we’ll open it up for questions.”
On which former Syracuse Athletic Director he finds his philosophy most like:
“I’m more like Mark Coyle. I have a great deal of respect for anyone who works in college athletics. These aren’t jobs, they’re lifestyles and once again I have respect for Jake Crouthamel and Daryl Gross, and for all athletic directors and athletic staffs, because it’s a 24/7, 365 type of deal that you get into, and again we’re very excited to be here and get into this program.”
On his personal ideals and values that he brings to the job:
“I head this a long time ago, and am a big believer in this and you’ll hear me talk a lot about this a lot: we want to make sure we live in truth always and we’re very honest and transparent in everything that we do. At the end of the night you have to put your head on your pillow at night when you go to bed, and you want to make sure you know what’s going on.
“I want to make sure our student-athletes and coaches operate that way, it’s very important to me. That’s a big part of our background and who I am and want our program to be.”
On the football program:
“I had a chance to talk briefly with coach Shafer on the phone yesterday, I reached out to all of our head coaches and introduce myself. What I’ve learned in my 25 years in college athletics is that it’s hard work. I promise you that no one wants to win more than coach Shafer, his staff and his student-athletes. I get our fan base wants to win, I want to win.
“I have to get in here and take a look at what we’re doing and I promise you that we’ll give it everything we have to help that program compete at a high level in football and all of our sports. But our expectation is that we want to compete at a high level, and that means winning ACC Championships and going to special bowl games.”
On the basketball program going through its NCAA investigation:
“I had a chance to read through the report and get an understanding from that standpoint, which I think is important. I think my role now is to come in here and help that program. Obviously I have a great deal of respect for coach Boeheim. You talk about someone who has excelled at the highest level and I look forward to have a chance to work with him and his student-athletes.”
What’s the first thing you want to tackle when you get started on July 6?
“I think you have to do a lot of listening. I went through this transition about four years ago at Boise State and I learned a lot in that transition, so I want to sit down with our coaches, staffs and athletes to get a feel for where we are and where we want to go. Obviously it’s going to be a lot of learning.
“From a personal standpoint, I want to make sure my wife and kids get adjusted well. You’re trying to be a husband and father and get things going in this program as well. But I can tell you we’re so excited to get here and to get this going.”
On how past experiences at Kentucky and Boise State prepared him for Syracuse:
“I want to focus on all of our sports. If a young man or woman has Syracuse across their chest, we want them to represent this institution and to compete at the highest level. Obviously, spending seven years at Kentucky, I was able to be close with our basketball programs as well as work with Rich Brooks and our football program. During our time at Kentucky we went to five bowl games and had a lot of success.
“Then we had an opportunity to go to Boise State and work with Chris Petersen, who is widely respected and phenomenal success there. Those have been great experiences for me that I think will not only help our football and men’s basketball programs grow, but to help all of our programs grow.”
On football scheduling philosophy:
“I think you have to schedule in a way that gives you a chance to compete for postseason success. Obviously your goal is to win the ACC and to get into that championship game and have that create some special opportunities for you.
“We were able to do home-and-home games with Florida State, Virginia, Oklahoma State – that was the first time programs like that had come out to Boise to play games like that – so we want to make sure we schedule wisely and efficiently, if you will, and get that opportunity for a special postseason bowl game.”
On potential renovations to the Carrier Dome:
“I joked about this with the Chancellor and search committee: growing up in Iowa, I remember watching Syracuse basketball on ESPN. I felt like this institution was on TV every night. From Rony Seikaly, Pearl Washington and all those guys. Obviously the Carrier Dome has special meaning.
“I know there has been talk about updating it and I’m anxious to talk with Pete [Sala] to get his input, but that can be a tremendous recruiting tool for us. Our goal is to get 18 year old kids to say yes to Syracuse. It’s all about recruiting, and if we can add that wow factor along with our history and great tradition here, we’ll be alright from that standpoint. But the field will stay green.”
On head coach Jim Boeheim announcing his plan to retire following three more years of coaching:
“First off, I can’t tell you how excited I am to work with coach Boeheim. He and I had a chance to visit on the phone yesterday and I’m excited to work with him. We did have a chance to talk with the Chancellor and the search committee about coach Boeheim and the basketball program. Obviously, it’s a critical piece to this institution. We plan to have some more talks about that coming."
June 22, 2015
Iocolano-Petty Football Auditorium, Syracuse, N.Y.
Athletic Director Mark Coyle
“Thank you Chancellor for those kind words. What I’d first like to do is to take a second to introduce my wife Krystan and my children Grace, Nicholas and Benjamin, and a dear friend of mine Ed Lewis flew into town last night as well so thank you for being here.
“Before I move forward I want to take a second to recognize Boise State, President Kustra and his wife Kathy gave me and my family an opportunity almost four years ago to be the athletics director there and I’m so grateful for that opportunity and I’m so grateful for his leadership while I was at Boise State. I can’t tell you how hard it is to leave that staff there.
“A lot of people in this room work in athletics and they realize that the athletic director cannot do it without his staff. I had an incredible staff at Boise State and I’m going to miss working with those people terribly, but I want them to know how much I appreciate how much they did for me and our program. But most importantly our student-athletes, who bought into what we were trying to do and believed in what we were trying to do to make it a better place.
“Again, I want to thank Chancellor Syverud for this opportunity. I can’t tell you how excited me and my family are to be at an institution with such an outstanding academic reputation, to be at a school with such a phenomenal sports background, and I can’t tell you how excited we are to be here and to help this program grow and do even better things in the future.
“I want to thank Steve Ballentine and the search committee, I also want to thank Glenn Sugiyama and Pat Richter; these things are very complex and these jobs are very competitive. I can’t tell you how honest and forthcoming the search committee was with me and how Glenn and Pat were throughout the entire process, and I hope you guys know much I appreciate that, so thank you to both of you.
“I want to make sure I recognize two people who have been very influential in my career. Mitch Barnhardt, who is the Athletic Director at the University of Kentucky; I can tell you that I would not be here today if it was not for Mitch. I spent seven years working with him and you will not find a better person. I also had an opportunity to work with Joel Maturi, who was the Athletic Director at the University at Minnesota.
“When the Chancellor talks about my integrity and my values system, those are two men who taught me a great deal about doing it the right way and being honest and transparent about everything we do. I’m so grateful for their leadership, their mentorship and their friendship throughout my career.
“As I touched on before, Syracuse is a special place. I think sometimes when you’re in Syracuse and you’re in it day in and day out, you sometimes lose sight of what this program represents nationally and internationally. When this opportunity became open, I can’t tell you how quickly I picked up the phone and called Glenn, because I knew this was a special place. It’s a special place because of its history and its tradition.
“It’s a special place that’s going to go through transition, but I promise that I’ll give you every ounce of energy I have to help this program continue to improve and grow. My expectations are simple: I want to make sure that we provide a nationally-competitive, broad-based program that focuses on every student-athlete.
“We’re going to get our degrees, and we’re going to compete for championships. I want to make sure everyone understands that, and I’ll talk clearly with our staff and our coaches, that we want to have a broad-based program that competes at the highest level in the ACC and we’re very excited about that process.
“Finally, I just want to make sure, for our athletes, coaches and our staff, we have a great responsibility to this institution, to this community and state. I want to make sure that everything we do is first-class. When we travel, when we go to class, when we compete we want to do it the right way because being a student-athlete is an awesome responsibility, and you get to do a lot of special things. We want to make sure that we represent this place in a first-class manner in everything we do.
“So again, thank you for this opportunity Chancellor, and we’ll open it up for questions.”
On which former Syracuse Athletic Director he finds his philosophy most like:
“I’m more like Mark Coyle. I have a great deal of respect for anyone who works in college athletics. These aren’t jobs, they’re lifestyles and once again I have respect for Jake Crouthamel and Daryl Gross, and for all athletic directors and athletic staffs, because it’s a 24/7, 365 type of deal that you get into, and again we’re very excited to be here and get into this program.”
On his personal ideals and values that he brings to the job:
“I head this a long time ago, and am a big believer in this and you’ll hear me talk a lot about this a lot: we want to make sure we live in truth always and we’re very honest and transparent in everything that we do. At the end of the night you have to put your head on your pillow at night when you go to bed, and you want to make sure you know what’s going on.
“I want to make sure our student-athletes and coaches operate that way, it’s very important to me. That’s a big part of our background and who I am and want our program to be.”
On the football program:
“I had a chance to talk briefly with coach Shafer on the phone yesterday, I reached out to all of our head coaches and introduce myself. What I’ve learned in my 25 years in college athletics is that it’s hard work. I promise you that no one wants to win more than coach Shafer, his staff and his student-athletes. I get our fan base wants to win, I want to win.
“I have to get in here and take a look at what we’re doing and I promise you that we’ll give it everything we have to help that program compete at a high level in football and all of our sports. But our expectation is that we want to compete at a high level, and that means winning ACC Championships and going to special bowl games.”
On the basketball program going through its NCAA investigation:
“I had a chance to read through the report and get an understanding from that standpoint, which I think is important. I think my role now is to come in here and help that program. Obviously I have a great deal of respect for coach Boeheim. You talk about someone who has excelled at the highest level and I look forward to have a chance to work with him and his student-athletes.”
What’s the first thing you want to tackle when you get started on July 6?
“I think you have to do a lot of listening. I went through this transition about four years ago at Boise State and I learned a lot in that transition, so I want to sit down with our coaches, staffs and athletes to get a feel for where we are and where we want to go. Obviously it’s going to be a lot of learning.
“From a personal standpoint, I want to make sure my wife and kids get adjusted well. You’re trying to be a husband and father and get things going in this program as well. But I can tell you we’re so excited to get here and to get this going.”
On how past experiences at Kentucky and Boise State prepared him for Syracuse:
“I want to focus on all of our sports. If a young man or woman has Syracuse across their chest, we want them to represent this institution and to compete at the highest level. Obviously, spending seven years at Kentucky, I was able to be close with our basketball programs as well as work with Rich Brooks and our football program. During our time at Kentucky we went to five bowl games and had a lot of success.
“Then we had an opportunity to go to Boise State and work with Chris Petersen, who is widely respected and phenomenal success there. Those have been great experiences for me that I think will not only help our football and men’s basketball programs grow, but to help all of our programs grow.”
On football scheduling philosophy:
“I think you have to schedule in a way that gives you a chance to compete for postseason success. Obviously your goal is to win the ACC and to get into that championship game and have that create some special opportunities for you.
“We were able to do home-and-home games with Florida State, Virginia, Oklahoma State – that was the first time programs like that had come out to Boise to play games like that – so we want to make sure we schedule wisely and efficiently, if you will, and get that opportunity for a special postseason bowl game.”
On potential renovations to the Carrier Dome:
“I joked about this with the Chancellor and search committee: growing up in Iowa, I remember watching Syracuse basketball on ESPN. I felt like this institution was on TV every night. From Rony Seikaly, Pearl Washington and all those guys. Obviously the Carrier Dome has special meaning.
“I know there has been talk about updating it and I’m anxious to talk with Pete [Sala] to get his input, but that can be a tremendous recruiting tool for us. Our goal is to get 18 year old kids to say yes to Syracuse. It’s all about recruiting, and if we can add that wow factor along with our history and great tradition here, we’ll be alright from that standpoint. But the field will stay green.”
On head coach Jim Boeheim announcing his plan to retire following three more years of coaching:
“First off, I can’t tell you how excited I am to work with coach Boeheim. He and I had a chance to visit on the phone yesterday and I’m excited to work with him. We did have a chance to talk with the Chancellor and the search committee about coach Boeheim and the basketball program. Obviously, it’s a critical piece to this institution. We plan to have some more talks about that coming."
