Academics

"One of the reasons I continued to teach as athletics director was that I thought it was important to keep a tangible link back to academe. Were it in my power, I would have all administrators and all coaches teach, because I do think it keeps you with a healthy perspective on what the university is all about.

"All of our head coaches, until about three years ago, had teaching responsibilities. But I think we were one of the few Division I schools that tried to retain that. I think coaches were feeling as though they were perhaps being restricted. I felt compelled to give way on that.

"If you step back and analyze how many hours are demanded of our student-athletes, I don't see how you can conclude that education comes first. The 20-hour rule is not working. There are so many loopholes. The 20 hours does not include traveling, and what about all the hours for rehab and film watching? Is that less than a 40-hour week? I don't think so. And yet we say that academics come first? We have got to practice that, not say it.

"We have got to make radical reform and bring sport back into an educational framework. And let's give student-athletes an off-season that's truly an off-season where they're not near athletics. Let's cut back on the hours that they are putting in during the season.

"I love sport; I am not a critic of sport, when sport is offered by good, strong educators who really do put education first. Sport has had such an enormous impact on my life, I would never jeopardize participation for young men and women, but I do think we need to change."

Salaries

"That's why we're seeing so-called voluntary practices. That's an oxymoron, there's no such thing as a voluntary practice. But we're seeing our students having to practice every single day during the entire year. And they're being kept on campus in the summer for the same reason, and it's out of perspective.

"Ideally, we should have a rule in place that a head coach cannot be paid more than the average of a full professor at his or her university, and the same for an assistant coach. If there are sneaker contracts, let the money go to the university.

"The compensation package has got to be resolved. There are institutions that are paying a million dollars to the football coach and a million dollars to the men's basketball coach and then dropping sports. That is unconscionable. That is one thing that I would change if I had the power."

Sportsmanship

"I have no time for a win-at-all costs attitude. It's a totally destructive experience for everybody concerned. It's the exact opposite approach to what I advocate and I tried to hire coaches who also advocate that.

"It is possible to be highly competitive and simultaneously immensely respectful of your opponent, and that's what I would teach the young people. You can have it all and be a terrific human being, as well as a great athlete.

"I'm a firm believer that you teach values and one of the best ways to teach values is to demonstrate values in yourself. And let students know what you value and what is expected behavior, which means that your behavior has got to be extremely acceptable. And there are some coaches whose behavior on the sidelines is really unbelievable. It's unbelievable that they are allowed to coach at educational institutions."

Equality by sport

"Our awards system at the Big Ten (conference tournament) one year gave combination television/VCRs to men's and women's basketball and our other sports got a book bag. One of the student-athletes said, 'Why?' And I couldn't answer that question. Philosophically, I just don't buy into that. They spend just as much time making the university proud of them -- physically, athletically, socially.

"Having watched our coaches work their tails off, especially in the last 10 years, I think our coaches in our so-called minor sports work just as hard as those in the major sports, and really are beginning to feel almost as much pressure to succeed. They're not in the newspapers on a daily basis, but with regard to what they give to the job, there is very little difference."