Army West Point Athletics
Ask the AD - Feb. 5, 2007
February 16, 2007 | General
Rich DeMarco: Hello again everyone, Rich DeMarco on another edition of “Ask the AD,” your chance to ask questions of Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson, and have Kevin Anderson answer your questions about the Army athletic department.
Kevin, its always good to be with you on another edition of “Ask the AD.”
Kevin Anderson: Rich, it’s good to be with you and I look forward to answering some questions today.
RD: If anyone does have a question out there that they would like considered for a future show, they can log on to the official web site of Army athletics, www.goARMYsports.com, click on the “Ask the AD” button, and submit your question there.
Kevin, as we embark on this show we are in the midst of a truly great winter sports season here at West Point.
KA: So far, the winter has been very good for Army athletics. When we started the season, particularly in hockey, if you had told me we would be in second place right now, I probably would have looked at you funny. But, Brian (Riley) has the team playing very well, and to be 12-7-5 in the league and in second place, says something about the work the team is doing and that the coaching staff is doing to get this kind of productivity from a pretty young hockey team. Losing a great goalie like Brad Roberts the year before, and getting the kind of goal play we are this year, is very encouraging.
I am also looking at men’s basketball, and I am very pleased with the progress. When I got here a couple of years ago, if you read the newspaper, people were asking me what I was going to do with Jim Crews. I told them that what we were going to do with Jim Crews is hope that he stays and that he is able to work his system within our basketball team and get the kind of athletes to play. We have done both. Saturday was a very tough loss to Colgate. That was a game we should have won, no question about it, but we didn’t. We are 13-10 and in fourth place in the Patriot League, and I am looking forward as the season continues to progress that we are going to play better and our players are going to get better and that there is a big upside to the men’s basketball team.
With the women’s basketball team, they are 19-4 and 6-2 and in second place in the league, and I don’t think they that played up to there capabilities yet. I don’t think that we have put a total game together. I am looking forward for us to do that because we have been letting a lot of teams hang around, and I think that we are better than what we have played. But, we are in second place, a game out of first, and I am looking forward to the Patriot League Tournament.
I was down with the indoor track team this past weekend as we competed against Navy and that was very disappointing. We are going to get better and not take this defeat lightly. We need to put ourselves in a position to beat Navy, not only in indoor track, but in everything that we do.
Wrestling is off to a good start at 6-1 in the league and 10-4 overall and just beat a 25th-ranked Columbia team, so I am very happy with that. Gymnastics came back and beat Air Force handily, so that achievement represents the Academy well. I can’t say enough about the coach. Doug Van Evern does a great job. Coach Ron Wigger and the rifle team are 9-2, 5-1 in the GARC and in second place, and quite possibility could win another national championship.
Overall, I am very pleased with the progress that we have had this winter and I am looking forward to not only winter, but moving into spring, I think we have some of our stronger teams competing in the spring. The outcomes I think will be very good.
RD: Kevin, with all that success in the middle of the winter season, big news out of West Point just last week. A head coaching change in football, the retirement of Bobby Ross and the promotion of offensive line coach Stan Brock to becoming the 35th head coach at the United States Military Academy. Both moves announced on Jan. 29. That was a fast moving few days from the previous Thursday to the announcement on Monday. Just take me through that.
KA: During the season, Coach Ross and I had some conversations, and some of them geared toward him looking at retirement. So, this didn’t catch me totally by surprise, in that we had started to look both internally and externally who would be the next head football coach here at Army. So, it wasn’t something that happened by chance and we rushed into a decision. We had done a lot of research and had looked at who would be a good head football coach for the Army football team. When it was time to make that decision, Stan Brock was the best person. I had worked with several leading people in the industry who do these types of searches and know the kind of people who are out there. I had consulted with them and I consulted up to the last minute talking with them, and we looked at who we had on the table and Stan Brock was the best person.
It was unfortunate and unexpected that Coach Ross resigned when he did. I was shocked because I thought we were going to at least get one more season out of him, and I was hoping two, but it didn’t work out that way and I understand. Coach Ross and I sat down and he told me that he just didn’t think he had the energy to coach at the level that he is used to coaching, and that he couldn’t put in the kind effort that he was accustomed to and that he knew he needed to, not only for the program but for himself. I respect and understand that and we have moved on and I believe that we have the best person to coach the Army football team, and I know I am being repetitive, but I can’t say enough that Stan Brock was the right person for the job. Not only if you take into account what he did in his college career at the University of Colorado. He went on and played 16 years in the National Football League with New Orleans and San Diego and played in Super Bowl, there is something to say for that. I think sometimes we put too much into not having head coaching experience. I can tell you that I have had the opportunity to work with at least two people that came in and they didn’t have head coaching experience and they turned out to be pretty good head football coaches, and I am talking about Tyrone Willingham and Jeff Tedford. I believe that I see a lot of the qualities in those two gentlemen that I see in Stan Brock. I am proud to be able to say that he is going to be the Army football coach.
The other thing is that Stan embraces what this institution is all about. Not only does he participate in all the football activities, but he has gone out during the summer and been part of Beast and Buckner, he has gone down the slide for life, he embraces the academic mission and understands it and he understands the admissions process. So, to get all that in one person in a short period of time, I think that we are truly fortunate that we could get someone with the stature of a Stan Brock.
RD: Kevin, we have had several questions on several different subjects relating to the coaching change and what we are going to do is talk about the questions we have seen the most from those who have submitted a questions through the web site, www.goARMYsports.com.
First of all, the timing, I guess there is never a good time to look for a new football coach, but with Bobby Ross retiring in late January, did that present any special obstacles in regards to recruiting and continuity?
KA: Well Rich, we are correct in saying that there is never a good time to hire a head football coach, but this did create some challenges for us. However, we were prepared and we did have a plan. The Superintendent and I were able to sit down and discuss with a consultant that probably had more than half the head coaches that replaced this year in Division I football. We discussed all our options and at the end of the day we looked at this and Stan Brock was the right person for the job. It has helped us more than hindered us to have Stan be able to fill in for Coach Ross immediately as far as recruiting is involved.
RD: Kevin, talk to me about Stan Brock’s experience. Some of our questions coming in what to know that as an Arena Football League head coach and an assistant at West Point, what convinced you that Stan Brock was the right person for this job.
KA: Rich, I’m not putting a lot of concern into his Arena Football League record. What I take out of that though is that he has demonstrated that he was a leader and that he led several categories when he was in the Arena Football League. That whole league and everything that it is built on is different than what we are facing now. What I am looking at with Stan Brock is that I know he can lead and he can lead men, and can lead the kind of men we have on our football team. I know that he spent 16 years in the NFL and that for someone to do that, particularly at the position that he played, shows what kind of competitor he is and what kind of heart he has. He wasn’t just a NFL football player but he was a very good NFL football player. He understands and he knows football, but better yet, he understands and he knows how to motivate to get the best out of people.
You know who I will compare Stan with is Maggie Dixon. Maggie Dixon had no experience as a head coach, and she had only been coaching two or three years, period. What Maggie Dixon was able to do was, she was able to reach into the souls of the young women she coached, and I see that in Stan Brock. Stan Brock is going to be able to reach in every one of our football players’ souls and, with all the talent that we have, he will be able to get the best out of all of them. That is what I believe, and that is who I believe Stan Brock is, and that is why he is the head football coach today.
RD: Kevin, The Arena Football League is a passing oriented league. Some questions coming in want to know if because of Stan Brock’s experience coaching in the arena league, will Army now throw the ball more?
KA: I believe Stan Brock is going to run the kind of offense we need to not only be competitive but to win, and Stan understands that. He knows that he is going to have to have a balanced attack. And, I believe through our conversations, he is going to mix it up. So, we are going to see some of the things that people have asked for. Are we going to be a totally option-oriented offense, I don’t think so. But, I think that we are going to be able to run the ball and that we are going to be able to pass the ball in a manner in which it is going to make us competitive, and that we will eventually get to where we want to be. We want to beat Air Force and Navy and we want to go to a bowl game, and those are our three objectives. I believe Stan Brock is going to put together, not only an offense, but a defense to get us to achieve those goals.
RD: Kevin, you sort of answered what the next question I was going to ask you was, and we had some questions coming in wanting to know if Army is going to return to the wishbone or option offense with Stan Brock as the head coach.
KA: I believe that right now that Coach Brock is open to see what it is going to take for us to win football games, and I don’t think he is totally wed to anything. I know he likes what we were running last year and there are some deviations that we can run out of that. It will give us an option look, sort of like what West Virginia has been able to take a variation out of the option to run what they need to. Bottom line, what we are going to do on offense is what it is going to take for us to win football games, so, if that is running some type of option, or if that is running and passing, that is what we are going to do. But, I don’t think that we are going to look like an arena football team.
RD: Kevin, onto the coaching staff and Stan Brock released a statement that offensive coordinator Kevin Ross will not be part of his staff, what are your thoughts on that decision?
KA: When we offered Stan the position, the first thing Stan asked us was if he had the right to hire and fire and put together his own staff. We replied to him, yes, you have the right to bring in your own staff and we in particular back you because we want to have the best coaches to give us the best possible chance at winning football games. Stan knows what kind of offense he wants to run and I believe he knows what kind of person he wants to have run it and, unfortunately, Kevin Ross was not in the picture. So, Stan will be putting together a staff in the very near future with a new offensive coordinator.
RD: Kevin, when do you think Stan Brock will be announcing that staff.
KA: Stan will be sitting down after the national signing day with his coaches. I believe shortly there after, he will know who is going to stay and who might want to leave or who he might want to replace. So, I believe that within the next week, we should know what the coaching staff should look like.
RD: Kevin, moving on to a quote that was published in the Times Herald-Record newspaper here in the Hudson Valley, attributed to Donald Horner Jr., who played for Army and was involved with the program and is now an endowed leadership chair at the United States Naval Academy. The quote says, “Anyone really, really close to Army football and the administration both military and athletic are not really committed to winning,” and he says that he can say that “first-hand here (at Navy) the administrators are 100 percent committed to success. And they do it without compromising their standards.'' What is your response to that statement?
KA: From the very first day I started my tenure here at the Academy, there is no question that winning is one of the most important things we can do both on and off the field. Winning in the classroom, winning on the battle field, winning on the field, the pool, the basketball court, the tennis court, wherever we compete, that is our ultimate goal. There is no question that this institution is committed to not only winning, but winning the right way and doing it the right way without any compromise. In my two years here, I have not seen any compromise. What I have seen is we are committed to a winning tradition. If you look at my first year here, we won the overall competition in sports with Navy. Since I have been here the last two years, we have won the overall competition against Air Force. So, for anybody to question or anybody to look and see that we are not committed to any more or any less than the United States Naval Academy or any other institution that we compete against, is somewhat mind-boggling to me. I don’t know where that comes from, but I will tell you right now that we are committed to winning and committed to winning the right way, without compromise.
RD: Kevin, in the midst of the coaching change, the 2007 Army football schedule was released a couple of weeks ago, and what are your early thoughts on that?
KA: There is no question that the 2007 football schedule is going to be very challenging for this Army football team. However, this is something that I inherited, but in all fairness to the past administration, if you look at it and the teams that we have on the schedule, a couple years ago these weren’t good or great football teams. I’ll just pick at Wake Forest. Wake Forest was not a powerhouse, hadn’t won the ACC and wasn’t even close to winning it, and last year they had a fine football season. You look at Rutgers and what a great year they had last year, but a couple years before, they weren’t playing the way they played last year. If you look at Tulsa, it was 4-7 two years ago and the last two years they have finished first and second in their league. Everybody wishes they had a crystal ball and could foresee the future and how the scheduling will turn out, but we don’t, and we have to take what we are given. I believe that the Army football team is going to be up for the challenge and that it will be a great season this upcoming 2007 season.
RD: Kevin, always great to spend some time with you on “Ask the AD.” The Stan Brock era as Army head coach will begin on Sept. 1 with Army at Akron to open up the 2007 Army football season.
Kevin, it’s always good to spend some time with you and we will talk to you down the road.
KA: Rich, it’s always a pleasure to be with you, and I always look forward to sitting down and spending time with you.
RD: Same here. That’s Army Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson. I’m Rich DeMarco on another edition of “Ask the AD.” Have a good day everyone.
