The Clarion Interviews DU Athletic Director
Q & A With Peg Bradley-Doppes
From: The Clarion (DU Student Newspaper)
by Brooks Kirchheimer
Peg Bradley-Doppes is in her second year as athletics director at DU. She came from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she served as director of athletics from 1999 to 2004. Bradley-Doppes has also coached and been an administrator at the University of Michigan, University of North Carolina and Miami University.
Q: Has the athletic department turned out the way you envisioned it to be?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: I have enjoyed being here. It has been a wonderful exciting opportunity. We had had niches of national excellence and what I envisioned for this division was broad-based national success. We are building a program that is 17 sports strong and 314 athletes strong. We truly believe that in all of our sport programs. We should be in the top two or three of our conference year in and year out. Also striving to be in the top 20 percent in the country in every sport we have. We have incredible facilities. We have great coaches, our student athletes are a cut-above and now we are trying to put in systems and procedures of strategic plans that embrace excellence. We are trying to make it so every sport program we have is going person-to-person, not us playing against a jersey.
Q: What has been the sport that has been the biggest surprise this year?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: We have had a lot of them, certainly women's lacrosse. This year has had tremendous growth. Men and women's swimming and diving has had tremendous growth. We are just starting to scratch the surface of what is possible here.
Q: Has it been tough for you with the big coach turnaround of late?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: Every assistant coach I meet with, I want them to become a head coach. I don't want a lifer. I want somebody to push us and make us better. I want people around me that are smarter, more intense and that are going to push. Unfortunately, it used to be that people would come to DU, start a reputation and leave for somewhere else. Some of our coaches this past summer were being recruited to their alma mater or to other jobs, but the environment here, the quality of this institution and also that they know they can build something here very special keeps them here. Winning is a byproduct of doing things right, day-after-day. When you start winning, it is not that you like to win, but you hate losing. We start the coaches meetings off now with "take a minute or two and brag about your program." Part of that is to set the stage for expectations. We will always run a clean program. We will always have scholar athletes. Look at our skiing team. They have almost a brand new coaching staff, second in the country at NCAA's and first in the country in academics. Instead of having niches of excellence, the majority are having that excellence.
.
Q: When you came here the basketball program was on its way up and after a disappointing past season was it at a point of re-evaluating after the program had been in Division 1 for 8 years?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: I would not have taken this job if there was a tolerance that we have only been Division I for a certain amount of time. I don't care if we have been Division I for one week. With these facilities and this institution, we should be competitive. We may not win every game, but we strive to. We did this basketball search beginning to end in two weeks. We went after the best. I met with 12 folks down in Atlanta. I brought three guys here on campus and I said to our chancellor and board "these three are incredible now you tell me which one is our best fit for DU." The word across the country was, "Oh my God, Denver is serious now." Our students only have one college experience and it should be an incredible experience. When I put this list together, people would have thought I am out of my mind. I am not out of my mind. I am telling you Denver is special. All you have to do is come visit. I am not going to lie to you. Here is our budget. Here is our facilities. Here is our academic standards.
Q: Seeing our gymnastic regionals last weekend, how tough was it for you to host the hockey regional and not see the DU hockey team out there?
Q & A With Peg Bradley-Doppes
From: The Clarion (DU Student Newspaper)by Brooks Kirchheimer
Peg Bradley-Doppes is in her second year as athletics director at DU. She came from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she served as director of athletics from 1999 to 2004. Bradley-Doppes has also coached and been an administrator at the University of Michigan, University of North Carolina and Miami University.
Q: Has the athletic department turned out the way you envisioned it to be?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: I have enjoyed being here. It has been a wonderful exciting opportunity. We had had niches of national excellence and what I envisioned for this division was broad-based national success. We are building a program that is 17 sports strong and 314 athletes strong. We truly believe that in all of our sport programs. We should be in the top two or three of our conference year in and year out. Also striving to be in the top 20 percent in the country in every sport we have. We have incredible facilities. We have great coaches, our student athletes are a cut-above and now we are trying to put in systems and procedures of strategic plans that embrace excellence. We are trying to make it so every sport program we have is going person-to-person, not us playing against a jersey.
Q: What has been the sport that has been the biggest surprise this year?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: We have had a lot of them, certainly women's lacrosse. This year has had tremendous growth. Men and women's swimming and diving has had tremendous growth. We are just starting to scratch the surface of what is possible here.
Q: Has it been tough for you with the big coach turnaround of late?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: Every assistant coach I meet with, I want them to become a head coach. I don't want a lifer. I want somebody to push us and make us better. I want people around me that are smarter, more intense and that are going to push. Unfortunately, it used to be that people would come to DU, start a reputation and leave for somewhere else. Some of our coaches this past summer were being recruited to their alma mater or to other jobs, but the environment here, the quality of this institution and also that they know they can build something here very special keeps them here. Winning is a byproduct of doing things right, day-after-day. When you start winning, it is not that you like to win, but you hate losing. We start the coaches meetings off now with "take a minute or two and brag about your program." Part of that is to set the stage for expectations. We will always run a clean program. We will always have scholar athletes. Look at our skiing team. They have almost a brand new coaching staff, second in the country at NCAA's and first in the country in academics. Instead of having niches of excellence, the majority are having that excellence.
.
Q: When you came here the basketball program was on its way up and after a disappointing past season was it at a point of re-evaluating after the program had been in Division 1 for 8 years?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: I would not have taken this job if there was a tolerance that we have only been Division I for a certain amount of time. I don't care if we have been Division I for one week. With these facilities and this institution, we should be competitive. We may not win every game, but we strive to. We did this basketball search beginning to end in two weeks. We went after the best. I met with 12 folks down in Atlanta. I brought three guys here on campus and I said to our chancellor and board "these three are incredible now you tell me which one is our best fit for DU." The word across the country was, "Oh my God, Denver is serious now." Our students only have one college experience and it should be an incredible experience. When I put this list together, people would have thought I am out of my mind. I am not out of my mind. I am telling you Denver is special. All you have to do is come visit. I am not going to lie to you. Here is our budget. Here is our facilities. Here is our academic standards.
Q: Seeing our gymnastic regionals last weekend, how tough was it for you to host the hockey regional and not see the DU hockey team out there?
.
Peg Bradley-Doppes: Well, nobody would have been more disappointed than our hockey guys and the staff. For us we were young this year. It was disappointing for our guys and coaches. We still set attendance records and we do it the DU way. We are in it for the long haul and not for one year.
Q: What is your stance on the athletes leaving college early for the professional ranks?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: Well, nobody would have been more disappointed than our hockey guys and the staff. For us we were young this year. It was disappointing for our guys and coaches. We still set attendance records and we do it the DU way. We are in it for the long haul and not for one year.
Q: What is your stance on the athletes leaving college early for the professional ranks?
.
Peg Bradley-Doppes: The type of kid we recruit here is going to get their degree and they have a very close relationship with our academic advising staff. If they are going to play and contribute and make sense than that is ok, but if they are going just to fill a roster than I think it is not fair to them. Our guys are too good just to fill a spot. When Matt Carle signed, he did more for this university by saying that he is where he is because of DU. We know our kids and they know the value of the DU degree at the end.
.
Q: Our student section at basketball games is not where people would like it to be. What are some things you are working on to improve that?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: It is not anywhere close. We started making a plan 18 to 20 months ago to start building basketball support. When DU made the jump to Division I a lot of our emphasis and eggs were in one basket, and that was hockey. So basketball suffered from banign neglect. We didn't market well. We didn't reach out to our students. We have to make it fun for the kids to come. We have to make it more accessible and market to the kids. People tell me how great the quality of life is here. Until we win everything, my quality of life is not going to be good.
Q: How special is it to have kids from all over the world on your athletic rosters?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: I think it is incredible. We are a global institution. We attract the top minds not only nationally but internationally. We can not just do it with local flavor. For us, to make it work it has to be a great mix.
Peg Bradley-Doppes: The type of kid we recruit here is going to get their degree and they have a very close relationship with our academic advising staff. If they are going to play and contribute and make sense than that is ok, but if they are going just to fill a roster than I think it is not fair to them. Our guys are too good just to fill a spot. When Matt Carle signed, he did more for this university by saying that he is where he is because of DU. We know our kids and they know the value of the DU degree at the end.
.
Q: Our student section at basketball games is not where people would like it to be. What are some things you are working on to improve that?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: It is not anywhere close. We started making a plan 18 to 20 months ago to start building basketball support. When DU made the jump to Division I a lot of our emphasis and eggs were in one basket, and that was hockey. So basketball suffered from banign neglect. We didn't market well. We didn't reach out to our students. We have to make it fun for the kids to come. We have to make it more accessible and market to the kids. People tell me how great the quality of life is here. Until we win everything, my quality of life is not going to be good.
Q: How special is it to have kids from all over the world on your athletic rosters?
Peg Bradley-Doppes: I think it is incredible. We are a global institution. We attract the top minds not only nationally but internationally. We can not just do it with local flavor. For us, to make it work it has to be a great mix.
No comments:
Post a Comment