North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Yow Begins Work As Pack AD
7/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
July 15, 2010
BY Tim Peeler
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Thursday was hardly the first day new NC State athletics director Debbie Yow put in long hours at her office at the Weisiger-Brown Building on the south edge of campus.
But it was her first official day on the job. It's been a hectic three weeks since she was named to the post on June 25, filled with getting her affairs in order at the University of Maryland and moving to the Triangle. But she and her husband, Dr. William Bowden, have done their best to make this a quick transition. They have already sold their home in Maryland and closed on a new house in the Triangle.
"It's really, really nice to be home," said the native of Gibsonville, N.C. "Sometimes, you forget how great it is to be in the South."
Yow was in the office early Thursday, and quickly made her first personnel move as the leader of the Wolfpack athletics department, elevating long-time administrator (and former NC State football player) David Horning to executive senior associate athletics director. Horning served as interim athletics director in the three weeks since Yow was hired.
She did a few television and newspaper interviews, began to make appointments with all the people who are eager to give their input on the new direction of the athletics department and spent a good bit of time on the telephone.
She spent about half of the day in her new position at her first NC State Board of Trustees meeting at the Park Alumni Center on Centennial Campus. It's probably a bit too early for Yow to have found a favorite place on campus, but she expects the palatial building overlooking Lake Raleigh to be near the top of the list.
"It is stunningly beautiful," she said. "Every graduate of NC State should be proud of that place."
Yow's earliest days in charge of the department have been filled with getting to know her new senior-level administrators and having meetings with some - though not yet all - of NC State's head coaches. She's been reorganizing the athletics director's office suite and on the patio outside her office, making everything more utilitarian for long days at the office.
She prefers to send out for lunch most days and eat at a conference table in her office, to make more efficient use of her time.
"I don't need a television in the office and I don't need a lot of furniture," she said. "If I have a noon meeting I prefer to send out to a fast food restaurant. I can get more done here and I don't have to worry about transportation around campus."
Her immediate goals are to reorganize senior-level staff, deciding who reports directly to her and who reports to other administrators. And she wants to have extensive meetings with every head coach between now and when the fall semester starts in late August.
"There are a number of coaches I need to sit and visit with to see what they need to be successful at a high level," Yow said. "I want to really look at the program, in terms of scholarships, staffing, facilities, all the things that you need no matter where you are to recruit the best [student-athletes]."
She has asked for copies of annual evaluations of the department's staff and spends her time away from the office reading about everyone who contributes to Wolfpack athletics.
"There is a lot of reading to get done," she said.
With so many things to get in order, there's been little opportunity for leisure, but she and her husband already have a few favorite places to spend time together.
Perhaps a little bit too much time at a local frozen custard stand.
"We have done a little exploring," she said, "and we did find Goodberry's. We might not need to go there so often, though."
In short, Yow has jumped in with both feet, ready to make quick decisions that will impact the future of Wolfpack athletics.
She wants to have answers for those boosters, alumni and fans who have already bent her ear about what she should do first.
"I would say they all have strong opinions, and I am okay with that," she said. "I like knowing how people feel. I love the fact that they are passionate about NC State athletics. "Passion beats apathy every time."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
