[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-DmlafHz24[/youtube]
When Greg Amodio interviewed to become Quinnipiac University’s next director of athletics in May, he was given an hour and 15 minutes to show President John Lahey why he was the right choice.
Amodio remembers one specific question from that interview. He’s reminded of it when he tries explaining his plans for the future.
“Why is it the right time to leave Duquesne?” Lahey asked, referring to the fact that Amodio had been the University’s director of athletics since 2005.
His response? Straight to the point.
“I’m not interested in just going in every day and getting a paycheck,” he said to Lahey. “I’m interested in being a part of an institution that wants to win championships.”
And now, entering his first year as Jack McDonald’s replacement, Amodio will have that chance.
The opportunity doesn’t come without baggage, however.
Amodio inherits an athletic program aiming to improve its visibility on the national scene. Quinnipiac reached a settlement with its women’s volleyball team as part of a Title IX dispute in 2013, agreeing to pay more than $5 million in facility improvement for women’s sports. The university also added women’s golf and women’s rugby as part of the settlement.
“You never want to have to go through a situation like that, but once you do, the bigger issue is how you handle yourself from that point on,” Amodio said. “I think the university is handling itself in an honorable way. They’ve done everything they’re supposed to do in regards to the consent decree, in some ways they’ve gone above and beyond.”
Amodio even sees the Title IX dispute as a chance for the university to improve.
“What it has done, really, is given us a terrific additional opportunity for female student-athletes [to have] better facilities, better ways of operating, more scholarships, a better staff… All those types of things to put our programs in a place to compete at a high level.”
Because of this, he sees the current situation as a positive.
“It will always continue to be a part of our fiber and part of our culture, that Title IX and gender equity are incredibly important,” Amodio said.
Another challenge Amodio is trying to address is the relationship between athletics and the general Quinnipiac community. The athletic programs, he thinks, need to do a better job engaging the campus community.
“Letting the general student population know that these programs belong to them, that’s really important. You should have a sense of pride in your teams.”
He also acknowledged that there has been dialogue about improvements to the athletic facilities on Quinnipiac’s Mount Carmel campus, saying the university is “closer than far away.”
“There’s a vision there, that’s really a key. I can sit here and say where I think things should go, but really it’s about having an institutional vision.”
Amodio has spent his initial time at Quinnipiac learning campus’ land, meeting with colleagues and sitting down to talk with each head coach about the state of the program.
“There’s an institutional commitment to success already in place. That’s why this job was so appealing to me from the beginning of the process,” Amodio said.
“When you have that environment, you can get things done.”
Photos courtesy of Quinnipiac Athletics
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