What is your sports background?

I played four varsity sports in high school. I played football, basketball, rugby, and baseball. Well actually not varsity for baseball, but two years of JV baseball, then I started played rugby my junior year. I went to the junior college where I played football, and then I coached in Nevada for two years at a boot camp for young men who had broken the law. It was a place where they did one hundred days in the desert at boot camp where they lived in dorms and competed in high school sports. I then went back to San Francisco State to finish playing, and they had dropped football, so I started coaching at Fremont High School in Oakland where I coached for six years. Then I moved back to the Sacramento area where I continued coaching football and basketball at several schools and then became district outlay director for Twin Rivers. Then I came back as the district athletic director for Oakland Unified School District as well as their CIF commissioner before coming here to Piedmont.

What do you hope to get out of this job and what do you hope to give to the community through this job?

I think what attracted me most to this community is there’s a strong tradition of athletics and academics. This is something very different than most of the places I’ve been before. Most of the places I’ve coached at before have been inner city schools, so I am broadening my experience as an athletic administrator to work in a different environment. My main goal as AD is to solve problems, but there’s a lot of issues here that are different than what I’ve dealt with in other places. But, at the same time, kids are kids, and I want to help them out with the best programs I can add. I’m also big on trying to help kids who want to play in college find some place for them to play. Every kid who plays sports has a love of the game and wants to play as long as they can, so if I can help someone do that I’ll be happy. And, like I said, to be in a program like this, where the community, the families, and the students all understand how important sports are and want to be a part of it, it’s a good opportunity.

What changes do you plan on making?

You always have ideas about things you want to do when you come to a new program, but I also don’t believe in upsetting the culture just to put my stamp on things. I want to see what we do well, and where we need improvement, and right now I’m just trying to listen to coaches, athletes, parents and administrators trying to figure out what do we do well, and where we need help.

What do you think of the recent history of short termed athletic directors at PHS?

I think that that’s disruptive to any program, and I’m really thankful that [Assistant Athletic Director] Allison [West] has been kind of like the glue that’s really held things together. Three athletic directors in two years, that’s a lot of turnover, and I hope to provide a bit of stability. I’m fully committed to being here for at least three to four years depending upon how things go, I mean, I could see myself staying here for the next 20 years. The families and the kids and even the teachers I’ve met so far are all so supportive of the programs and want to have quality opportunities for the students. I know there will be challenges, some things we have to work on and improve, but I don’t see anything that will make me not want to be here.