Capping months of rumors, Northwestern’s Director of Athletics Rick Taylor announced his retirement Thursday, signaling the end of a nine-year career at NU and 42 years in college sports.
Taylor, 61, will begin his retirement Aug. 31, and University President Henry Bienen said he already was in the process of forming a small search committee to find a replacement.
Taylor was unavailable for comment in his office Thursday and could not be reached at home.
“In a sports world where second-guessing by people who have neither responsibility for decisions nor have ever been in the arena has become an art form,” he said in a statement, “I can honestly say I have always tried to do right by the institution I have worked for and the people with whom I have been associated.”
When asked about retiring in November, Taylor would not comment to THE DAILY on the rumors and said only, “I’m here now.”
“Rick had his style,” said University of Colorado football coach Gary Barnett, who coached at NU from 1992-98. “He led probably a lot like the way he coached. He was driven and a perfectionist.”
Since arriving at NU in January 1994, Taylor has presided over the rebirth and renaming of Ryan Field, three Big Ten football championships, some high-profile coaching changes, as well as several scandals and tragedies.
Taylor has seen the NU sports community go through four deaths. The most recent was senior safety Rashidi Wheeler, whose August 2001 death is now the focus of a lawsuit against Taylor, other members of the department and the university.
In the summer of 1999, former men’s basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong was shot and killed by a white supremacist; football player Robert Russ was shot by police during a routine traffic stop; and football player Matt Hartl died from complications from Hodgkin’s disease.
“What he had to say was very human and very decent,” Bienen said of Taylor’s leadership after the deaths.
A point-shaving scandal on the men’s basketball team shook the NU campus during Taylor’s second year. Three conference games were thrown by a pair of NU players in exchange for payments from bookmakers.
As for his overall record, Taylor preferred to let his critics and supporters do the talking.
“I am content to let others judge what we have accomplished, knowing that we have a wonderful staff in place and a great group of coaches, and that I have done my best,” Taylor said in the statement.
Bienen called him a man who knew the proper role of a student-athlete.
“He understood the Northwestern context,” Bienen said. “We want to be competitive and want to win, but he understood that we were going to be concerned with academic integrity and high standards.”
“He made people believe that NU could be good athletically as well as academically,” said Nancy Lyons, associate athletic director for intercollegiate services.
The product of Taylor’s fund-raising efforts will probably be his biggest legacy at NU.
In the past nine years, Ryan Field has undergone a $35 million renovation, several new indoor facilities have been constructed, and the Lake Side Field Complex has been built.
“Our facilities were so poor before Rick got there,” Barnett said. “He made a real positive contribution for Northwestern by means of the new facilities.
“He was able to move us into the 21st century and give us a chance.”
Current football coach Randy Walker and men’s basketball coach Bill Carmody were unavailable for comment Thursday.
Many athletes appreciated the facilities Taylor helped create, but they had mixed experiences interacting directly with him directly.
“I never spoke to him,” senior baseball player Ken Padgett said. “But I shook his hand once at a banquet. … We see him at a few games, but not too many. Football is more his thing.”
On the other hand, senior women’s soccer player Susie McCreery got to know Taylor well during her term as the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. One of the organization’s roles is to act as a liaison between the athletes and their administration.
McCreery said she was impressed with the attention Taylor paid to her group’s efforts.
“He really wanted to give Northwestern a good name,” McCreery said. “He always talked about when you had the Northwestern jersey on, you’re acting on behalf of the school.”
The women’s soccer team had first-hand experience with one of Taylor’s most important duties: hiring coaches.
When Marcia McDermott left to coach at the professional level in 2000, the team had to replace its coach for the first time in the program’s seven-year history.
“We (players) took part in the interview process,” McCreery said. “He really listened to us and took in our thoughts. It’s nice to feel that our opinions were trusted in that matter.”
Taylor eventually hired the players’ top choice, Jenny Haigh.
He also has filled coaching positions in NU’s three highest-profile sports: football (Randy Walker), women’s basketball (June Olkowski) and men’s basketball, twice (Kevin O’Neill and Bill Carmody).
In Taylor’s nine years, NU has captured 17 conference titles. Before coming to NU, Taylor was Director of Athletics at the University of Cincinnati for six years. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, he coached football at Boston University for eight seasons, going 55-32-1.
“I’ve been involved in college athletics in one form or the other for every year but one since 1960,” Taylor said in the statement. “The simple reason for retirement is that I want to do it while I’m healthy and can afford to do so financially.”
Barnett said he had been expecting the decision for a while and saw Taylor as a person who would be able to walk away from sports, despite his attachment to NU.
“I’ll remember the moment after we beat Penn State on our way to the Rose Bowl,” Barnett said. “The elation on his face and the pride he felt for Northwestern.”
Olkowski reflected on Taylor’s announcement after the women’s basketball team’s first-round loss in the Big Ten tournament Thursday.
“His strength of character helped him handle the highs of going to the Rose Bowl and the lows that have occurred recently,” Olkowski said. “He deserves to retire so he doesn’t have to put up with coaches, players and administrators anymore. He should go out and enjoy life — he’s earned it.”
