By Craig Morgan, special to TheSunDevils.com
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Ray Anderson isn't afraid of change.
He left a partnership track at a law firm and took a 50 percent pay cut to become a sports agent. He started his own agency, and he was NFL's executive vice president of football operations from 2006 to 2013 before being named ASU Vice President for University Athletics three years ago this week.
Change is still on Anderson's mind, but it's not of the career variety.
"I'm not getting restless because I don't have time to get restless," Anderson said. "That's been a fun part of the first three years and there's a lot more work to be done."
In his three-year tenure at the head of Sun Devil Athletics, Anderson has overseen sweeping changes to the department in a remarkably condensed period of time. As one department staff member put it: "What he has done in three years is what most ADs do in 10."
Here is a look at some of Anderson's achievements, awards and projects.
THE RAY ANDERSON FILE
-- Anderson is steering an athletics' facilities renaissance with the $268 million reinvention of Sun Devil Stadium and the University land development project known as the Athletic Facilities District or The District. The District is comprised of 330 acres of ASU-owned land that the University will lease to developers, while Sun Devil Athletics will receive annual payments in lieu of property tax traditionally paid on privately owned land. ASU is the first state school to take advantage of Arizona HB 2676, the 2010 legislation that enables a university to establish an athletic facilities district to generate revenue needed to improve and construct athletic facilities without using tax dollars or tuition dollars. This land-lease model will provide ASU with a long-term sustainable revenue stream to upgrade facilities based on need rather than resources. The department is currently pursuing an athletics facilities master plan to fulfill Anderson's vision.
-- In December 2014, Anderson negotiated an eight-year, $38 million apparel agreement with adidas, moving the school away from the Nike brand. The agreement not only set provisions for wholesale apparel, but adidas also provided additional funding for marketing, facility improvements, marching band and spirit squad apparel.
-- Anderson eliminated third-party partnerships and aligned Sun Devil Athletics' ticketing and multimedia rights with the Pac-12 Sales Co., becoming the first member school to partner with the conference to bring sponsorships and licensing in house. ASU has taken a leadership role in growing the company by adding more Pac-12 conference members.
-- In January 2015, he was honored with two NFL leadership awards: the Paul J. Tagliabue Award from the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation and the John Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award. The Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation aims to increase access and opportunity for minorities interested in coaching, front office and scouting positions in the National Football League. The Tagliabue Award is presented "to an individual who represents the commitment to fairness, equality and excellence that Commissioner Tagliabue exemplified during his tenure with the NFL."
-- In 2016, Sun Devil Athletics won the The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USG Corporation Award for the most sustainable athletic department in the country and recognized Anderson's efforts to promote athletics sustainable practices. Sun Devil Athletics built the first LEED gold-certified athletics practice facility in the nation in the Weatherup Basketball Center, and ASU's Wells Fargo Arena became the first installed, and operational LED-lit Power Five athletic facility, increasing lighting by 25 percent while decreasing energy consumption by 75 percent.
-- After delivering the keynote address at the Green Sports Alliance (GSA) Summit this summer, Anderson was asked to join the GSA's board of directors. The Green Sports Alliance is the leader in leveraging the market influence of sports to promote environmentally sustainable practices. Arizona State University is one of nearly 400 member teams, venues, events and universities from 20 leagues in 14 nations.
-- Anderson spearheaded the relocation of the baseball team from antiquated Packard Stadium to Phoenix Municipal Stadium and oversaw $109,600 in upgrades to that stadium. A relocation of ASU's golf teams to Papago Golf Course is imminent with Karsten Golf Course slated for development within The District.
-- He joined with football coach Todd Graham in donating $500,000 with his wife, Buffie, to Sun Devil Athletics Momentum, a fundraising effort for the football stadium renovation. He also added a $1 million donation to the $4 million adidas fronted to restart the men's tennis program and build a new tennis facility.
-- He helped persuade the Intercollegiate Tennis Association to relocate its headquarters from Princeton, New Jersey to Tempe on May 1. The idea is to make ASU a national tennis hub that serves everyone from the game's top players to the community's most underserved members with elite facilities, elite training and forward thinking. A similar philosophy has already been implemented in other Olympic sports such as Sun Devil wrestling, swimming and triathlon.
-- He has added four varsity sports -- men's hockey, women's lacrosse and triathlon, and men's tennis -- and he said recently that the department will explore adding more with the idea that collegiate athletics is an educational experience and a leadership development experience that positively impacts student-athletes and society as those student-athletes move into positions of leadership in the community.
-- He has hired 16 new varsity coaches, including marquee hires Bobby Hurley (men's basketball), Bob Bowman (swimming), Zeke Jones (wrestling) and Cliff English, who won the national championship in his first year as coach of women's triathlon.
Bowman, a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year at Michigan, was the U.S. Olympic men's coach for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. He coached swimming icon Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals, three silvers and two bronze medals to become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. Phelps' presence at ASU has had a dramatic impact on the national profile of Sun Devil swimming and recruiting. In a recent release from CollegeSwimming.com, the Arizona State men's and women's teams were rated No. 1 and No. 2 on the Most Improved list, respectively
Jones captured an Olympic silver medal in 1992 for the United States, and he coached United States' Olympians in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2012 Olympic Games, the latter as head coach of the U.S. Olympic freestyle team.
Hurley won NCAA championships as the point guard for Duke in 1991 and 1992. In his first season at ASU, the Sun Devils recorded eight top-100 RPI wins, beating SEC co-champion Texas A&M, Ohio Valley top seed Belmont and two Pac-12 NCAA Tournament teams (Oregon State and USC). ASU's strength of schedule was 23rd in the nation and its non-conference schedule was 13th.
English has 15 years of elite-level triathlon coaching experience, including USA Triathlon's Elite National Team Coach. English has coached triathletes at the last four summer Olympics, two World Championship medalists, and a silver medalist at the Pan American Games. He also coached Samantha McGlone to the 2006 Ironman70.3 World Championship, triathlete Tim O'Donnell to the 2009 ITU Long Course World Championship.
-- On Tuesday, he was named the chairman of a new 13-member Division I Football Competition Committee to conduct research and provide counsel focusing on health and safety issues in the game while ensuring the sport is exciting to play and watch. The committee reports to the Division I Football Oversight Committee.
"I love challenges and I'm having a chance to be involved in some projects that I couldn't have envisioned happening as quickly as they are," Anderson said. "I'm feeling even more invigorated than I ever could have imagined coming into this job."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Ray Anderson isn't afraid of change.
He left a partnership track at a law firm and took a 50 percent pay cut to become a sports agent. He started his own agency, and he was NFL's executive vice president of football operations from 2006 to 2013 before being named ASU Vice President for University Athletics three years ago this week.
Change is still on Anderson's mind, but it's not of the career variety.
"I'm not getting restless because I don't have time to get restless," Anderson said. "That's been a fun part of the first three years and there's a lot more work to be done."
In his three-year tenure at the head of Sun Devil Athletics, Anderson has overseen sweeping changes to the department in a remarkably condensed period of time. As one department staff member put it: "What he has done in three years is what most ADs do in 10."
Here is a look at some of Anderson's achievements, awards and projects.
THE RAY ANDERSON FILE
-- Anderson is steering an athletics' facilities renaissance with the $268 million reinvention of Sun Devil Stadium and the University land development project known as the Athletic Facilities District or The District. The District is comprised of 330 acres of ASU-owned land that the University will lease to developers, while Sun Devil Athletics will receive annual payments in lieu of property tax traditionally paid on privately owned land. ASU is the first state school to take advantage of Arizona HB 2676, the 2010 legislation that enables a university to establish an athletic facilities district to generate revenue needed to improve and construct athletic facilities without using tax dollars or tuition dollars. This land-lease model will provide ASU with a long-term sustainable revenue stream to upgrade facilities based on need rather than resources. The department is currently pursuing an athletics facilities master plan to fulfill Anderson's vision.
-- In December 2014, Anderson negotiated an eight-year, $38 million apparel agreement with adidas, moving the school away from the Nike brand. The agreement not only set provisions for wholesale apparel, but adidas also provided additional funding for marketing, facility improvements, marching band and spirit squad apparel.
-- Anderson eliminated third-party partnerships and aligned Sun Devil Athletics' ticketing and multimedia rights with the Pac-12 Sales Co., becoming the first member school to partner with the conference to bring sponsorships and licensing in house. ASU has taken a leadership role in growing the company by adding more Pac-12 conference members.
-- In January 2015, he was honored with two NFL leadership awards: the Paul J. Tagliabue Award from the Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation and the John Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award. The Fritz Pollard Alliance Foundation aims to increase access and opportunity for minorities interested in coaching, front office and scouting positions in the National Football League. The Tagliabue Award is presented "to an individual who represents the commitment to fairness, equality and excellence that Commissioner Tagliabue exemplified during his tenure with the NFL."
-- In 2016, Sun Devil Athletics won the The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USG Corporation Award for the most sustainable athletic department in the country and recognized Anderson's efforts to promote athletics sustainable practices. Sun Devil Athletics built the first LEED gold-certified athletics practice facility in the nation in the Weatherup Basketball Center, and ASU's Wells Fargo Arena became the first installed, and operational LED-lit Power Five athletic facility, increasing lighting by 25 percent while decreasing energy consumption by 75 percent.
-- After delivering the keynote address at the Green Sports Alliance (GSA) Summit this summer, Anderson was asked to join the GSA's board of directors. The Green Sports Alliance is the leader in leveraging the market influence of sports to promote environmentally sustainable practices. Arizona State University is one of nearly 400 member teams, venues, events and universities from 20 leagues in 14 nations.
-- Anderson spearheaded the relocation of the baseball team from antiquated Packard Stadium to Phoenix Municipal Stadium and oversaw $109,600 in upgrades to that stadium. A relocation of ASU's golf teams to Papago Golf Course is imminent with Karsten Golf Course slated for development within The District.
-- He joined with football coach Todd Graham in donating $500,000 with his wife, Buffie, to Sun Devil Athletics Momentum, a fundraising effort for the football stadium renovation. He also added a $1 million donation to the $4 million adidas fronted to restart the men's tennis program and build a new tennis facility.
-- He helped persuade the Intercollegiate Tennis Association to relocate its headquarters from Princeton, New Jersey to Tempe on May 1. The idea is to make ASU a national tennis hub that serves everyone from the game's top players to the community's most underserved members with elite facilities, elite training and forward thinking. A similar philosophy has already been implemented in other Olympic sports such as Sun Devil wrestling, swimming and triathlon.
-- He has added four varsity sports -- men's hockey, women's lacrosse and triathlon, and men's tennis -- and he said recently that the department will explore adding more with the idea that collegiate athletics is an educational experience and a leadership development experience that positively impacts student-athletes and society as those student-athletes move into positions of leadership in the community.
-- He has hired 16 new varsity coaches, including marquee hires Bobby Hurley (men's basketball), Bob Bowman (swimming), Zeke Jones (wrestling) and Cliff English, who won the national championship in his first year as coach of women's triathlon.
Bowman, a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year at Michigan, was the U.S. Olympic men's coach for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. He coached swimming icon Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals, three silvers and two bronze medals to become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history. Phelps' presence at ASU has had a dramatic impact on the national profile of Sun Devil swimming and recruiting. In a recent release from CollegeSwimming.com, the Arizona State men's and women's teams were rated No. 1 and No. 2 on the Most Improved list, respectively
Jones captured an Olympic silver medal in 1992 for the United States, and he coached United States' Olympians in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2012 Olympic Games, the latter as head coach of the U.S. Olympic freestyle team.
Hurley won NCAA championships as the point guard for Duke in 1991 and 1992. In his first season at ASU, the Sun Devils recorded eight top-100 RPI wins, beating SEC co-champion Texas A&M, Ohio Valley top seed Belmont and two Pac-12 NCAA Tournament teams (Oregon State and USC). ASU's strength of schedule was 23rd in the nation and its non-conference schedule was 13th.
English has 15 years of elite-level triathlon coaching experience, including USA Triathlon's Elite National Team Coach. English has coached triathletes at the last four summer Olympics, two World Championship medalists, and a silver medalist at the Pan American Games. He also coached Samantha McGlone to the 2006 Ironman70.3 World Championship, triathlete Tim O'Donnell to the 2009 ITU Long Course World Championship.
-- On Tuesday, he was named the chairman of a new 13-member Division I Football Competition Committee to conduct research and provide counsel focusing on health and safety issues in the game while ensuring the sport is exciting to play and watch. The committee reports to the Division I Football Oversight Committee.
"I love challenges and I'm having a chance to be involved in some projects that I couldn't have envisioned happening as quickly as they are," Anderson said. "I'm feeling even more invigorated than I ever could have imagined coming into this job."