Penn State AD Sandy Barbour addresses retirement, what’s next for athletic department
Penn State’s administration was already set to undergo plenty of turnover this summer with university president Eric Barron set to retire and be replaced by Neeli Bendapudi. That turnover was increased last week when athletic director Sandy Barbour announced she’d be retiring in the same time frame.
Barbour spoke to the media Monday afternoon and emphasized that leaving the university was her decision.
The outgoing athletic director previously said she hoped to continue working in the position as long as she was happy and healthy.
“From my perspective, I love Penn State, I love what I’m doing,” Barbour said in late December. “As long as my health is good and I’m having fun, I certainly see that in my future.”
Monday afternoon, she said the thought of retirement first crept into her mind in late January. Her ability to spend time with her family was part of the reason she made the decision, but so was the timing with Bendapudi taking over as university president.
“I went and spent some time with my family late in January, and that really started my mind thinking,” Barbour said. “As I kind of assessed where I was and started thinking about it in terms of the intersection with where Penn State was, and in particular our presidential transition, I really determined and decided that not only was it the best decision for me and the right time for me, but that it was probably a pretty good time for Penn State.”
Barbour’s time at Penn State is winding down, and she said so is her career as an athletic director in general. The Nittany Lion AD said that this will be her last job in the position and that soon enough she will be leaving State College all together, saying she plans to spend the next year or so in town before heading out west where most of her family lives.
Her decision is one she held firm since she took the job, saying previously it would be her last time as an AD. Barbour previously held the same role with Tulane from 1996-1999 and with California from 2004-2014, and has led athletic departments for over two decades.
She has been an athletic director — whether assistant, associate or the leader — since 1984 and now plans to use her time in a different way. Barbour has some idea of what that will look like, but knows there’s room for her to do things she hasn’t previously done.
“There certainly there’s some things that I have in mind that I want to do,” she said. “I definitely want to teach. I did a little bit of teaching along the way at some times and really enjoyed it, and you all know how I feel about students and their opportunities, and I’d love to have the opportunity to get in the classroom, where it’s kind of like being a coach again.
“Other than that, I have no idea. I want to take some time and just do some things maybe at my own pace, and then I’ll figure it out. Maybe there will be some consulting. Maybe there will be some cause work that I’ll now have the time to do.”
As for the next athletic director, Barbour said she’ll help if asked but knows it’s Bendapudi’s decision on who ultimately makes the call for her successor. While she may or may not have input on who will take over, she does know what work is left to do for whoever gets the job.
She made note of many of the items she crossed off the list, including the athletic department’s academic center and Panzer Stadium, the university’s lacrosse stadium, but said there is more to be done.
“I think the pieces are here. Some of them need — we need to keep pushing on a lot of different things, and the facilities piece is one of them, ways for intercollegiate athletics to maybe garner revenue in different ways,” Barbour said. “Just because we’ve never done it before doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, and so I think from a mindset standpoint, as a campus, we need to continue to wrap our head around that.”
One of the biggest pieces that needs reworked is Beaver Stadium. The university sent out a survey to fans about the stadium, potential renovations and other potential ideas about it.
Barbour said that there are certain things in the department’s 20-year master plan for facilities that didn’t get done, but the Beaver Stadium aspect is not under that umbrella.
“I would say the Beaver Stadium piece is on the timeline that we thought,” she said. “We never thought that was going to be — we never said that was going to be in the first five (years). That needed some runway and some time to accomplish or to undertake the studies and do the kinds of things that you need to be ready for that. ... I’m looking forward to coming back in some period of time and seeing the renovated Beaver Stadium.”
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 6:34 PM.
