Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson announced Friday he is resigning, following a six-month sabbatical that began in October.
Anderson took over in 2010 and oversaw the school’s move to the Big Ten. During his tenure, the university hired football coaches Randy Edsall and DJ Durkin and men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon, and began construction on an indoor football training facility at Cole Field House.
“I’m grateful for all that Kevin has done to support our student-athletes to be successful in the classroom, on the field or court, and in life,” university President Wallace Loh said in a release. “I wish him every success in his future endeavors. I know he’ll inspire many more student-athletes for years to come.”
Damon Evans, who has been acting as Maryland’s athletic director during Anderson’s leave, will remain in the position until the school concludes its “national search” for its next athletic director, according to the release. He is expected to be a candidate for the permanent job, a university spokesman said.
In October, Anderson announced in a letter to colleagues that he was taking a six-month sabbatical to focus on leadership development within groups dedicated to issues of equality and student-athlete activism.
“I am excited and encouraged about the foundation that has been established to continue to achieve academic and competitive excellence,” Anderson said in a letter to his department Friday.
Anderson spent six years as the athletic director at Army before coming to College Park. He was the executive associate athletics director at Oregon State from January 2003 to December 2004.
Evans was athletic director at Georgia from 2004 until July 2010, when he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. Georgia fired him shortly thereafter, and this university hired him in November 2014 as its senior associate athletics director/chief financial officer.
Maryland left the ACC for the Big Ten in 2014 to bring financial stability to a department that had cut seven sports two years prior. In the 2015-16 academic year, the department earned more than $94 million in revenue after bringing in under $62 million in 2010-11, according to USA Today.
The $196 million Cole Field House renovation, first announced in 2014, was the most notable project of Anderson’s tenure. Its indoor practice fields opened last summer and have been used for some of this year’s spring football practices. The full construction process, which will include a sports medicine research center, orthopedic treatment center and strength and conditioning training facilities, is expected to finish in fall 2019.
