Q & A with new Mary Baldwin athletic director, Tom Byrnes

STAUNTON - As Tom Byrnes sat down at a table in Blue Mountain Coffees on Tuesday morning last week, it may have been the most relaxed he'd been in days.

The new athletic director at Mary Baldwin University hadn't officially been on the job 48 hours, but it probably seemed a lot longer. After a three-day drive from Denver to Staunton, Byrnes arrived in his new hometown Sunday, August 11. 

The next day was his official first day on the job, one he took after leaving the same position at Johnson & Wales University Denver. He met his coaches. He got a chance to look around campus. He met with his boss, Ernest Jeffries. He spent a lot of time talking with longtime Mary Baldwin softball coach Christy Shelton, just learning about the school and the sports programs. 

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Byrnes graduated from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania before joining the staff of the Public Opinion, a daily newspaper in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He moved on from journalism to sports information at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He's been involved in college athletics ever since.

Sitting down with The News Leader's Patrick Hite, Byrnes answered some questions about his new position at Mary Baldwin. 

Hite: Why did you leave your job as a sports writer for one in college athletics?

Byrnes: I'm looking at John Alosi [Shippensburg's sports information director] and I'm saying, all he has to do is make sure he's an expert on his 20 teams or whatever it is. And here I am beating my head against the wall trying to be really good at hundreds of teams. Every little league team that's calling in Tuesday night. And every high school soccer team, and junior highs, whatever. I'm trying to be an expert. I thought, I'd really like to focus on [one school].

Hite: What attracted you to Staunton and Mary Baldwin University?

Byrnes: A couple of things. One, I grew up in Pennsylvania and my family is East Coast. I'm an East Coast kind of guy.

The other thing is, I like building things. That's what we're doing here. We're building and expanding an athletics program ... In the meeting [on his first day] I said, it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. If you expect changes by next Friday, forget it. Not going to happen. If you expect changes by next year, now we're talking. If you expect changes over three years, five years, that's what we're building.

And the third thing is, and I said this several times in my interview, I'm back at Shippensburg. [Staunton is] a little bigger. I went from suburban Philadelphia to Shippensburg and lived there for 13 years and loved it...that's the lifestyle I really enjoyed in college and I'm getting back to that.

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Hite: Is there a challenge arriving at this job weeks instead of months before the fall sports season begins?

Byrnes: It would have been better to happen a month or two ago, but you take life's challenges and you adjust to them. The one thing you learn in athletics is, whether you're on the field or not, is you have to make adjustments and you have to be flexible. I feel like I've been adjustable and flexible all my life.

Hite: What are the advantages of NCAA Division III?

Byrnes: It's mostly great kids that just want a chance to play. I love that. I don't love the big egos of the Division I players. I just didn't like that aspect of it. I like the true model of amateur athletics. It's just fun to me.

Hite: In order to be in NCAA compliance, Mary Baldwin has to add another men's team sport. What will that sport be?

Byrnes: The topic has been discussed at length. An appropriate announcement will be made when it's appropriate. I will tell you, truthfully, the final decision hasn't been made yet. There are options on the table that different people think are better options than others. That's why it's still on the table.

Hite: Is men's basketball on the table?

Byrnes: How 'bout them Phillies? [laughs]. I'd just rather not say. On the second day, and having not had that discussion with the president. I just don't want to go down that path.

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Follow Patrick on Twitter @Patrick_Hite

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