McCoy brings experience, optimism as new WSU AD

Newly installed Washington State athletic director Anne McCoy says she is “not a big quote person.”

There is, however, one inspirational saying that has caught her fancy since her daughter Taylor (a former WSU swimming standout) related it to her: “Fate whispers to the warrior, ‘You cannot withstand the storm.’ The warrior whispers back, ‘I am the storm.’”

McCoy, who has worked for the Cougs in one capacity or another for more than 23 years and served as interim athletic director since the recent departure of Pat Chun, becomes the permanent head of the athletic department at a time of major upheaval, not least in the form of it having to cope with the collapse of the Pac-12 Conference. She was formerly introduced as the new AD at a news conference Tuesday in the Alger Family Club Room at Gesa Field.

McCoy considers herself a “generally optimistic” person (toning her description down from “eternally optimistic” with the quip that “my family might say I have my moments”), and believes she has both the experience and mindset required to help the Cougs navigate turbulent times.

“Largely at these types of events, someone comes in fresh,” McCoy said. “They’ve never been at the school, they offer a vision, and that’s all wonderful — but I have to say, having a really unique perspective of having been here, I already have gotten to know all of the people in our department and on our campus. I’ve gotten to know many of our fans, donors and student-athletes.”

The elephant in the room

After initial remarks thanking WSU President Kirk Shulz and the board of regents among others for helping her get to this point, McCoy quickly acknowledged conference affiliation as “the elephant in the room.” Questions have abounded as to what the university will do in response to the exodus of 10 of the Pac-12 Conference’s teams over the past year, leaving only themselves and the Oregon State Beavers remaining. While not prepared to offer details on the university’s plans at this time, McCoy encouraged the Cougar faithful to have patience with the process, which she described as being a bit like “building a house.”

“Right now there’s a lot of work going in behind the scenes — maybe underground — that not everybody can see, but sooner rather than later, you’ll be both amazed and proud and excited for the structure you’ll see before you that will be Cougar athletics of the future,” she said. “While there may not be a lot of things we’re talking about really publicly right now, there are a lot of amazing things going on behind the scenes, not only with Washington State University, with Oregon State University and certainly our phenomenal new commissioner of the Pac-12 Teresa Gould.”

Warm words from departing Schulz

Appearing alongside McCoy at the press conference panel, Schulz stressed the importance of having an athletic director who knows the university and the local community “backwards and forwards,” and concurred with the assessment that McCoy is “the right person at the right time.”

“I’m so pleased she’s been willing to take this and move us forward,” he said. “In a time of great uncertainty, we got the right leader that’s going to keep us moving positively forward and continue making sure our student-athletes have a stellar experience, and that later in life, 30 years from now, 40 years from now, if you ask them, ‘What were the best decisions you made?’ They’re going to say, ‘Going to Washington State University was right at the top of that list.’”

Schulz also feels McCoy can continue her predecessor Chun’s strong legacy of fundraising — something which he said does not derive so much from the “magic” many people think it does as from certain down-to-earth qualities McCoy possesses.

“A lot of it is vision and shoe-leather work,” Schulz said. “Sitting down with people, having a conversation, and talking about ways they can support Washington State University.”

Headed for retirement at the end of this coming school year, Schulz expressed the intention to keep following McCoy’s efforts from the sidelines.

“I’m a Coug for life, and I look forward to continued success under Anne’s leadership and look forward to seeing some championship trophies hoisted,” he said.

Turning the page

McCoy recalled that the athletic director position was not on her radar for most of her career, but that she had a bit of a eureka moment in realizing that she wanted the job after Chun, who had held the role since 2018, announced his departure for the University of Washington this past March. She is the Cougs’ 15th overall AD, and their first female one.

“I’m very people-oriented, I would say very relationship-driven,” McCoy said when asked to compare and contrast her leadership style with that of Chun. “It’s very important to me; relationships that are real and based on kind of, ‘No beating around the bush.’ That’s not to say that’s not how Pat was — it’s more that it’s who I am.”

She hopes to provide a “fresh start” for a department that has “been through a lot over the past year through circumstances largely outside of their control,” seeing her tenure as “just the impetus we all needed to know it was okay to turn the page and move forward.”

“We are the warrior, we are the storm, and I would really encourage everyone to have that mindset,” she said.

Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.