April 6, 2016
Vice Chancellor David Williams
“About nine days ago, we had another press conference. At that point in time, we confirmed that Coach Stallings had taken a job at Pittsburg and that we had immediately started a search for our next head basketball coach. I told you at that point in time that we were going to be deliberate, we were going to move efficiently, we wouldn’t let speed dictate how fast we move because we wanted to get the best possible person we could. And that person was going to be someone who had head coaching experience, was a winner, but most importantly was a fit for Vanderbilt. And I also said not everybody fits Vanderbilt.
So, we took our time, we put together a group. First off, as I said, we hired Eddie Fogler as a consultant. And we did that because Eddie has had a lot of experience. One, he was a former basketball coach here, and two, he is a parent of a student-athlete here. He has a love for Vanderbilt and understands Vanderbilt. We said, `Eddie, we want you to make sure that you get in front of us people that understand what this place is about and want to be here.’ And there was a lot of interest in this job, an awful lot of interest. Eddie did his job and then there were four of us who spent those nine days actually coming to this conclusion. I want to thank, first Eddie, but I also want to thank Candice Lee. Candice is our deputy athletic director. Candice played basketball here and has three degrees here. She understands Vanderbilt. I want to thank John Ingram. John is a lifelong resident of Nashville, a businessman, a member of our board, and chair of our athletic committee. And then I want to thank our chancellor and leader, Nick Zeppos. Nick has been here for 29 years and has been a professor, a provost, and the last eight years, the chancellor of this great university. So, we had people that came from different areas, different perspectives, but the common element was that they love this place, they know this place, and they know this city.
We spent a lot of time, and I know a lot of people suggested we look at Wichita, and strangely enough we never made it to Wichita. But we were everywhere else in America. Between the five of us, we covered this country and spent nine days. In particular for John and Nick, who were pulled away from their other jobs for a time, but everybody put 24/7 into getting to this place. And we got there. We picked the person who wanted to be here. We picked the person that is a winner, that has a pedigree with a coaching family tree that is enormous. We picked the person that understands this place. And we picked the person that in the interview, as we sat there, said, `We will play in the National Championship game.'”
Chancellor Nick Zeppos
“I’ve got this exciting announcement. My job is a fascinating one. If I’m hiring a dean, or hiring a chemistry professor, I don’t have hundreds of people calling me saying `Here’s who you should hire as the next dean.’ I might get 10 or 12.
This is an interesting process because before you hire a coach, people think you’ve hired 10 other coaches. I was out this weekend before I met this remarkable young man, and I was told `Oh! I heard you’ve hired so-and-so,’ and so I just said `oh, well we interviewed him yesterday, I hope they didn’t do anything without me. I want to pick the next coach,’ It was a really interesting process.
The name that kept on coming up was this man right next to me. It always seemed to come back to him. It came back to Bryce. It’s not just his outstanding record as a head coach, that is really important to us, but it is who is going to help develop and coach these fine young men. Who’s going to be a leader in the community? Who’s going to be a leader on the campus? Who is going to set standards of integrity and bring competition at a level that we expect at Vanderbilt. I became very convinced that Bryce Drew was our choice. He’s been around sports for a long time. He’s learned from the best, from his family. His father Homer Drew was also the head coach of Valparaiso, and he instilled in Bryce and his brother Scott who’s the head coach at Baylor, a strong sense of character, integrity, determination, and excellence, values that exemplify a great team, community, and coach. When I sat down and talked to him and he said `I’m an intense guy, I run my practice a certain way, but this game is fun. This is a fun game for fans and the players,’ and that really attracted me to Bryce. So, he will be our new coach, our new leader, and a great representative of Vanderbilt.
He’s also seemed to have done it all. Word is that he played college basketball for his father, and I guess he played an SEC team at one point, and made a pretty stunning shot. He knows our conference, he knows our competition, he’s played in the NBA, he’s won four conference championships in five years, and he has been the conference coach of the year three times. He is here with his wife Tara and their two-year old son Bryson, who is already doing the `VU’ sign. I could not be happier than to be introducing our new men’s basketball head coach, Bryce Drew. Welcome to Vanderbilt.”
Head Coach Bryce Drew
Opening statement:
“Thank you everyone for coming out. This is a very special day for myself and for my family. I’m thrilled that people were able to make it here today and be a part of this. First I want to thank the Chancellor. Chancellor Zeppos has been spectacular. From the moment I met him he made me feel very welcomed. I can see why him and why Vanderbilt are so successful. Vice Chancellor Williams has been phenomenal throughout the whole process. He is a great mentor who has provided me with so much wisdom along the way. I also really enjoyed meeting John Ingram and talking to him on the phone. And Candice (Lee), we will never play one-on-one. But obviously, I have enjoyed getting to know you throughout this whole process. It has been an extremely exciting time the last three weeks and speaking here in front of all of you is the icing on the cake. There have been a lot of different opportunities in the past to be a head basketball coach, but none of them brought the full package that Vanderbilt brings. I’m very interested in developing young men. Obviously we want to win a lot of games and we want to win championships. But I’m also very interested in helping our young men become men when they leave here. I want to help them not just win a lot of games and go on to pro careers, but also help them get degrees and be great husbands and fathers and be great people in the community to make a positive impact for the future.”
What made him want to coach at Vanderbilt:
“What drew me to Vanderbilt and why did I like this job and this university? Vanderbilt has the full package. You can compete at the highest level athletically, but also learn at the highest level academically. Just from being here a couple hours, I can feel the energy and obviously this is a special place. My family and I are happy to be here. I first followed Vanderbilt basketball years ago and my dad was a legendary coach and we watched Vanderbilt and a player named Barry Goheen. He made a bunch of crazy last-second shots. That was my first introduction into Vanderbilt basketball. And then obviously coach Eddie Fogler gave me great wisdom throughout this whole process. The years that he had here with Billy McCaffrey and Chris Lawson and winning the SEC. I think as we go through the past head coaches you can see that a lot of history has been made like going to Coach Stallings and seeing what he has done here the past 17 years. As a coach you want to take a program and leave it in a better place than win you first got there. I think the past coaches have each taken this program a step further than where it was before.
As I look at our team here, obviously our goals will be to win games nationally. No Vanderbilt team has ever made it to The Final Four and we would like to be that first Vanderbilt team. I had time talking to the team and hopefully all of you guys will be back next year. I’m really excited to make this the toughest place play from here on out.”
On what principles define him as a coach:
“I have been blessed to play in college and the NBA. I have been the worst player on the team and the best player on the team. I know what it’s like to be sitting on the bench and what feelings come with that. So I think I can relate to the players. I just think the biggest thing is that from the players, to the coaches, to the managers, that we are all on the same page. So that’s the kind of culture I want to build, with that camaraderie. I want to make sure that we play with a lot of passion and we are playing the hardest that we can to make this Vanderbilt community proud.”
On what has to happen to get to a Final Four:
“Obviously, you need to get some breaks. Every year you see a team get a lot of breaks that get to the Final Four. There are a lot of things that have to happen to get to the Final Four. If you look at teams that win their conference championships and get to the Final Four, defense is one thing that always comes up. I’m very big on trying to get stops on defense. You also need players who can make plays and give them the freedom to go out and make plays within the team concept. So there are combinations of things. You have to have great chemistry to go far in the tournament. I think you genuinely have to love each other and be willing to go to battle for one another.”
On competing in the SEC:
“I think the SEC is getting better every year. I know this year they only had three teams make it, but I would be surprised if that number doesn’t go up in the year to come. We are a nationally known university and want to be nationally known on a yearly basis for basketball.”
On what made him decide to come to Vanderbilt:
“Obviously Vanderbilt is nationally known for their academics. I got a lot of positive feedback from people as it relates to the university, to the type of student-athlete, to the city. There are so many positive things that came up. My wife and I prayed about it. We think that this was a great opportunity and something that we really wanted to do.”
On if his coaching style differs from Kevin Stallings:
“I was always too focused on my own team, and didn’t follow his teams. I can tell you how I coach. We are going to work very hard and focused. Yet, the players are going to have some freedom. So we are going to have a lot of hard days at work and winning games and we are all going to enjoy it together.”
On what sealed the deal for him to come to Vanderbilt:
“Well, they had to offer the job first. But, getting into the room and meeting the people and getting a feel for their vision. Again, what I really like about this school is the athletics, but also the fact that they wanted me for other reasons like developing young men and recruiting the right student-athletes who can represent Vanderbilt and the community in a good way. So the main reason is that they wanted someone who could deliver the full package and not just have the Xs and Os and winning.”
On recruiting in the South:
“I think one of the neat things about Vanderbilt is that we have players from all over the U.S. on this roster right now. It’s a national university with a national name. You can recruit from anywhere, and even internationally. Obviously international is something we did at Valparaiso, and that is something we can continue to look at here. There are several local players on the roster, and I want to keep that philosophy. We start local, and we want to find the best fits for our university. Some of the players here I recruited when they were younger, and my brother has recruited several of the players, so I am familiar with some of the guys and recruiting them.”
On assembling a staff:
“We’re in the process of doing that right now. My first step was meeting with the players, visiting with them. I’m very big on the players and creating a players’ team. I want them to talk to me and give me feedback on things, so I want to visit with them more. Then I will be assembling a staff. Obviously we want to do that as soon as possible so that we can get things going.”
On meeting with the players for the first time:
“It took them 20 minutes to kick me out and not 10, so I took that as a good sign. Joking aside, they’re fabulous and I was impressed with the fact that they expressed their feelings and what they were thinking and just the comradery together in there. I’m just excited to get on the court and start working with them. As we start working together and getting that trust factor, I hope they can trust me to make decisions on the court.”
On getting into the community:
“I think the big thing is having a great product. The school is already a great product unto itself, and my job as a coach is to have a great product on the court that people are drawn to. I think if you don’t show up to every game, and play your hardest, if you don’t have passion, then people lose interest. As you play with a lot of passion, and play with all you have, fans will embrace how we play and the style that we play and the culture that we have. I think on the court that’s that. In my years at Valparaiso as a head coach we were very involved in the community. We had over 100 hours of community service every year I was a head coach. We will be out in the community, doing things to help others and share the blessings that we have with other people in the community.”
On his coaching style in relation to his dad’s:
“The blueprint and the fabric are the same. The values of integrity, the hard work of developing young men into men when they leave here is very similar. Our personalities are different in some ways, and I think as you go through generations it changes. He was coming right on Dean Smith’s heals, and they were teachers first, and then they were basketball coaches. He took that whole concept of developing players up. I think I try to keep that, with an education background. I try to teach our guys, and help our guys become men. Then I am a coach. Hopefully I can do my best to help our guys be successful. We’re different, but very similar.”
On keeping the team together:
“Obviously I would love for everyone to stay that’s here. It’s a sensational school, it would be a sensational degree. I think if this team stays in place incredible things could happen next year. With that, myself going through the draft process, being drafted 16th in the NBA was a blessing. There’s a stress to the process to go through it. At the end of the day, players come here to earn a great degree and to achieve their goals, whether it’s in the workplace or in professional basketball right away. That’s something I would talk to the players who go through. Obviously I want to keep them all here, but they need to do what’s best for them and their family. Those are conversations we would have together, and try to work through. If I can convince them, then obviously everyone down knows from our team meeting that we would love to have them, and try to be a very special team on this court next year.”
On speaking to Vanderbilt’s signees:
“Everything has happened so quickly, I got here and got with thee team. As soon as we are done here, those will be my next calls.
On selecting Vanderbilt over other suitors:
“The whole last three weeks has been a bit of a whirlwind. My team was still playing in the NIT, in Madison Square Garden, and was the runner up. So, when our season was done, I obviously had some conversations about different things like that and Vanderbilt was the last one. Going through the process with my wife as we discussed everything, we just really loved the people, the community, and the opportunity here at Vanderbilt University.”
On the facilities:
I’m very big on our team being as good as it can be and successful. And what makes this place incredible is that we definitely have home court advantage. I like the renovations, I think it is beautiful what they did, but it doesn’t matter how nice the arena is if the product isn’t good. If there is nobody in the stands, nobody yelling for you, then it doesn’t matter how nice the facilities are. I think the facilities are tremendous, and I think that if we can get it filled with people yelling in here every game, then it can be one of the best arenas in the country.”
On learning to coach from the baselines:
“It is definitely an adjustment. I will probably talk to some former coaches here and get some ideas. We might have to tweak some things in the first half, but the second half should go pretty nicely. The better thing is that the other side obviously has to deal with it a little bit more than we do because they only have get to do it once a year and we get to do it many times. It’ll be something neat and I will probably talk to some other people to get some ideas.”
On how hard it was to leave Valpo:
“It is definitely difficult. When you have been at a place for a long time, you build deep relationships. You go through dreams together, and you accomplish some and come short on a few. It was definitely emotional. I met with our team yesterday and cried like a baby for a lot of a time because of the sensational kids they have the relationships you build over three or four years. That’s something I want to do no matter where I am, build those kinds of relationships. When you leave somewhere, you should have tears because that means that you loved what you’ve done, you loved the people, and you loved going through that process together.
On facing his brother in a future matchup:
“I am not too familiar with the schedule, I will have to sit down and look at that. But, I think that will be an extremely hard game for my parents to watch and we’ll just see what happens.”
