Williams’ feelings ‘mixed’

By Staff     Apr 27, 2001

Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams and his wife, Wanda, watch Bob Frederick's resignation announcement. The Williamses were on hand Thursday at Hadl Auditorium.

Roy Williams says he has “very mixed emotions” about his boss Bob Frederick stepping down as athletics director at Kansas.

Williams, the Jayhawks’ 13th-year men’s basketball coach, says he’s “happy” for the students in KU’s School of Education, who figure to learn a lot of valuable lessons from their new professor of Sports Administration.

And he’s elated the 61-year-old, hard-working AD plans on spending more time with his wife and family, enjoying their new house that overlooks Clinton Lake.

Williams, who was hired by Frederick, is “sad” for himself, though.

“It’s a sad day for me,” Williams said Thursday. “He’s a guy that hired me and has been loyal to me and important to me for 13 years. He’s a guy who gave me a chance. That part is hard.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for him,” Williams added. “I will always admire his concern for the student-athlete, his integrity and his professionalism. The class and dignity he’s shown I think is very admirable. The integrity and class that man has … it’s hard to even imagine.

“This department has lost a good man.”

How successful an AD was Frederick? Pretty successful, Williams says.

“I personally think Bob has not gotten the credit he deserves,” Williams said. “I checked and came up with these figures:

“During his 14 years as AD, the winning percentage of the men’s basketball team was the highest of all the ADs ever at KU. The winning percentage of the football team was the fifth best out of 12 different athletics directors. If you combine the two major revenue-producing sports at KU, his winning percentage in those sports is the best of all the 12.”

Still, Frederick received much criticism on the dreaded talk show circuit and on Internet bulletin boards.

“Bob made reference to the fact there are so many call-in shows and Internet chat rooms … everybody today thinks they are an expert on athletics,” Williams said. “No amount of people are experts on medicine. You may be an expert on how a (medical) situation with you was handled or your mother was handled, but not any multitude.

“In athletics, everybody thinks they are an expert. It’s hit me a heck of a lot more the last couple years. This year I’m driving somewhere and hear some K-State fans criticize Bill Snyder. He took a terrible football program and made it one of the great football programs in the nation. I hear people on the radio criticize Bill Snyder, I think, ‘My gosh, think how sad it’s gotten.’

“I kidded him (Frederick) one time. I said, ‘Being an athletics director is like being an assistant principal in high school. You’ve only got discipline problems and bus duty only the bad things. Being an athletics director is very, very difficult.'”

Williams said Frederick was one reason, but not the main reason, he declined an offer to coach at his alma mater, North Carolina, last summer.

“It was a factor how comfortable I am with Bob, how much I trust and respect him,” Williams said. “I still go back … I don’t want to lay any guilt trip on him or anything, (but) I still say the feelings I had for the players. I didn’t think I could leave and stand up for what I wanted to stand up for 12 years.”

Williams outlined his hopes for KU’s next AD.

“I would hope the next athletics director will have a tremendous amount of energy because you need it with the job you have,” he said. “I’d hope the next person will have the same kind of integrity Bob Frederick has. I hope the next athletics director has the same concern for the student-athlete Bob Frederick has. It’s hard to say immediately a person will have a love for the university. I hope over time they’d develop the love for this university Bob has.”

Williams was asked if he’s concerned about working with a new AD. He’s grown mighty comfortable with Frederick, who is a former college and high school coach.

“Not really,” Williams said. “I’ve got a tremendous love for this university and tremendous love for the basketball program. I feel I can work with about anybody. As long as they love Kansas and want to do it the right way, I’m not going to have any problems with it.

“I think I can work with anybody.”

In the future, Williams and his family his entire family attended Thursday’s press conference at Hadl Auditorium in Parrott Athletic Center will likely spend an evening or two on the deck of Frederick’s new home, visiting about sports.

“Like Bob said, he’s not had a weekend off since he’s been in college. That’s a sad statement kind of thing,” Williams said. “I think everything just wears on you when you are the leader. I get really, really depressed, ready to jump off the top of a building over a loss. If you are the athletics director, you got those feelings for so many different teams.

“It’s really a bad situation. You can’t enjoy those victories as much as you worry about the defeats. I’m very happy for Bob. He will be able to sit on that deck and enjoy his life a little more,” Williams added.

Williams will be around if his soon-to-be-former boss needs anything, the coach said.

“Bob knows I’m there for him. It doesn’t make any difference, I’m for him. I love Kansas and all those kinds of things, but I’m for people, I’m not for buildings.”

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