If Syracuse University’s athletic department is a NASCAR team, Daryl Gross said he sees himself as moving from the track to the pit crew.

“I’m happy about what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Gross, who stepped down last Wednesday after 10 years as director of athletics, in an interview with The Daily Orange. “Now I can be part of the pit crew and try and help it from the outside and help the institution.”

Gross will now serve as vice president and special assistant to the chancellor, and will teach sport management as an adjunct professor in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. Managing director of the Carrier Dome Pete Sala is serving as interim athletics director, and a search committee has at least partially been formed to search for a permanent director.

Gross’ tenure as athletic director spawned strong success in Olympic sports, a significant increase in revenue, the opening of new facilities and the building of SU’s brand as “New York’s College Team.” His time on the job was also filled with divisive moments such as the move from the Big East Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the decision to play home football games at MetLife Stadium and most recently, the NCAA report released March 6.

The Committee on Infractions’ report details instances of academic fraud, student-athletes receiving impermissible benefits and instances of the athletic department failing to follow its own written drug-testing policy. After the report was released, some blamed Gross for the violations and the lack of institutional control cited in the report.

But Gross said he didn’t step down to avoid the report, but rather to help the department move past it.

“It wasn’t like ‘because there’s an NCAA problem I’m going to step aside.’ That’s not the reason,” Gross said. “But the noise that comes from that, there’s no reason for us to have any negativity for this program because it’s too good of a program.

“And for me, I feel like this would be a great time to let that noise just get behind us and go a new direction.”

When considering his tenure, Gross said he thinks the positives of the last 10 years won’t be overshadowed by the recent attention from the NCAA report. That’s partly due to the fact that Gross said there are things in the report that are exaggerated compared to reality.

He said the much-publicized meeting that is noted in the report — in which Gross and other athletic department leaders discussed options for keeping Fab Melo eligible — has been portrayed, “way like that was some kind of mysterious closed-door meeting.”

“In reality, it’s totally the opposite,” Gross said. “It was totally transparent with members all over the institution, about compliance and integrity and student rights. I understand no good deed goes unpunished, but that’s been characterized in the wrong way.”

What Gross said he wants people to remember about his tenure is that it was a renaissance time for SU Athletics. One key decision that led to that was the move from the Big East to the ACC, a decision announced in 2011 that was controversial at the time.

Another contentious decision that Gross made was the choice to move a home football game each of the past three years to MetLife Stadium. While Gross said he realizes people may never understand that decision, it brought plenty of benefits to the school.

“That was the largest deal signed for a non-bowl game in the history of college athletics,” he said. “The dollars we received for that kept our doors open, kept our books balanced and allowed our teams to participate.”

He added that it helped increase exposure of the SU brand and assisted in recruiting as well. While people may disagree with the decisions or not understand them, Gross said they were decisions that had to be made.

“If you get these opportunities and you don’t take them for your university, then you’re hurting your university as the leader you’re supposed to be,” he said. “Part of being a leader is you’re going to make decisions that are unpopular.”

But those “unpopular decisions” have led to SU being third in the ACC in revenues. For that reason, and others, Gross said the athletic department is in better shape now than it was 10 years ago. In addition to the financial situation, Gross cited the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center and the Ensley Center as two additions that illustrate the improvement in facilities under his tenure.

“I think it’s obvious things have been enhanced and things have been better across the board in many areas,” he said.

However, certain penalties handed down from the NCAA on March 6 threaten to jeopardize the upward trajectory Gross said SU Athletics is on. Those include loss of scholarships in men’s basketball and a five-year probation for the men’s basketball and football programs.

SU is appealing the scholarship reductions, and Gross said the probation shouldn’t be an issue going forward because the athletic department will be “fortified compliance-wise.”

“So you make the assumption that the probation isn’t going to be something to have to constantly think about because you’re going to be fortified in the right away in terms of not making mistakes that could cause further probation,” he said.

While the future of the athletic department is in flux, Gross’ immediate future involves sharing his experiences with students and using his expertise to assist the university. Gross said he’s excited to teach students about all the experiences he’s had — including corporate sponsorships, stadiums and multimedia rights and athletic administration.

But for now, he said it’s time to give the athletic department a fresh set of eyes.

“It gives the athletic department a chance to get a different lens on it,” he said.

“A painter like Picasso, he paints a certain style. You never go into a museum that just has Picassos in it,” Gross said. “It has different painters. So let’s get another one, let’s get a Monet in there.”

Published on March 22, 2015 at 7:42 pm

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27