Change was the buzzword Thursday inside the Terrapin Ballroom of The Hotel at the University of Maryland, where new athletic director Jim Smith was introduced amid pomp and pageantry.
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti mentioned “uncharted waters” and the need to focus on the academic mission “despite all the changes.” Maryland President Darryll Pines said the school was looking for someone who could navigate the “quickly changing world of college athletics.”'
And Smith, in his opening statements, acknowledged that “everything to seems to be changing right now” in college athletics.
The ballroom was packed with black and red balloons, cheerleaders and a pep band, celebrity alumni in Scott Van Pelt, legendary coaches in Gary Williams, boosters and current coaches.