McNair ‘almost equal to Lenny Bias’
Vice chair of UM system regents says College Park rebound ‘will take time’
The man who could become the next chairman of the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents likes to say that he was such a slow runner, a coach once threatened to time him with a sundial.
But Barry Gossett, 78, believes in the transformative power of sports — which is one of the reasons he says it is painful to witness the turmoil in the athletics program of the College Park campus that he likens to another troubled era at the school.
“It’s almost equal to Lenny Bias,” Gossett says, referring to the Terps basketball star who died of a cocaine overdose in 1986, leading to the departure of high-profile officials and to a university overhaul of the academic standards for athletes.
Just as Maryland’s men’s basketball team was decimated by Bias’ death, Gossett — who has contributed tens of millions of dollars to the College Park campus and its athletic programs — predicted in an interview Friday that the football program is in for years of rebuilding.
“I think we’ve moved back five years, probably, into where we could be in a competitive situation,” said Gossett, the vice chair of the regents, who could be elevated to chairman this week, in the wake of James Brady’s resignation Thursday.
The university, he said, will rebound, but “it will take time.”
The football program has been sharply criticized over the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who suffered heatstroke during a team workout in May and later died.
The regents themselves were criticized in the last week by politicians, student groups and others for recommending that head football coach DJ Durkin and athletic director Damon Evans remain. University President Wallace Loh announced that he was retiring in June. But on Wednesday, Loh dismissed Durkin after a public outcry. The next day, Brady resigned, saying his presence on the board would “inhibit its ability to move Maryland’s higher education agenda forward.”
If he becomes chairman, Gossett and the other regents face a challenge to restore the public’s trust, said state Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Prince George’s County Democrat who is vice chair of the Senate Education, Health and Environment Committee.
“There is a lot of suspicion and distrust to Barry Gossett is vice-chair of the University of Maryland system regents. all the regents,” Pinsky said. “I think it was a travesty, their initial reaction, retaining Durkin and putting a gun to the head of Loh.”
But Pinsky added that some of the regents “are very decent people.” And he said of Gossett: “He’s a very decent individual. He’s fair. Obviously he has contributed a lot of financial support to the university.”
North Baltimore’s state Sen. Joan Carter Conway, who chairs the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said Gossett’s experience may qualify him for the chairmanship. But, she said, she’s disturbed
Barry Gossett
Role: Board of Regents vice chair Age: 78 Education: University of Maryland (dropped out as junior to support family after father died). Job: Retired chairman and CEO of Acton Mobile Industries Family: Wife, Mary, died in September. No children. Boards: Board of the University of Maryland Medical System, Attorney Grievance Commission, Executive Board of the Baltimore Area Council Boy Scouts of America, Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation, University System of Maryland Foundation, Kure Pain LLC, Rosedale Federal Savings and Loan Association. by what she sees as poor judgment among board members who voted to maintain Durkin.
“I would hope to see some more changes,” she said.