New athletic director Drew Marrochello strives to build success, community outreach

At first glance, maybe it’s the signed picture of Larry Bird behind his desk. Perhaps it’s the brick taken from the rubble of the old Boston Garden that rests inconspicuously on the windowsill or the photo of the 2008-09 Boston University men’s ice hockey team posing with its NCAA National Championship trophy.

Regardless of what piece of memorabilia is first noticed, one thing becomes increasingly clear upon stepping into new Boston University Athletic Director Drew Marrochello’s office at 300 Babcock Street: Sports have always resonated with the Arlington native.

“I’m a proud Boston sports fan,” Marrochello said. “I can tell you tell that [Red Sox pitcher Clay] Buchholz is pitching tonight…Growing up around here, I participated in high school at the Armory in a track meet. I went to Boston Breakers football games…I’ve been to Beanpots, I’ve been to BC/BU hockey games – both on our campus and on BC’s campus. I was certainly familiar with the landscape, familiar with the school and familiar with the athletics department growing up.”

Marrochello’s connections with the Terriers have now come full circle, as the nine-year veteran of BU’s athletic department was officially appointed as the university’s new AD on a permanent basis on Sept. 9.

Marrochello assumed the role vacated by Michael Lynch, who stepped down from his position at the end of June.

“It was really exciting. When Mike announced his resignation in early June, I took over on an interim basis in July, but really, it started to transition into the interim role the day he left,” Marrochello said. “It was a period of almost doing the job for three months, and I would say it was a great relief, real excitement, and I was really, really humbled that they placed their faith in me to lead the department.”

Taking on his current position at BU was the end result of a long and varied journey for Marrochello, who earned his bachelor’s degree in government at Wesleyan University in 1991 before acquiring his master’s in education administration from the University of Albany.

After coaching football at both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Union College, Marrochello began work at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, eventually serving as athletic director of the school from 1997 to 2005.

Marrochello acknowledged that his time at Hudson Valley was instrumental in giving him the experience needed to fulfill his duties on Commonwealth Avenue.

“Hudson Valley was really a valuable training ground because I had my hands on every single area, whether it was personnel issue, marketing issue, facilities construction,” he said. “You name it, we did it there … Frankly, it trained me for my role here at BU, and I think that being the athletics director there helped me train for some of the demands at BU.”

Marrochello began working at BU in 2005, serving as associate athletic director for internal affairs for two years before being appointed as deputy director of athletics – a spot he held for seven years.

Now, as the head of BU’s athletics department, Marrochello will represent the school in all matters with the NCAA, Patriot League and Hockey East and will look to help build up a program that ranked fourth amongst Division I-AAA members in the 2013-14 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Division I Standings while also compiling a GPA of 3.05 for the semester – the sixth straight year that BU student-athletes have posted a combined GPA of 3.0 or higher.

“We’re in a healthy state, but you need to keep growing. You need to keep pursuing excellence, and I tell people, ‘This is an unfinished product.’ There are more things that we can accomplish,” Marrochello said about the state of his department. “Our student-athletes do really well. They perform in the classroom, and that’s highly important to us. …We’re in a good state right now, but there’s certainly more to do across the board.”

Marrochello is no stranger to the workings of the university’s athletics department, as he oversaw many programs, projects and teams during his tenure as deputy AD. During his seven years as deputy, Marrochello managed 24 varsity programs and the day-to-day workings of the entire department while also overseeing the program’s $25 million budget.

He coordinated events such as the BU-Cornell University Red Hot Hockey game at Madison Square Garden while assisting with the construction of projects like New Balance Field. Marrochello has also served as the point man on many head coaching hires such as men’s basketball coach Joe Jones, men’s hockey coach David Quinn, men’s lacrosse coach Ryan Polley and women’s basketball coach Katy Steding, among others.

For Marrochello, the procedure of finding a new coach is not necessarily stressful, but rather grueling, given the high status of the position.

“We’ve never had to beg somebody to look at this job. It would be stressful if the candidate pools were not so great, but we’ve had wonderful candidate pools across the board, and we’ve been able to really land our first choice in every single case, so it’s not stressful. The process itself is stressful, but knowing that we have a great pool of candidates to choose from makes it a little bit peaceful.”

While Marrochello has only served as AD for less than three months, he is certainly not resting on his laurels, as he has big plans for the program going forward – plans he looks to enact sooner rather than later.

“I’ve said along the way that we can be viewed upon as one of the best, if not the best non-football-playing school,” Marrochello said. “That doesn’t just mean athletics at all. That means if you look at the schools that don’t play football, do they prioritize just one sport? Are they positioned for success across the board? We can perform in a variety of areas and perform well.

“Long-term, I’ve never been one who looks at 10-year goals. I think that’s too far out. I’ve always been kind of the prism of three years. I think that’s more accurate …We’ve got programs that can compete for national championships. I think that we really, really, really as a focus, want to fit well within the Patriot League … Certainly we’ve got long-term facility items that we’re looking at, but right now, I think those are my areas of focus for certain.”

Marrochello said one of his main goals is for more of the university’s student-athletes to become integrated into the BU community in an effort to make the athletic department more open and accessible.

“Our student-athletes need to be part of the campus community,” Marrochello said. “They’re not here just to go to school and just to go to practice and games…I want our people to be part of the fabric of the community. I don’t want there to be this imaginary moat on Agganis Way that we don’t cross.”

For the man who spent evenings watching Beanpot matches and football games on Nickerson Field in the ‘80s, BU certainly feels like home.

“It’s got the right balance. We’ve just got a real good balance of … we can win championships; we can perform on a large stage. We’re in a conference that’s a good fit for us. And our student-athletes are true student athletes. And when you look at that blend, that’s a pretty good package right there … We’ve got a good niche where we are. To me, that’s one of the things that makes it special. And that’s one of the things that’s always attracted me to BU, one of the things that’s kept me here to build on the future.”