After serving for more than 21 years as the senior woman administrator at the University of Toledo, senior associate athletic director Kelly Andrews is retiring from her position on June 23. In her tenure with the Rockets, Andrews has served as sport supervisor for teams that have won 25 Mid-American Conference Championship titles and made 12 NCAA Championship appearances. 
 
On June 1, Andrews was honored by the Mid-American Conference with the Trailblazer Award, presented annually to a MAC individual in any position who has demonstrated support of equal opportunities and the student-athlete experience. 
 
Andrews shared some of her Rocket memories and other observations in her more than two decades in Toledo in a recent conversation with UT associate athletic director for communications Paul Helgren. 

Q: Let's start out with your thoughts as you're hitting your final days as a Rocket. You spent a good portion of your career here in Toledo with the Rockets. What are some of your reflections on your experience?  

Andrews: You know, somebody asked me the other day if when I came here 21 years ago, did I think I would be retiring from here? And my answer was no. But that's kind of the nature of the business. You don't necessarily think you're going to work somewhere for this long period of time, but it's gone pretty quickly in some ways and it's been a terrific opportunity for me.  

Q: You never considered leaving for greener pastures? 

Andrews: I'm not someone who just sort of looks for the "next great opportunity." I've had plenty of opportunities here professionally, with NCAA committees and MAC events, and just all the different events and projects that we were doing here on our campus. So, it certainly never got to a point where I thought I wasn't challenged, or I wasn't motivated or anything like that. I just really hope that when people get to the point where they can retire, that they feel as good about their experience and as fortunate to have worked in a situation like I have. I'm very thankful for that because I know that doesn't happen all the time. 

Q: When you look back on the past 21 years, and what are the first things that come about that are great about working at Toledo? 

Andrews: I know this sounds cliché, but I really think that it was the people and the culture. I've always felt very well supported and our working atmosphere has always been very positive and very professional. That's probably the most important thing, because you can win championships and you can win games, but it doesn't matter if your work environment isn't good. We clearly had a lot of success. So that's been fun. We won championships and graduated great student-athletes who did an amazing job in the classroom. Those are things I'm really happy to have been a part of. So that's been really rewarding. But ultimately, it's who are the people you're working with day-in and day-out that really matter. What's the atmosphere when you come in the door to work every day? I've also truly enjoyed meeting and working with many people in other areas of campus and gaining new friends among our fans and supporters. 

Q: For all but the last year of your tenure you worked with (former Athletic Director) Mike O'Brien and (former Deputy Athletic Director) Dave Nottke, among many others. That doesn't always happen, a 20-year stint where you have the same boss and work with a lot of the same people. 

Andrews: I think that was a really unique situation to Toledo. Number one, to have an AD here for 20 years is unique. I didn't know Mike when he hired me. We just did the interview process and it really worked out well. I feel fortunate because he was always supportive and encouraging. He let you do your job, but he also was always available if there were questions. His day-to-day demeanor was always very positive. So, you never had to worry about, what's my boss is going to be like today? You knew what you were getting every day, and I think that was pretty consistent across the board with our staff. You knew where people stood and that was really positive. That starts from the top. Mike led in a very positive way …. no matter what his day was looking like. He kind of radiated enthusiasm for the job and what we were doing. That was really a great atmosphere to be in. 

Q: What were some of your highlights at UT? I know it's a dangerous question because you might leave someone or some team out.  

Andrews: There were so many memories with all the teams I worked with. Traveling with women's basketball on their international trips comes to mind. Those were great experiences not only for the change in the culture, but it was nice to be able to travel with the team and see how our student-athletes interacted and reacted in those settings. Several of our sports do that. I think that's a great opportunity for the student athletes. 
I'm also very proud of the team effort in our department when we hosted NCAA and MAC championship events! It was important to host first-class events and our team met that challenge. 

What I have found to be most rewarding is seeing the student-athletes mature as they are here. And then when they go on to do great things after they leave UT. Same thing for our graduate assistants. To see where they've gone and what they're doing is very rewarding. I've had terrific GA's in my area and I still keep in touch with many of them, where they're working, and what their families are doing. So that's another whole piece that's really rewarding. 

Q: You were in a unique position as the administrator for so many sports. That puts you in a situation to get really get to be involved with so many teams on a close level. So that had to be something that was fun and rewarding about your job.  

Andrews: Well, I learned a lot about a lot of different sports, that's for sure. I traveled with several different sports so you really get an appreciation for what's a day like for a golfer, a tennis player, or a volleyball player or what have you. I traveled to competitions for every sport I was involved with. It's a very different experience when you see how they start their day at 7:00 a.m. and maybe don't finish their day till 10:00 p.m., versus just seeing the two hours they are competing. I think that's where as a sport administrator, you get a real sense of what goes into what the coaches and student-athletes are doing ...when they're looking at film or on their computer and they're reading scouting reports, and so on. The average person doesn't see all the work that goes into it. It gave me a really good sense of that level of involvement, what really that means to them. Attending MAC championships in all of our sports has been amazing...it's fun, but you certainly gain a new appreciation for the dedication of the student-athletes, coaches and support staff. 

Q: What are you looking forward to in the next chapter of your life? 

Andrews: I'm excited to be closer to my family, for sure. I'm excited to be able to participate in some of those family events! We' re going to be living in South Carolina, but we're just across the border from Charlotte.  I'm also looking forward to doing more traveling and exploring with Laurelle. 

Beyond the family part, I'm looking forward to seeing what other interests I might want to pursue. People do ask, what are you going to do? Well, the first couple months I think will be just getting moved and buying furniture, getting settled. And then I think things will fall into place a little bit. The place where we're living has a lot of opportunities and activities. I may look into some volunteer opportunities, but I think the first thing is just kind of getting settled and unpacked. 

Q: Any final thoughts? 

Andrews: I believe the University of Toledo is a really unique place to be.  We have great tradition, and we have a university that can meet the needs of all kinds of students and student-athletes.  There's a lot of potential still here to just continue to grow. We have great staff, coaches and student-athletes. I think all the new faces -- Bryan Blair, Al Tomlinson, Nicole Alderson – are doing a great job and the Rockets are in good hands. There's a lot happening in the athletic world that I think you have to embrace, and I think Toledo is poised to do that.