New NIU athletic director Jeff Compher began his duties at the university on June 2, after being named to the position on April 15.

Compher came to DeKalb from Seattle, where he spent the last three years as executive associate athletic director at the University of Washington.

Compher talked with the Northern Star about his first month on the job, how he got into the business, as well as his favorite football team.

Northern Star: What has the first month as the new NIU AD been like?

Jeff Compher: Well, it’s been spending a lot of time trying to get to know people in our department, our coaching staff, and our administrative staff. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of student-athletes here that are around during the day. I’m sure once practices start I’ll spend a little bit more time getting to know them.

NS: What made you come to NIU?

JC: I think there are a few things that come to mind immediately. One is that I think President Peters and what I knew of him and what I’ve come to learn about him through the interview process I had. The support that he provides to our student athletes and to our athletic department. Through his personal support by being there and understanding the value athletics brings to a university is really key. Another thing that attracted me was that this athletics department is in very good shape. Jim (Phiilips) did a wonderful job in putting together a good team of people and building up a great fan and donor base.

NS: You started out working in student affairs at North Carolina State, how did you get involved in athletics?

JC: Well, it’s kind of an interesting story. I was working in the housing department and we hired a new football coach named Dick Sheridan. Back then, you could have athletic dorms that only housed athletes. It wasn’t run by the university, it was run by the booster organization. When Dick got there he realized that facility wasn’t in great shape. His staff asked me if I could help them renovate it with new furniture. Within 48 hours, I got them new beds, new desks, new dressers, the whole thing. We transferred them over from housing to the athletic department. The next day I got a call from Jim Valvano, who was the athletic director. He said, “Jeff I understand that you helped our coach out. I’d like to see if you wanted to come and work for us.” That’s how I got involved.

NS: Can you talk about the difference between being the athletic director and your previous job at Washington?

JC: At Washington, I was basically the No. 2 guy. I think as an AD, you’ve got to have a little bit different perspective than just the day-to-day operations. Your roles are different, they’re more varied. What I have to do is balance my time and energy differently than I did because I was focused with kind of the staff and our coaches on a daily basis. Now my major focus is still various sports programs, but it also has to be those external functions as well. I have to make sure I balance the programmatic concerns as well as the university issues that I’m involved with.

NS: Is there a pretty big difference between Seattle and DeKalb?

JC: I like being in a community that can really get behind the university. I think this community can embrace, and has embraced the university. Sometimes when you are in a big city, you’re not as important to the community as you are in a smaller town.

NS: What are your favorite moments working in athletics?

JC: There are two that come to mind pretty quickly. One is when I was at the University of Washington and we won the women’s volleyball national championship in 2005. I was there on the floor right after we won and got to celebrate with the team and the coaches. It was really something to be a part of.

The other moment, these are more of my most recent moments, came in the spring of 2005. The men’s basketball team had a No. 1 seed. We had no idea that was going to happen. We had 5,000 people in our gym anticipating getting a bid but not a No. 1 seed. It was crazy.

NS: What sports did you play as a kid or in high school?

JC: I played a lot of sports growing up. I was in bowling leagues, to swimming, to soccer, to baseball. I stuck with baseball and football all through high school. I was pretty involved in athletics all through high school. And then I played football in college for two years at James Madison and played a year of club lacrosse after that.

NS: You’re from Maryland, who were some of your favorite teams growing up?

JC: It really came down to two teams for me, the Colts and the Orioles. I grew up with the Colts and Johnny Unitas and got to see him play. Growing up in Baltimore, especially in the ’70s and early ’80s, I was around a lot of great baseball and got to go to World Series games.

NS: Do you root for the Ravens now that the Colts moved to Indianapolis?

JC: I don’t because I haven’t lived there for so long. I’m interested in them but I don’t really root for them. I guess if there’s a professional team that I’ve rooted for it’s kind of been wherever I’ve lived. I’m sure it’s going to be the Bears here.