His new job has its challenges, but DeWayne Peevy knows he’s in the right place
It wasn’t planned or part of the script, but during his introductory press conference as the new athletic director at DePaul University, DeWayne Peevy heard himself using the phrase “Dream Big.”
“It’s no wonder those were the first words to come out of my mouth,” Peevy said Friday. “That’s what had been drilled in my head so much.”
Drilled during his dozen years working for Mitch Barnhart and with John Calipari in the University of Kentucky athletics department, rising from sports information director to deputy director of athletics. Then last August, the 48-year-old achieved a career goal of becoming an athletic director at a major university when he was named to head the department at the Catholic university and Big East Conference member in Chicago.
“I can remember sitting in Roy Kramer’s office in 2000,” said Peevy of when he first began working for the former commissioner at the SEC. “And I told him I wanted to be a major Division I athletics director/commissioner in the next 10 years. It took 20, but it was well worth the wait.”
Alas, it happened during a global pandemic. Peevy said he had long envisioned that day when he would be introduced as an AD, how he would thank those that helped him along the way and hoped to have some of his mentors in attendance to share in the occasion.
COVID-19 prevented all that. So like many other ADs during the past 16 months, Peevy had to improvise. He hit the ground running, holding 35 Zoom calls his first 90 days with staff and athletic department personnel, getting to know the community and DePaul’s unique place in Chicago.
“I was following Jean Lenti Ponsetto, who has been a legend in this business,” said Peevy of his predecessor who retired last June after 18 years as AD and 45 years on the DePaul campus. “How do I bridge the gap and the relationships that it took her career to gain? That was probably my biggest fear is that it would take so long. But probably the best thing about the pandemic was everybody was available, you could get in contact with people. I could meet a lot of people in a shorter period of time.”
Now that he is following up with in-person visits, those people have already had a conversation with Peevy and have a feel for what he’s trying to accomplish at the school.
“What we’re trying to accomplish plays a huge role in the future of DePaul University,” Peevy said. “Athletics has not been that front porch that has allowed other people to take a look at the school, or our house so to speak. . . . Let DePaul University be the one school that is growing right now. That’s a bold challenge to put out front, but that’s why I say I’m dreaming big. That’s what my motivation is every day.”
Again thanks to his time at UK, Peevy has had some help navigating his first 10 months on the job through unusual circumstances.
“It’s good that Mitch has such a big tree,” Peevy said. “I don’t have to wear down just one individual, or Mitch.”
There’s a long list of Barnhart connections as current athletic directors around the country — Greg Byrne at Alabama; John Cohen at Mississippi State; Mark Coyle at Minnesota; Rob Mullens at Oregon; Kevin Saal at Murray State; Scott Stricklin at Florida.
“I told Mitch to his face my last visit to Lexington, I never realized how prepared I was for this job,” Peevy said. “In my 12 years at Kentucky, especially my last seven as deputy, the things I do every day, I don’t hesitate. The job’s not easy by any means. It’s hard. But I’m used to making decisions at a high level with a lot on the line. They haven’t rattled me.”
One decision he made was to replace the coach of the school’s most prominent athletic program. After a 5-15 record in 2020-21, Peevy replaced Dave Leitao with Oregon assistant coach Tony Stubblefield.
“Dave made it as seamless as possible and I still appreciate that to this day,” Peevy said. After interviewing Stubblefield, “I could tell why he had success with Mick Cronin at Cincinnati building a program after (Bob) Huggins. I could tell why he was successful at Oregon with Dana Altman before Oregon was Oregon.”
Now at a school without football or baseball, Peevy knows he’ll be evaluated by what the Blue Demons do in men’s basketball.
“I know there’s a lot of things we’re trying to get done, but success for us has got to include men’s basketball getting back to a rightful place of being a postseason team perennially and getting to a point where we can actually start in an arm’s reach of winning championships. That’s probably one of the reasons I’m here.”
After all, “Cal played a big role in preparing me for this job.”
And Peevy is glad he’s there. His wife Allison is from Davenport, Iowa, two-and-a-half hours from Chicago. For the first time, the Peevys were able to be in Davenport for Father’s Day this year. Daughter Kaitlyn, 19, transferred from Kentucky State to DePaul during the spring quarter and just made the cheerleading squad. Son Braden, 13, graduated from the eighth grade at the Lexington School in June and will start at DePaul College Prep in the fall.
“They love it here,” Peevy said.
So does their father.
“It’s a hell of a challenge, but I knew that going in,” Peevy said. “I definitely made the right decision. I’m in a good place.”
