By: April Davison
9/29/2005

When first seeing Athletic Director Joe Zimmerman, you see the tough sports fan who doesn’t let students get out of control at home games. 

He’s a lot like Visa — he is everywhere you want to be, whether home games or away games. He’s the man who stands in the corner quietly but intently, watching and cheering. He’s the man who demands respect just by looking at you and giving you the eye when you’ve crossed the line. 

The easiest way to cross that line is with the FU cheer. When students erupt into chants of “FU,” he will stare down those students until they realize he means business.

Upon further observation, it becomes obvious that he really isn’t so tough. His door is always open, and he actually means that. To have a meeting with Zimmerman, you can drop by and ask his secretary to see him. As long as he isn’t on his way out the door or in an important meeting, he will invite you in.

Another obvious soft side to Zimmerman is that he cares about the athletes and what they’re doing.  He drops in on practices, he attends away games, and he is present at almost all home games.

Zimmerman took over as athletic director following the spring 2003 semester, replacing Ron Heller. Since then, he has spent about 60 hours a week doing something involving athletics.

Denise, his wife of 24 years, deals with all the time spent with Friends athletics and is happy because he is happy.

Zimmerman said his wife “knows how happy I am, and I am fortunate to have her as my grounding force, my best friend.”

He also said that he is fortunate that both his sons, ages 22 and 21, are grown enough that it isn’t a huge issue if he isn’t at home with them every night. 

In fact, even when Zimmerman is at the school for home games, his wife has found a way to spend time with him. She can frequently be seen volunteering at the concession stand.  Several family members, including sisters and brothers-in-law and sometimes his sons, volunteer as well.

Zimmerman also said that being athletic director doesn’t feel like a job.

“It’s what I enjoy being able to do in my life. When you can be happy with what you’re doing, it isn’t work.” 

He also credits having a balanced life to his relationship with God. 

Zimmerman said he likes “to spend a significant time just thinking” about his balance and how happy in life he is right now.

However, it wasn’t always so easy. Replacing someone like Heller, who had been at Friends for 18 years as a coach and athletic director, proved difficult, because no one knew or respected Zimmerman yet, but eventually he gained the respect and trust needed.

He stayed true to himself and “it was challenging, but in time, I think it worked. Going out and recruiting gained a lot of respect for me.”

He tries to let athletes know that he respects them for balancing their work load with academics and athletics.

“Students, in general, need to know you generally care about them.  They stand a better chance of meeting you halfway and then achieving their goals,” Zimmerman said.

He wants students to be able to come back 10 years after graduating and be able to say that they enjoyed their time at Friends and enjoyed playing collegiate sports, and that the school provided them with a good environment to get their degree as well as participate in sports.

Jill Tormey, senior softball player, said that she didn’t know Heller that well, but with Zimmerman, “I always feel like I can go talk to him. He’s very inviting.”

The reason for Zimmerman’s success is simple. 

“I enjoy sports and being around them. I wanted to be out of the background support role and be able to actually make a difference,” he said.

He was in a behind-the-scenes role when he was director of purchasing in the Administration and Finance Department.

Those factors led President Biff Green to think of Zimmerman when replacing Heller.  He asked Zimmerman what his philosophies were, and the president had seen how Zimmerman handled the University’s accreditation process that year.

Green and Zimmerman sat down and went over goals, philosophies and expectations.

“Coaches must have good management skills and people skills, but honesty and trust are so big to me.  If you don’t have that in your life, you’re going to struggle. You must be able to have those to relate with athletes,” said Zimmerman.

He also said that the tone of athletics starts with him. He sets high expectations and holds himself to the same standards.

After serving on the committee board that hires new coaches, Zimmerman got the biggest opportunity yet. He got the final say on hiring coaches when he became athletic director.

Zimmerman was involved with bringing in Dale Faber for men’s basketball and Monty Lewis for football. He also hired Winston Kenton to coach cross country/track, Tony Segovia for softball, Martin Ayin for volleyball and Aaron Winter for golf.

When looking for new coaches, Zimmerman wants them to have the same philosophies as he does, so that they are on the same page of trying to help athletes. The main characteristics he looks for are communication skills, organizational skills, their goals and objectives, and their consistency in coaching.

“He made a lot of positive changes like bringing in a better softball coach that everyone loves.  He has created a more positive environment,” Tormey said.

Women’s basketball coach Gayla Soyez has been around for both Heller and Zimmerman. She said that although she had a great relationship with Heller, the department was done growing with him. 

“Now, with Zimmerman, he has come in and put the icing on the cake. He finished up some things that the rest of us never thought about, but they were needed to take us forward,” she said.

One of his new projects included renovating the building’s paint and staircases in addition to bringing in new faces. There is a new environment around the Garvey Physical Education Center that came in the door with Zimmerman.

“I think he has done a really good job. He has really helped the athletic department.  In the past, it was run more like a business, and now Zimmerman has found a good mix,” said Soyez.

Zimmerman’s happiest moments as athletic director have been awarding the NAIA Academic All-American scholars who must participate at the varsity level for their sport and still maintain a 3.5 GPA. 

Last fall, 60 percent of the 340 athletes maintained a 3.0 GPA or better, and in the spring the percentage stayed relatively close at 55 percent.

Two years ago there were 30 NAIA scholars; last year there were 39. As of the spring semester last year, the cumulative GPA for all 340 athletes was a 3.17.

“I implemented that award ceremony so people can see how great these athletes have done at balancing sports and academics,” said Zimmerman.

When Zimmerman took over as athletic director, the GPA of student athletes was about 3.0 and athletics had 150 fewer participants.

He said that it was a pleasant surprise to some in the academic areas that Friends does not have a win-at-all costs athletic environment, and academics does matter.

Zimmerman said that he plans to continue to improve in how he and the coaches assist athletes with academics. He believes that they are more successful when they can get their degree instead of when they win titles.

In addition to athletic director at Friends, Zimmerman also is vice president of the KCAC, which is the conference the sports teams participate in. 

His duties there consist of handling issues relative to protests and infractions within the conference. He makes the recommendations for what to do about the problems. He also oversees the November coaches’ meeting and is on the committee that selects a supervisor of officials for the KCAC.

In addition, Zimmerman is also vice chairman of NAIA Region IV. There, he sets policies and guidelines for competitions post season. He outlines the process for post season regional competitions.

Zimmerman said that the most difficult time to travel is in the spring, but he still goes to away games.  He likes to go to games to let students know that they are supported, that he sees how hard they work.

When talking about traveling to away games, he said, “It’s harder because I have additional administrative duties, but I won’t let those become a higher priority. Students have seen that what they do is appreciated, and I can’t let that erode.”

Is he still the tough sports fan? Yes, he is, but he also has a soft side for those who strive for excellence in academics as well as sports.