The UA has a chance to couple new athletic director Dave Heeke with a dynamic, game-changing new president. The favorite to replace outgoing Ann Weaver Hart seems to be Robert C. Robbins — Bobby Robbins to his associates — the CEO of the Texas Medical Center.
Robbins carries a high profile as the head of a collaboration of Rice, Texas A&M, Texas and Texas Tech medical schools in Houston. It’s no secret that Arizona State President Michael Crow has changed that school’s once-shaky national profile and become the identity of the institution. Crow is large and in charge.
Robbins might be able to do the same for Arizona.
During Super Bowl week in Houston, Robbins was an engaging host. He joined NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a panel forum, was interviewed on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike” radio program, and, among other public ventures, joined Oakland Raiders standout D.J. Hayden on a New York talk show.
Robbins is a Stanford grad and a noted sports enthusiast. He could help Heeke to engage prominent UA graduates/donors such as New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno, who largely separated from the UA because of ex-AD Greg Byrne’s ASU background.
Arizona enjoyed its greatest growth in sports in the 1970s when its president, John Schaefer, was the force behind Arizona (and ASU) being invited to the Pac-10. Since then, the UA hasn’t employed a president who fully grasped and understood the culture of athletics and how to grow it.
With Robbins , Heeke, and the Wildcats might be able to step out of the Pac-12’s middle class.
