South Carolina AD Ray Tanner in an interview with the school's athletics website said the cost of running a program is "very daunting," but the university has been "able to do that for many years without receiving money from tax dollars or tuition" as a self-supporting entity. Tanner said there is "no idle time in the office" as an AD. Tanner: "There are meetings and phone calls and places to be. There are games, events, and socials. It's non-stop, and it's great! You have to want to be in that position." He said there are "things that keep me up" as an AD, but "they're not things that have me worried or stressed. It's things that are exciting. It's things that make you think about progress and moving forward." Asked what he would say to himself if he could write a letter to himself from five years ago, Tanner said, "The thing I would tell myself is to spend more time going to practices with our student-athletes. That's where I think I have failed -- not on purpose, though. There are always other responsibilities. I can assure you that from this day forward, that's one of my priorities going into year number six. I go to games, but I'm going to be more visible at practices. I think it's important. Some veteran athletics directors have shared that with me that your student-athletes love seeing you at practice. You don't have to talk to them or stay the whole practice. They love to know that we are there, and I do love doing that" (GAMECOCKSONLINE.com, 8/2).
