The new athletic director for the Redmond School District wants athletes and coaches to think about more than success on the field.

Kevin Bryant brings up legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden often in conversation when talking about character. Bryant refers to quotes like “Sports don’t build character, they reveal it,” and “Don’t mistake activity for accomplishment.”

“To me, it should be a transformational, not a transactional, experience,” Bryant said of sports.

Part of that means making sure coaches in the district are reflective of strong character and get that message out to students, and not just a few times a year during banquets, he said.

“It’s got to be on the practice plan every day,” Bryant said. “We’ve got to say something about our character initiative.”

The district didn’t just hire anyone when it consolidated the athletic director positions at its campuses into one. It hired a man who literally wrote the book on the job. Bryant started Thrive Athletic Consulting LLC, which evaluates high school athletic programs and helps them plan for the future. One of the features of the program is Bryant’s book, “The Athletic Director Survival Guide.”

Bryant, who came from a job as athletic director and assistant principal at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington, has a long career in high school and college sports. According to Thrive’s website, he was a member of Sunset High in Beaverton Class 3A state basketball championship team in 1975. He then went on to play for Western Washington University in Bellingham, where he finished his career as the school’s second all-time leading scorer. Bryant then played for the Athletes in Action-Canada touring basketball team.

He went on to coach high school basketball at Churchill in Eugene, Sehome in Bellingham and Westview in Beaverton before returning to Western Washington, where he coached men’s basketball for five years.

Bryant took on an administrative role when he became athletic director at Whitworth University in Spokane, before helping Portland State move to the NCAA Division I level as assistant athletic director.

Bryant then had stints as high school athletic director at Aloha, where he was named Oregon’s athletic director of the year in 2005, and Tigard, where he was also assistant principal.

Bryant then served as vice president for institutional advancement at Warner Pacific College in Portland and took a job in 2013 overseeing the stadium complex in Hillsboro, before taking the job in Vancouver.

Bryant also found time to teach online classes at Ohio University and South Carolina’s Coker College. He recently earned his Ph.D. in sport pedagogy and character education from the University of Idaho. He has been a long time member of the board of the Oregon Athletic Directors Association, serving as president from 2003-05.

Bryant said he jumped at the chance to apply for Redmond’s district athletic director position partly because he has long wanted to oversee athletic programs at multiple schools. The job was created after the Redmond and Ridgeview high athletic director jobs, which had been held by the schools’ football coaches, was consolidated into one district-wide position. Assistant principals at the school took over day-to-day athletic oversight.

“The district athletic director position is, I think, attractive,” Bryant said. “There aren’t a lot of them available in the state, believe it or not.”

Bryant was also impressed by Central Oregon, including moving to a smaller community than the Portland area.

“The first day I thought, look at those mountains, they look like they’re painted,” he said.

Some multi-school districts, like Hillsboro, have district athletic directors, while others, like Bend and Beaverton, do not, Bryant said.

Among the athletic director’s duties, along with Bryant’s character initiative, are scheduling games, representing the district to the league and Oregon School Activities Association, assisting the coaches and vice principals at Redmond and Ridgeview, working on standard operating procedures and overseeing facilities, budgets and gender equity, Bryant said. He also works in a human resources capacity for finding new coaches.

“To me, one of the most important things is vision,” he said. “What are we trying to do? What is our plan?”

Bryant wants to get public input on the plan for the local athletic departments, with meetings over a number of months to see what ideal athletic programs in Redmond look like to people. They will then come up with a plan and put it into action.

Another upcoming task will be working on conference realignment starting with the 2018-19 school years. Bryant said the Bend schools are expected to move up to Class 6A, with Redmond and Ridgeview staying in a 5A league with Pendleton, Hood River, The Dalles and Crook County.

“Ridgeview and Redmond have been at a disadvantage competing against schools with 500 more students,” Bryant said. “Now we’re going to be traveling more, but will have a more fair competition.”

Bryant would also like to implement a Student-Athlete Leadership Team, or SALT, where representatives from different sports and grade levels meet regularly with staff.

But first, there’s getting to know the community. After starting July 10, Bryant met the next day with Ridgeview Ravens Booster Club members and then the Spokesman at Green Plow Coffee downtown. He said he planned to meet with Redmond High boosters.

“I’m getting a sense of what’s going on, where the community is on different issues,” he said. “I need to understand the area, especially the people who have been here a long time and kind of get Redmond.”

Erin Buckley-Noonan, president emeritus of the Ridgeview boosters, said in an email that boosters and parent volunteers are looking forward to a great partnership with the school and Bryant.

“Kevin brings experience, a quest for excellence, expertise and excitement to Redmond. Enough for both high schools!” she said. “We are excited to hear his vision of continued character building and support of all students and their whole high school experience.”

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com