Here’s a good way to judge the tenure of an athletics director - if you manage to outnumber national championships by years served at a 2-to-1 clip, you’ve had an insanely successful run.
Dr. Richard Perry was USC’s athletics director for a decade, from 1975 to 1984, and oversaw 20 Trojans national championships, eight on the men’s side and a dozen on the women’s. Perry passed away Sunday in Riverside, Calif., USC announced on Monday. He was 85.
“Dick Perry created the `Trojan Family’ concept at USC, bringing a sense of unity and family not only within our athletic department but with the alumni and fans,” said Stan Morrison, who was hired by Perry as the USC men’s basketball coach and then later served as UC Riverside’s athletic director like Perry. “He was a great source of poise and reason for me when I was USC’s basketball coach, and he provided me with great wisdom and counsel. I loved him dearly and will really miss him.”
Perry aided USC to the 1978 national championship under coach John Robinson, its ninth claimed national title, but his legacy is that of extending the Trojans’ presence as an all-sports power. Trojan teams claimed national titles in baseball, men’s swimming, tennis (men’s and women’s), volleyball (men’s and women’s) and women’s basketball.
A basketball coach by trade, Perry served eight seasons as the men’s hoops coach at Long Beach State (and worked as an assistant football coach for three of those years) and coached basketball, football and baseball at Emporia College (now Emporia State) in Kansas. After Long Beach State, Perry worked as an associate professor of physical education from 1967-75 before rising to the athletics director’s chair in 1975.
After his time at USC was done, Perry became the AD at UC Riverside from 1987 to 1992.
He is survived by his wife Donna, four children and six grandchildren.
