'I like my job': Salisbury University's Dibartolo to retire, looks back on 44-year career

Gerry Dibartolo, Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation at Salisbury University, has announced he will retire at the end of June. Dibartolo has been a mainstay within the athletics programs at Salisbury since he was first hired as a soccer coach in 1979, and became Director of Athletics in 2015.

For Dibartolo, there wasn't one major factor that went into the decision to retire, just a feeling that now was the time to do so after his decades with the university.

"It's just the feeling that this is the right time. I had discussions with my wife about it and my family, and it just feels like this was the right time," Dibartolo said in an interview with Delmarva Now. "I like my job, I obviously love this place. It's been great to me and I hope that I've helped it in some way in my 40-plus years here."

Over the course of 44 years at Salisbury University, Dibartolo served in multiple roles, as a soccer coach, teacher in the university's business school and finally as the Director of Athletics. And the day-to-day world of athletics can be hectic, so when it comes to what's next for Dibartolo, he anticipates the adjustment after spending so much time with the university and its sports teams will be the biggest difference.

"Everyone involved in athletics, either coaching a team or athletic administration, knows that there are no set hours or set days during the course of the week," Dibartolo said. "You're doing whatever you need to do to make sure that your program or all the programs are being successful. So the biggest difference I think is going to be that I'm not going to have all those duties and balls to juggle. I'm just going to look for that next opportunity, that next challenge."

A long record of winning, accolades in college soccer

Dibartolo was the head coach of the men's soccer team from 1982-2016, and with his 412-180-60 record, he finished his coaching career in the top 20 in Division III men's soccer wins and top 50 across all NCAA divisions. And the accolades for Dibartolo and his teams piled up in the process, with eight conference titles, seven conference Coach of the Year awards and 13 teams appearing in the NCAA Tournament, including a semifinal appearance in 2004.

And since Dibartolo became the interim Athletic Director in 2015 and was then named Athletic Director in 2017, the sports teams at SU continued their tradition of excellence, with four national title teams, plus individual national title winners and conference championships as well.

"Those expectations don't come from me, I think the teams and the coaches have those expectations, and I think they're wonderful expectations to have. I'm more interested in the treatment and quality of experience for our student-athletes and fans, and those types of things," Dibartolo said. "But, because of the long-term success, there's this belief that our teams can be nationally competitive."

More:Bayside South honors boys basketball's sharp shooters and clutch defenders - the full list

More:'We're both really passionate': Decatur students embrace opportunity to broadcast games

Athletic facility upgrades a key accomplishment

But one of the biggest accomplishments during Dibartolo's tenure as Athletic Director didn't take place during an SU athletics competition, though it did involve its playing fields.

Early in his tenure as Athletic Director, the university revamped its outdoor athletic facilities for spring and fall sports, modernizing and updating the fields of play across the campus.

For a while, the facilities at Salisbury were behind the successes of their teams. Dibartolo remembers when he first arrived at the university and the state of some of the facilities, with grass fields that didn't always have grass on them.

But the environment around the sports teams was always a good one, with students gravitating to support the teams. Improvements were made through the years as the university acquired more space on the east side of the campus, and today, DiBartolo said he feels SU has among the better outdoor facilities not just in Division III but all of the NCAA.

"There's been a commitment over the years to keep improving and make it better. If anybody that was here on this campus or around here in 1979, and hadn't been here again until tomorrow to come and look at this campus, they would be amazed at all the changes that happened," Dibartolo said. "It's one of the reasons that this is one of the premier Division III universities and comprehensive universities in the country."

As he prepares to step away, there are still more additions to SU Athletics that have been set in motion under his watch, including the addition of a men's and women's golf program in 2024-25, and he hopes for new indoor athletic facilities to match the outdoor ones. But ultimately, the one thing most important to him as he looks back on his time with the school is that he feels the university and its student athletes were put in the best positions to succeed, both while they wore their Sea Gull uniforms, and after they graduated.

"I am so proud of the success of our students and our student athletes while they're here and once they graduate and go into their career fields. And to me, the greatest legacy that we can have is a legacy that we're able to provide them this opportunity to grow and become a better or more productive person.

"When they graduate, they're ready to go out there and make their mark, and to me, that's the greatest thing of all ... I'm so glad they took a chance on a young 22-23-year-old back in 1979 and gave me the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful place."

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Retiring SU Director of Athletics Dibartolo reflects on 44-year career