His scenery may be changing, but Tobin Anderson’s approach remains strong and consistent

Tobin Anderson addresses media after being introduced as head coach at Iona. (Photo by News 12 Westchester)

Tobin Anderson introduced himself to a majority of the nation two weeks ago when his Fairleigh Dickinson team engineered one of the greatest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, becoming just the second No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed.

Iona University had already known him and the success he enjoyed at Division II St. Thomas Aquinas, enough to where president Seamus Carey and athletic director Matt Glovaski considered him for its head coaching vacancy in 2020 before ultimately hiring Rick Pitino. As fate would decree, Anderson became available again, and approximately 60 hours after FDU’s season ended, the 51-year-old was hired at Iona one day after Pitino departed New Rochelle for St. John’s.

The familiarity between Anderson and the Iona administration not only expedited the timeline of the hire, it also upheld the commitment of the university to remain a consistent winner, something Anderson has been throughout his career.

“They made me feel comfortable, they made me feel wanted,” he gushed shortly after his March 22 introduction as the Gaels’ new leader. “You want to go somewhere that you’re wanted. At FDU, I was the guy, and at Iona, I’m the guy. They wanted me here. This is one of the best jobs on the East Coast. Let’s try to make it even better.”

“I’ve heard the term ‘overnight sensation.’ I was a coach in Division III and Division II for so long, and recruiting at that level is way harder than it is at this level because you don’t have financial aid and you have to convince kids to go non-scholarship and things like that. I’m not an overnight sensation because I’ve been working my tail off the last 20-something years, but to be here in this situation, I’m thrilled.”

Anderson appreciated not needing to change much other than his apparel and commute, even quipping that he did not need to move from his Rockland County residence. Stepping into a tailor-made winner at Iona, where the Gaels have won seven Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships in the last decade, is far different from essentially starting from scratch at a place like FDU, and Anderson admitted such.

“It’s a different situation,” he reiterated. “At FDU, coming off a 4-22 season, I had to change the culture, the attitude, the players. Some of the guys didn’t fit with me, everything had to change. That was a whole different animal. This team just won a MAAC championship, has good players, it’s a totally different situation. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take things for granted. There’ll be the same expectations, same accountability. I told the guys I may seem like a good guy, but it’s going to be demanding. You’re going to be held accountable.”

“I’ve always had programs that I thought had big goals, big aspirations. Let’s go do great things. I want the players to feel that, and I want everybody else to believe it, too. I feel that. I’m not selling a dream here. Let’s go do something that can be done.”

Anderson employs an uptempo offense that will evoke memories of the system Tim Cluess — who also came to Iona from the Division II ranks — used to win five MAAC titles and reach six NCAA Tournaments in nine years. And after meeting with the current group of players, from which only one has entered the transfer portal since he was introduced, Iona’s new coach believes he can use the existing core to add a new layer to an existing foundation.

“I was blown away by their character, by their questions, the things they had to say,” Anderson said of the incumbent Iona players. “They all saw us play too, so it’s the same thing. There’s the portal and guys leaving, but you can stay here and do all the things you want to do right here. There’s nothing you can’t do at Iona. All that stuff, you can do here. I really believe that.”

“We’re going to press, we’re going to run, we’re going to play fast. Every kid saw us play and every kid loved how we played, and why wouldn’t you? I’m not going to hold your hand, I’m not going to slow things down. There’s a lot of freedom for our players. That’s how we do things.”

Not only is there a freedom for players to be creative on both sides of the basketball, the freedom to dream big is as abundant as ever as Anderson embarks upon his new endeavor. The son of a coach himself, he recognizes the resources available to him, and feels at home in both his surroundings and ability to craft a realistic vision of reaching the next level of success.

“For me, this is a dream job,” Anderson said. “I want to be in a place I can win. My dad always said, ‘what’s a good job? A job you can win at.’ The winning here is incredible. The people are great, the tradition’s great. We’ve gotta keep that going. All the things are in place here to do special things. FDU was like, I had to go. If I didn’t go to FDU, I might be in Division II the rest of my life, which is not a bad thing, but I had to go and take over a tough situation. Now let’s come here to a place that has more resources, more attention, more exposure, and take this thing to another level too. That’s the goal.”

“When you get to that point, get to that level, the gap’s not that big. Florida Atlantic won 30-something games. We’re right there. There’s little things, intangibles, that get you over the hump. But if you look at my track record, we’ve always been good in the postseason. My teams have always been great in March, always played well down the stretch. We plan for that, and when you win, it gets even more special. We beat Purdue, that’s a pretty hard thing to do. Getting Iona to the Sweet 16? Pretty hard thing to do, but it can be done.”