The AthleticDirectorU Podcast: Recent Episodes
AthleticDirectorU
The AthleticDirectorU Podcast features interviews with college athletics executives on a variety of topics including leadership and organizational success.
With the College Football Playoff set, Extra Points' Matt Brown and Navigate's Jeff Nelson review how Navigate's model predicted the top four teams, the circumstances needed for a Group of 5 team to make the CFP, hypothetical scenarios looking back on the season and more.
As the regular season concludes, Extra Points' Matt Brown and Navigate President Jeff Nelson review the impact of rivalry week, the remaining possibilities for the four CFP spots, the paths for Alabama, Cincinnati, Michigan, Baylor and more.
Extra Points' Matt Brown and Navigate President Jeff Nelson recap a very impactful week in college football ahead of the fourth CFP Rankings release. The pair review the path to the playoff for Notre Dame, Alabama and Oklahoma State, the impact of major rivalry games and more.
Extra Points' Matt Brown and Navigate President Jeff Nelson discuss the updated College Football Playoff projections ahead of week three of the CFP rankings. The duo discuss the Big 12's chances of having a representative in the playoff, the impact of Oregon and Ohio State's head-to-head, teams with an outside shot at making the final four and much more (00:00 - 23:50). Brown is then joined by ESPN's Bill Connelly to chat about Notre Dame's CFP candidacy, Cincinnati's chances of making the playoff and a lot more. (23:55 - 37:05).
For week two of the College Football Playoff rankings, Extra Points' Matt Brown and Navigate President Jeff Nelson discuss the underwhelming performances of many top teams, Cincinnati's chances at a top four finish following the initial rankings, impactful games outside of the top teams, Notre Dame's changes at making the playoff and more (00:00 - 16:55). Brown then sits down with The Athletic's Nicole Auerbach to dig into Cincinnati's initial #6 ranking, the chances to make the playoff as a Group of 5 team, unimpressive outings from almost all of the top teams and much more (17:00 - 30:58).
AthleticDirectorU has again partnered with Navigate to present a rich prediction model – based on 3,500 simulations of the rest of the season – for this season’s College Football Playoff. For 2021, ADU & Navigate have also added a podcast alongside the weekly projections hosted by Extra Points' Matt Brown. For the next six weeks, Brown will be joined by Navigate President Jeff Nelson and/or Senior Vice President for Client Strategy Jordan Bloem, plus a special guest.
In this year's first episode, Nelson and Bloem review Navigate's methodology behind the projections, Cincinnati's multi-year ascent, why Ohio State is projected to be ranked above Oregon despite the Ducks' early-season win in Columbus, plus lots more (00:00 - 29:58). Brown continues by welcoming UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos to discuss the undefeated campaign so far for the Roadrunners, which other Group of 5 program can be the model for UTSA and the new contract for Head Football Coach Jeff Traylor (30:03 - 41:05).
Western Michigan AD Kathy Beauregard sits down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss how her and her staff stay innovative after decades together, the highs and lows of being in the AD chair, problem solving methods and much more.
2:10 - How do you stay innovative and creative with a staff that has been at Western Michigan for so long?
5:20 - How differently do you approach things today versus 25 years ago?
9:22 - What is your method of problem solving?
11:08 - What problem solving tools and lessons have you learned from your coaches?
13:58 - Can you recall an excellent idea from a student-athlete?
16:54 - As a former gymnastics coach, what is your perspective on the current state of the sport?
21:37 - As a leader, how do you balance the highs and lows of being an AD?
24:30 - How much do the pressures of the job effect the rest of your life?
26:32 - What are your thoughts on tenured ADs stepping away from the chair?
29:55 - How will this $550 million gift to WMU, $50 million of which will go to athletics, impact the Broncos future?
36:52 - How do you go about creating the future you want to be a part of?
INFLCR’s Jim Cavale and Icon Source’s Chase Garrett sit down with AthleticDirectorU to give their thoughts on how the first month of NIL went, lay out best practices for student-athletes and schools, and what schools can do to best maximize student-athletes’ NIL opportunities.
1:11 - How do you think the first 30 days of NIL have gone?
5:45 - What are some of the best and worst practices institutions and student-athletes have enacted in this first month?
14:27 - With the rules differing across states and institutions, is there a right approach being taken and could there be a better approach?
18:53 - What should schools be doing to maximize opportunities for student-athletes?
27:17 - What are the most important things that need to happen over the next year to make sure that NIL gets off on the right foot?
AthleticDirectorU's Tai Brown and Matt Roberts sit down with Navigate Senior Vice President for Analytics and Innovation Matt Balvanz to dig deeper on the financial projections of an expanded College Football Playoff.
1:15 - Give us some initial thoughts on the analysis.
3:45 - Walk us through how you came to the projected $1.9 billion in total revenue.
6:03 - How does the projected CFP increase compare to other professional sports leagues' media rights?
9:54 - How does Notre Dame's independence factor into these projections?
12:10 - How did you project the average number of teams included in the playoff and the average payout?
15:30 - How does the possibility of first-round games being played on campus impact the projections?
20:47 - What could go wrong in the next 24 to 36 months that somehow changes the paradigm of the value of this property in the marketplace?
25:22 - Do you think any streaming platforms could be involved with an expanded playoff's media rights?
27:44 - How do the rumors of conference realignment effect these projections?
34:03 - Why does the Power 5 need the NCAA to create this type of value proposition to the marketplace?
Read more about this analysis at https://athleticdirectoru.com/articles/how-much-money-can-an-expanded-college-football-playoff-generate
Fresno State Director of Athletics Terry Tumey sits down to chat about his leadership philosophy, the ongoing evolution in college athletics, researching and hiring coaches and much more.
2:05 - What is your leadership philosophy?
5:59 - How do you balance the importance of all sports and the excitement they can bring to campus with the importance of football to the institution?
9:39 - How do you analyze whether a coach would be a good fit at your institution?
11:36 - What is your research process for finding coaches?
13:01 - Is the hiring process something you look forward to as an Athletic Director?
14:43 - How has your dynamic with the new president changed from when he was the provost?
17:31 - What is your opinion on the changing evolution of college athletics?
Florida A&M Vice President and Director of Athletics Kortne Gosha sits down to discuss his vision and changes made early in his tenure leading the Rattlers. Gosha touches on bringing in new staff, “Purpose with a Pace,” moving from the MEAC to the SWAC, the new apparel deal with Nike and much more.
2:07 - What are your thoughts on being effective early in your tenure as a new Athletics Director?
5:28 - What are your thoughts on making challenging decisions as a new leader?
10:41 - Provide some insight on the promises made between you as the new Athletics Director and the leadership of the institution.
14:34 - What was your hiring philosophy when you began your tenure leading the department?
19:09 - How did you assess the people and positions necessary to build a successful department?
21:32 - Explain your philosophy of “Purpose with a Pace” and how it relates to your thoughts on external affairs.
24:38 - What was your approach to handling a pre-existing NCAA infractions case?
28:38 - What was the strategy behind moving to a new conference?
32:38 - Give us some insight on switching apparel companies.
36:05 - When you leave one apparel company for another, do you keep the relationship with the original company?
38:09 - How important was it to be direct in your negotiations with Nike?
40:56 - How do the comprehensive experiences of your life impact your current role and leadership philosophy?
Alabama State Director of Athletics Jennifer Lynne Williams joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. The duo discuss Lynne Williams’ use of social, her philosophy on telling the Alabama State and HBCU story, the impact of her communications background, lessons in leading digital and much more.
2:48 – As an Athletic Director, how do you go about using social media?
4:46 – How do you work to strike the balance between your personal brand, your personal life and the brand of Alabama State athletics?
8:50 – What is your philosophy on telling the HBCU and Alabama State story using digital and social?
11:42 – How do you lead your strategic communications team given your background in communications?
15:06 – What went into the recent redesign and rebrand of the Alabama State athletics website?
18:09 – How do you inspire your external team to be innovative and not be afraid to fail?
20:33 – Who are you inspirations to create the culture you have fostered at Alabama State?
23:36 – What is the biggest thing you’ve learned in terms of leading, guiding and directing the strategic and digital, from where you started to where you are right now?
In this RisingADs book review, Portland State Director of Athletics Valerie Cleary and Oakland Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Experience Ashley Stone discuss Abby Wambach’s new rules for leadership in WOLFPACK. The duo focuses on leading from the bench, making failure your fuel and finding your pack and how each of those rules applies to leading in college athletics.
2:17 – What first put this book on your radar?
5:48 – One of Wambach’s eight rules is “Lead from the Bench.” While it is easy to understand how a student-athlete could apply this rule, what does leading from the bench look like to you from an athletic director standpoint, in all the roles that you have and everything that you oversee?
9:34 – iI you see someone who is leading from the bench, what are those qualities that stand out to you, other than creating change and seeing that impact?
10:22 – In what ways have you utilized rule four “Make Failure Your Fuel” throughout your career and getting to the AD chair?
13:41 – Do you have any physical reminders, or go to quotes that are in your office or elsewhere to help reconnect you to your mission? Or to your WHY?
18:23 – Rule eight is “Find Your Pack.” How has your pack or your inner circle changed over the years, if at all, as you’ve moved into higher levels of administration?
23:29 – Who are some inspirational individuals who you’ve looked up to in college athletics?
26:40 – When it comes to changing the game, whether it’s throughout college athletics or your role at Portland State, what do you want your impact to be?
28:04 – Final thoughts.
University of St. Thomas Vice President and Director of Athletics Phil Esten and Head Football Coach Glenn Caruso sit down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss the Tommies’ historic transition from Division III to Division I. Esten and Caruso discuss the gravity of the move, its impact on the institution, dealing with the challenges and changes, how they have handled the move and much more.
Brian Bowsher, Associate Athletic Director, Chief Marketing Officer for Washington, joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. The pair discuss the relationship between the core values of the institutions and the creative and marketing teams, Bowsher’s vision for leading both units and the synergies created through dual leadership, his creative leadership philosophy and “leading with context”, the Fun Dodger Creative rebrand of the internal creative unit and more.
2:54 – What does Washington’s core value of “Experimentation and Innovation” look like within the creative and marketing teams?
7:57 – How does the core value of “People Development” influence how you lead the marketing and creative teams?
13:11 – How does your leadership of creative and marketing allow your team to better tell the UW story?
20:17 – How does your title as Chief Marketing Officer impact your leadership philosophy?
26:07 – What was the creative transition between former Head Football Coach Chris Peterson and new Head Coach Jimmy Lake like?
29:59 – Who is the best either leader or creative leader you’ve been around? And why?
On this Book Review from the RisingADs podcast, UNC Asheville Athletic Director Janet Cone and UNC Wilmington Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator Tiffany Tucker discuss Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown. Cone and Tucker discuss being brave leaders, especially during the current times, being willing to rumble or have uncomfortable conversations to achieve progress, the value of the lessons of Dare to Lead for college athletics and much more. 3:27 – How would you define a brave leader and how have you worked to create a courageous culture?
11:15 – Brown emphasizes rumblings, or conversations where individuals show up vulnerable to serve the mission and each other and not their ego, and identifies it as the heart of daring leadership. For leaders who refuse to rumble with vulnerability, what is the impact on their culture and how can they even be successful?
17:19 – How have those rumblings or uncomfortable conversations helped you improve as a person and leader of your staff and student-athletes?
20:04 – How have you incorporated emotional intelligence into your leadership style?
22:50 – What are your methods in showing intent around being inclusive and supporting your student-athletes and staff around the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion?
31:59 – Brown writes that integrity is choosing courage over comfort. How has integrity influenced your passion as a leader?
34:29 – How has this book increased your value as a leader in college athletics?
Drew Martin, Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs for Texas, joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. The pair discuss setting up UT's creative solutions team, how the Longhorns are harnessing analytics to make decisions and drive their business, the importance of mentorship, creating an environment to inspire creatives and much more.
3:41 - When you first got to Texas, what changes did you make to the creative process?
8:34 - What were some of the challenges did you experience early at Texas?
10:40 - What are some of the goals for social and digital? And where does that rank amongst the overall athletic wide goals?
16:43 - Being armed with the analytics, how does that affect conversations with head and assistant coaches, staffs, people and stakeholders within the organization about content?
23:41 - Is Chris Del Conte's Twitter organic or is there a strategy behind it?
28:56 - How has your leadership style been influenced by Chris Del Conte?
37:21 - You are involved in the Creative Plug, which is about connecting, and mentoring, empowering black creatives in sports and media. Why was it important for you to get involved?
45:10 - How are you creating a space that inspires creatives?
On this Book Review from the RisingADs podcast, Fresno State Athletic Director Terry Tumey and Old Dominion Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance and Student-Athlete Welfare Randale Richmond discuss The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact. Tumey and Richmond discuss peak moments and duration neglect in creating athletic experiences, creating sustainable buy-in amidst a leadership change, the importance of transition moments and much more. 4:07 – The book references how individuals focus on peak moments and the ending moments of an experience when reminiscing about past experiences. How have you accounted for this phenomenon in designing athletic events and planning for constituency engagement?
8:00 – What are some transition moments you’ve chosen to implement or create at Fresno State? And why do you think those specific transition moments should be emphasized?
11:32 – How did you come up with the SOLVE acronym (SOLVE stands for Solution-Oriented Leaders Value Everyone)?
12:47 – How did you evaluate creating buy-in when changing the culture?
15:27 – How did you get your staff to understand the concept of duration neglect and start searching for these moments to create in athletic experiences?
19:47 – How do you create sustainable buy-in throughout the department?
24:03 – What is the impact that giving away gear can have for donors?
26:32 – Can you remember a moment or idea that a staff member brought up and subsequently owned?
29:11 – What is one overarching concept that you take when you revisit this book that you pass along to someone else?
Arkansas Head Men’s Basketball Coach Eric Musselman joins Coach Bob Walsh on the Dynamic Leadership Podcast to discuss his leadership approaches as a professional and college coach, keys to making an immediate impact on a program’s success, maintaining success, creating a partnership with his players and much more.
1:24 – How does your leadership approach differ when coaching professionals versus college?
3:22 – How did you adjust your approach when you went to college and took over at Nevada?
5:47 – Is there something about your leadership style that allows you to hit the ground running and make an immediate impact?
11:59 – How do you maintain that success over a long period of time?
16:35 – How much of your team’s leaders taking ownership is their personalities or natural leadership qualities versus you creating the opportunity to lead?
19:29 – Do you have a definition of leadership for your teams?
21:26 – Who are the coaches who have had an influence on your approach?
25:25 – Who is the best leader you’ve coached and why?
North Carolina Central Athletic Director Ingrid Wicker McCree and Texas A&M Deputy Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Experience/SWA Kristen Brown discuss their philosophies on sport administration, access and advocacy, critical skills for the role, notifying coaches of complaints and more. The conversation is moderated by Auburn Senior Associate Athletic Director/SWA Monique Holland.
1:05 - What is the philosophy for your sport administration
3:02 - What is your philosophy on access and advocacy for coaches and student-athletes?
7:15 - When you receive a student-athlete's complaint about a coach, at what point do you notify the coach of the issue?
9:29 - What are the critical skills a staff member needs to serve as a sport administrator?
11:31 - How do you balance coaches going through proper protocols with sport administrators and getting face time with their AD? (Wicker McCree)
13:06 - What is your most rewarding experience as a sport administrator? (Brown)
14:51 - Final thoughts
Florida Athletic Director Emeritus Jeremy Foley discusses his growth, from early in his leadership tenure, to care about investing in people. Foley recalls a conversation with a booster that caused him to reflect on his leadership style and realize he needed to change and how that inflection point in his career allowed him to grow as a leader.
1:13 - Early in your leadership tenure, you realized you needed to invest in people. Can you talk to about investing in people?
2:38 - How did you realize that your leadership style needed to change?
5:50 - In making that change, did you have a revelation about the errors of your previous approach?
6:24 - When did this alteration in your leadership approach occur?
7:03 - What were some of the steps you took after this introspection into your leadership style?
8:29 - How did that impact the overall culture of the athletic department?
9:04 - In your 25 years as the AD at Florida, did you lead by investing in people?
Georgia State Athletic Director Charlie Cobb joins the Higher Ed Athletics podcast to discuss the complete transformation of Turner Field into Georgia State’s football stadium and plans for an athletics neighborhood in downtown Atlanta, the new naming rights deal and what that means for the university and athletic department amidst the pandemic, President Mark Becker’s recently announced retirement and how Becker helped shape intercollegiate athletics at GSU, carrying over a blueprint of success from one institution to the next and how Cobb balances representing the entire Sun Belt conference as a member of the NCAA DI Council.
1:16 – As a part of the acquisition, purchase and repurposing of Turner Field, how did the idea unfold and what were the steps in getting this project approved?
6:03 – Walk us through the naming rights process for Georgia State Stadium and how will this help GSU coming out of the pandemic?
11:38 – With President Mark Becker announcing his retirement, what has it been like working with him and how has he impacted athletics during your tenure?
13:48 – What does it take to have a strong relationship between a college president and his or her athletic director?
16:37 – What was the key to the successes at Appalachian State when you were there and how can someone bring that similar blueprint from one institution to an entirely new university?
22:23 – As the Sun Belt’s representative on the DI Council, is it challenging representing not only GSU at those meetings but also representing every school in the Sun Belt and how does one balance that responsibility?
On this Book Review from the RisingADs podcast, Columbia Athletic Director Peter Pilling and Rice Senior Associate Athletic Director & Chief Operating Officer Tanner Gardner discuss Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell. Pilling and Gardner discuss coaching in a business sense, building trust, the importance of soft skills and caring about those you serve. 1:00 – So Peter, you knew Bill Campbell, who was the former Head Football Coach at Columbia, tell us a bit about Bill Campbell.
6:14 – We often think of coaches of our respective sports programs, but this book discusses coaches in a business sense. What do you see it to mean as being a coach for your administration and coaches?
8:40 – How do you approach building trust among your team, both when taking over in a leadership role and in an ongoing basis?
12:54 – What are some examples of how you respond in a way that emanates an environment of psychological safety?
16:56 – How do you approach giving effective feedback to coaches and staff?
21:01 – Peter, in the book in discussing hard management tactics and the “It’s the People” manifesto applied to student-athletes. How did that come about in your interactions with Bill?
26:47 – How do you think about running meetings and what is the importance of the final chapter of the book, which discusses the Power of Love?
32:59 – What is your favorite Bill Campbell story?
Self-Discovery and introspection is the discussion topic of this video featuring Mark Jackson, Director of Athletics at Villanova University. Jackson, talks about the questions people should ask themselves as they work on their self-awareness and personal and professional growth. He talks about the quiet time that is necessary for the self-discovery process to be successful and he gives his insight on Student-Athletes and introspection.
1:29 - What questions should people ask themselves when they are working through a self-discovery?
3:51 - As you grow in your self-awareness, how do you know when to evaluate the questions you ask yourself?
4:59 - Do the people close to you ever recommend that quiet time may be necessary?
7:12 - How much of internal thought on self-discovery is forward thinking and how much is about who the person is at the current moment?
9:35 - Have you seen Student-Athletes adapt the mentality of self-discovery?
11:37 - What do you ask yourself now that you’ve been in a leadership role for a few years?
Welcome to our first Book Review from the Rising ADs podcast! South Florida Athletic Director Michael Kelly and Washington State Deputy Athletic Director & Chief Operating Officer Bryan Blair discuss The Ride of a Lifetime from Disney Executive Chairman and former Chief Operating Officer Robert Iger. Kelly and Blair discuss the "Innovate Or Die" concept Iger drills on in the book, communicating and implementing change in your department, being innovative with the risk of failure, the decision-making process and much more. 2:07 - What led you to pick up this book?
Innovate or Die and Chapter 12
6:52 - How do you think innovation and creativity helps to enhance your career today and what are some examples of innovations in your career?
12:26 - Are innovation or risk taking a part of your core values or the organization's core values? How do you articulate those?
13:39 - How do you communicate oncoming change? What does that timeline look like? Who do you involve with that decision-making to make sure you’ve got the right people on both sides?
19:09 - How do you encourage your team and department to be innovative, despite the inherent risk of failure?
24:45 - How are you and your team at Washington State continuing to look toward the ahead in strategic planning, while you’re dealing with the daily challenges?
Bold Decision-Making
29:43 - What framework what process do you use when you’ve got a really hard decision you got to make?
Florida State Senior Associate AD/SWA Vanessa Fuchs and Northwestern Deputy AD/SWA Janna Blais discuss fit and culture’s impact on the hiring process, finding a candidate who is bought into the department’s culture, evaluating a hire, employee retention and much more. The duo also touch on how leadership changes or constants at Florida State and Northwestern, respectively, influence hiring and candidates. The conversation is moderated by Baylor Assistant AD for Character Formation Cori Pinkett.
1:20 - Why is culture important in hiring?
3:41 - When you have a candidate on campus, who do you make sure they meet to ensure the individual has a good sense of the culture?
5:59 - What is the impact on the culture of the changes going on at Florida State and does that impact how you view candidates to bring into the department? (Fuchs)
7:40 - How does Athletic Director Jim Phillips' leadership influence your perspective on hiring? (Blais)
10:18 - When going through the hiring process, how do you ensure you have the right person for the job?
16:20 - Is there a go-to question you use to gauge if the candidate will be a viable fit?
19:44 - How long does it take to know if a candidate was a good hire?
22:47 - What is one thing that needs to be done in the hiring process to help individuals have a successful hiring process?
26:07 - What are you doing to retain the great staff that you do hire?
Ali Fisher, Assistant AD for Creative Services for Missouri, joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. The pair discuss Fisher’s career development, which includes being the first graphic designer employed by the Tigers and developing Mizzou’s first brand guidelines document, leadership style, creating elements that fit Missouri’s history and culture, the Mizzou creative culture and much more.
2:57 – When you are collaborating with a team or department, how do you go about communicating with the stakeholders?
3:58 – How are you measuring success and communicating objectives, with projects that have been successful for you and Mizzou?
10:04 – As a part of the strategic communications staff, how do you discuss managing and communicating deadlines and projects?
15:26 – What does your creative staff look like and how would you describe your leadership style?
18:09 – What do the brand guidelines look like for Mizzou?
19:53 – What is the creative culture at Mizzou?
24:28 – How do you maintain that blue collar culture and mentality?
26:32 – How do you go about managing the creative workload for you and your team?
29:12 – How do you promote career development for your staff and stay current with trends?
33:04 – What is it like being a female leader in the creative athletic space?
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Penn State Athletic Director Sandy Barbour sits down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss the purpose and “why” for leading and working in college athletics. Barbour also touches on helping people find their “why” and defining the organization’s “why”.
1:37 - What is the next step in the evolution of the "Know Your Why" leadership philosophy?
4:17 - Does a change in leadership impact a department's core values or purpose? Or should the purpose always remain the same?
8:08 - How do you help people to understand their purpose working in athletics or just being who they are?
12:19 - How do you define your organizational purpose in terms every member of the department can understand and execute?
15:33 - In your time in leadership, have you seen someone figure out their "why"?
Ohio University Athletic Director Julie Cromer joined the Higher Ed Athletics podcast for a wide-ranging conversation. Smith and Cromer start by going inside the head of an AD planning for sports in the fall and doing so within the framework of the overall institution’s plan. She reflects on her first year in the AD Chair in Athens, OH and how the initial 100 day plan quickly shifted into leading through a pandemic. Cromer expands on how the experiences early in her career at the NCAA National Office working on major academic reform has helped shape her focus on evidence-based decision making as a leader at Indiana, Arkansas and now Ohio. Cromer ends the conversation with advice for aspiring athletic directors as they navigate the landscape of college athletics after COVID-19. 0:48 – What is the communication style and frequency like between athletic directors and the conference office like for the MAC during this whole COVID response?
3:43 – With the Big Ten switching to a conference-only football schedule, some MAC schools will lose a considerably important game financially. Ohio didn’t have a Big Ten game scheduled this year anyways. Did that sort of give your budget balancing a sense of relief?
5:32 – What kind of approaches can athletic departments take right now to make budget cuts or reduce spending when things are so incredibly unpredictable? Are there multiple projections being run with varying scenarios?
8:57 – You’re approaching your one year anniversary since being announced the AD at Ohio. Looking back on such a strange academic year, what was your initial plan coming into the job and did you then have to quickly change your approach in March?
15:42 – What did you learn from experiences at Indiana and Arkansas that were transferable to the AD job at Ohio University?
21:03 – You spent the first decade of your college athletics career at the NCAA in Academic and Membership Affairs working on major academic reform. What was that experience like working inside AMA during such a critical trajectory change in academic policy for the NCAA?
26:22 – How, if at all, has your Masters in Policy Analysis helped you in your career?
28:13 – What type of advice would you give someone that’s an aspiring athletic director when it comes to a particular in-demand skill set or certain pathway in a post-COVID college athletics landscape?
34:18 – Who are some mentors that you credit with helping instill confidence and ability to get to this point in your career?
Georgia Senior Deputy Athletic Director Josh Brooks and Ball State Deputy Athletics Director Haven Fields sit down to discuss transitioning to the Deputy AD role overseeing external operations, from their backgrounds and beginnings in internal operations, communicating your department’s unique value proposition, continuing to find new innovations, prospects or diamonds in the rough at established institutions and more.
1:36 - How was the transition from your upbringing in internal operations to overseeing external operations as Deputy AD?
4:09 - How did you get to know the various key players in the marketplace to make sure they understand the department's unique value proposition? (Fields)
6:50 - What was the transition back to Georgia like after your time as the AD at Millsaps? (Brooks)
8:05 - How are you pushing to be innovative and make a change at established institutions?
10:40 - Since your scope of responsibilities has expanded, how are you avoiding micromanaging, particularly in areas or tasks you formerly handled?
12:56 - How involved are you with other campus constituents in terms of finding success on campus and finding athletic success?
Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett sits down to discuss the challenges facing leaders and how he is leading through them, communicating core values, inflection points during his career, and advice for the next generation of leaders. The conversation is moderated by Baylor Senior Associate AD for Student-Athlete Success Marcus Sedberry.
1:05 - What are some things that have changed over the course of your tenure at the Southland Conference?
2:02 - With all of the the challenges that leaders are facing on a regular basis, how has your leadership and management style changed with it?
3:50 - How do you ensure that members understand and can execute the core values of the Southland?
4:49 - What are some of the challenges that might be impacting tenure of some of ADs, Presidents and Chancellors?
6:29 - What what can division leaders continue or begin to do to advance and enhance the FCS platform?
8:36 - What have been some inflection points during your career that have changed the trajectory of the work that you do on a daily basis?
10:41 - What were some of the things you did as a leader to help your teams and your schools navigate some of the challenges and issues happening in the industry?
12:18 - What advice do you have for leaders who are coming up in this generation, about college athletics or leadership as a whole?
South Florida Athletic Director Michael Kelly sits down with INFLCR Founder & CEO Jim Cavale to discuss Kelly’s approach to building his team during his time as COO of the College Football Playoff and early into his tenure at USF, supporting initiatives related to social media, helping student-athletes promote their brands and much more.
1:26 - How you were able to put together the team and the plan to grow the College Football Playoff into what it is today?
2:52 - What was the intention behind the CFP's multimedia approach?
5:49 - How did you approach entering your role as Director of Athletics at South Florida?
7:09 - What goes into your decision-making process when it comes to hiring decisions?
8:41 - What is your personal approach to social media?
10:49 - How are you supporting initiatives and people that have to do with social media aspect and how you're owning it as being really your own media network?
14:01 - Would you agree that student-athletes telling their stories helps USF tell its story at the same time?
Collegiate Sports Associates' Founder & President Todd Turner and VP of Consulting Brad Bates discuss their experiences and advice in navigating to become an Athletics Director. Turner and Bates chat about career advice, recommended skillsets, building relationships, flexibility and much more. The conversation is moderated by Blue Devil Network Executive Director Dave Harding.
2:21 - What are some of advantageous traits to having when becoming an athletics director?
4:08 - When you started your career in athletics, was it always your goal to become an AD or did your career lead you onto this path?
7:33 - What do you wish you had known before making the jump into the AD chair?
9:37 - Is there one track that you would recommend people take to becoming an AD?
11:57 - In the search process, what are some things that will set you apart from candidates in a negative way?
13:57 - How much emphasis should ADs and senior level administrators put on managing and making relationships with the senior level administrators for the institution? (Turner)
15:45 - How important is it for an AD to be flexible during the course of their career?
18:20 - Are there any areas where people may put too much attention into certain aspects of their professional career?
19:56 - How do you remain in touch with the student-athletes and the people on the ground level within an athletic department when you've got so many different aspects evolving so quickly?
22:24 - How do you value tenure at one institution versus an individual who has bounced around in making a hire?
24:07 - Is there one piece of advice that you wish you'd known when you were 35 years old that would have made your careers that much easier and more enjoyable?
25:41 - How much does have having a resume come across your desk for someone who did play collegiate athletics change your perception of them?
28:05 - As an AD, how would you appreciate someone that's coming up the race asking you for guidance or to stand in a mentorship position?
29:38 - What is the hardest part about being an Athletics Director?
29:52 - Who is the most important campus-based leader to form a relationship with that is not the president or chancellor?
30:47 - What is one decision you made early in your career that was extremely difficult to make at the time that you were incredibly glad you made?
32:34 - As an AD, how much time is an amount of time for an individual to be productive in their role?
35:41 - When you are a senior staff administrator looking to take the next step into becoming athletic director, what are you looking for to make sure you're applying for a job that is right for you?
Baylor Assistant AD for Mental Health Services Dr. Monique Marsh-Bell and LSU Director of Student-Athlete Mental Health Dr. LaKeitha Poole join AthleticDirectorU to chat about the intricacies of mental health services provided to student-athletes. Marsh-Bell and Poole also touch on how the COVID-19 pandemic and social injustice have affected student-athletes and their abilities to provide services, the return to campus, the future of mental health and more.
1:52 - Explain how your previous experience providing counseling services on campus differs from your current experience providing counseling services in athletics.
4:10 - What is the difference between a clinical psychologist, a sport psychologist, and a clinical social worker?
7:33 - What is your staff makeup in terms of mental services?
9:17 - What can schools with less resources do to provide mental health services for student-athletes? (Poole)
11:37 - How have you seen the mental health services industry evolve throughout your career?
14:23 - Does the face that you are African-American make it easier for African-American student-athletes to utilize your services? Is it a factor if/when student-athletes want to talk about racism or social injustice?
17:31 - What are your thoughts on the future of mental health in college athletics?
21:19 - How has the pandemic lockdown affected utilization of your services?
28:05 - Do you see any hesitation or psychological concerns amongst student-athletes related to returning to campus during the pandemic?
31:10 - Are there any procedures for returning to campus that relate to mental health and student-athletes?
34:56 - What are the NCAA's guidelines regarding mental health services within athletics departments? Do the guidelines go far enough?
38:01 - Is there anything else that the college athletics community should know about the topic of mental health services in college athletics?
AthleticDirectorU and Advent’s CEO John Roberson host a town hall with leaders from around college athletics to discuss how administrators and coaches are working to enact change on their campuses. The panel discusses promoting conversations with student-athletes, best practices for universities and departments to make a change, the responsibility of coaches to communicate with their student-athletes and much more.
3:36 - Opening remarks (Frazier)
9:34 - Over the course of your careers as leaders, what are some of the practices you have had your programs(s) engage in to promote conversations with student-athletes around issues of race, diversity and minority status? From your experience are there approaches that are largely ineffective when it comes to these types of conversations? (Jude, Frazer, Castiglione)
30:02 - Should the athletics department be spearheading these conversations with student-athletes, or does the institution have an obligation to have a unified message and effort across the entire student-body? What best practices have you seen universities undertake as it relates to these efforts? (Howard & Gill)
43:23 - What have you seen on campus that has not worked
51:14 - What is the coach's responsibility in having these conversations with their student-athletes? Why only now are we seeing coaches respond? (Tucker)
1:08:03 - How does an older, white male from a privileged background, reach a level of authenticity with a sincere desire to push for change?
1:16:30 - Is anyone working or planning to work in congruence with campus/city police to build trust and increase transparency between student-athletes/overall student body?
1:30:12 - What can African-American assistant coaches say or do, to help white head coaches to better understand how to use their voice as a catalyst for change?
1:50:41 - How will you deal with season ticket holders, donors, and alumni who don't agree with where you as an administrator or where the university stands on social injustice?
Jack Patterson, Vice President of Digital & Social Media, Multi-Media Rights for Learfield IMG College, joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. The pair discuss how Patterson and his team are working with athletic departments to retain and grow revenues during these times of uncertainty and dig in on the importance of Social+, their 18 content producing partners and the value they are providing to their partners. Patterson also touches on how the Learfield IMG College merger has impacted his department and how they can serve athletic departments and sponsors.
3:10 – How is Learfield IMG College working with its partners, in terms of social and digital, to retain and grow revenues?
5:22 – What are partners doing in the current environment since there are no sporting competitions?
8:07 – How did the Learfield and IMG College merger change how your department is serving athletic departments and sponsors?
12:23 – With the increased level of resources, are you seeing that athletic departments and sponsors feel like they’re getting better value?
14:43 – How does this Social+ work and how can it impact what athletic departments can do, in terms of social and digital and creating content?
26:27 – What advice would you give to someone who is leading their external relations, has creatives on their team and is responsible for sponsored content?
32:13 – How important is it to have the creative team involved from the beginning when creating branded content?
Every institution seemingly switched from in-person to online education as the coronavirus struck institutions across the country. As fall approaches there's still speculation as to how classes will be delivered, which leads to a lot of questions surrounding remote learning. How will institutions prevent, monitor and enforce academic integrity? Will institutions have enough time to adequately move their courses to an online format? Will they be prepared to do this again if another outbreak hits? Is online education more suited for a busy student athlete if the course design passes heavy scrutiny? Dr. Duane Dunn is the Associate Dean for Kansas State Global and he joined the Higher Ed Athletics podcast to discuss these questions and more to give listeners an idea of what's ahead in online higher education as we attempt to coincide with COVID-19. 1:46 - What's the challenge like in actually preparing an online course quickly? 7:09 - How does an institution typically prevent, monitor or even enforce discipline for academic integrity issues for remote learning? 12:52 - How would student-athletes be proctored for exams if they are taking online courses while on-campus? 17:17 - Do you think online degrees across the nation will become normalized and readily available for "traditional" students, such as student-athletes? 24:13 - What are some of the advantages and potential disadvantages of using an Online Program Management system?
NCAA Senior Vice President of Administration/CFO Kathleen McNeely sits down with UCLA Senior Associate AD/CFO Chris Iacoi and Athletic Director U to discuss the financial challenges facing college athletics and the association as a result of COVID-19.
1:29 - How did the NCAA handle the initial stages of the pandemic?
4:04 - How has your role as the business manager been affected by the pandemic?
6:19 - What went into the NCAA distribution decisions for fiscal year 19-20 and what resources were available to distribute
11:01- In developing the annual budget, what are the NCAA’s main revenue sources and what are the threats to those sources?
13:33 - What are some of the major expenses the NCAA is anticipating now and in the future?
16:32 - How much thought has gone into rebuilding budget reserves?
18:10 - Are there milestones that show how budgets will look for 20-21?
20:17 - As the national office and institutions budget forward, is it safe to assume distribution figures will return to normal?
22:59 - How are Agreed Upon Procedures (AUPs) categories defined and do you see any upcoming changes?
24:53 - How are you and how can business managers in the industry help?
Russell Houghtaling, Associate Athletic Director, Ideation at Oregon State, joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. Houghtaling discusses Oregon State's approach to handling COVID-19 for their staff, his creative leadership philosophy, sharing content during these uncertain times, the impact on creative departments, Oregon State's approach for sponsored content and much more.
3:32 - How did your department approach working from home?
6:54 - Since you began putting the plan in place in early March, how are you leading your team now?
10:36 - How is your organization operating and communicating right now?
14:31 - What will the impact of COVID-19 be on creative departments over the next academic year?
20:02 - How did your department handle the hire of a new Head Wrestling Coach during this pandemic?
22:09 - What's your though process on figuring out roles as a creative leader?
26:49 - What is Oregon State's strategy to maintain revenue without live events?
30:10 - Walk us through your Let's Go Places road trip sponsored content series.
33:19 - What is next for the Oregon State brand?
Advent CEO John Roberson joins the AthleticDirectorU Podcast to discuss the role sports can play in returning to normalcy, engaging with fans during these uncertain times, making and communicating tough decisions, leading with purpose, and aligning on points of differentiation.
Read more from John Roberson at https://athleticdirectoru.com/articles/the-renewal-of-college-athletics
Boston College Associate Vice President of Major Giving and Development Wesley Ellison Stewart and Oklahoma Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration and Development Zac Selmon sit down with CarrSports Consulting’s Kevin Anderson to discuss what makes a successful fundraiser, cultivating donors, the balance of the annual fund and sport-specific goals, and much more. Ellison Stewart and Selmon also touch on their career aspirations, their career paths, work-life balance, and developing future fundraisers.
2:11 - What skill sets are required to be a successful fundraiser
3:51 - How do you identify, involve, and cultivate donors? (Ellison Stewart)
4:46 - How do you determine what kind of gift or how much you’re going to ask for? (Selmon)
5:49 - How do you balance annual fund giving with sport-specific fundraising goals?
7:49 - How do you determine when to bring the athletic director or the coach into the fundraising process?
10:41 - How are you coordinating with university and other department to get people to come to games? (Selmon)
11:46 - Explain the process you went through to bring Boston College's first athletic campaign to the public. (Ellison Stewart)
13:12 - What was your career path that brought you to your current positions?
14:59 - How can your ADs or the people that are in your positions at their universities help you, not only be successful at your job, but your career aspirations as well?
17:26 - With your job being on 24/7, how do you balance your work and your private life?
19:51 - How do you lead and develop your fundraisers?
22:07 - What are your career aspirations?
24:03 - How do you manage different generations of individuals?
In October 2018, Long Island University announced it would consolidate the athletic departments at both of the private institution’s campuses of LIU Brooklyn (D1) and LIU Post (D2) into a single D1 institution beginning at the start of the 2019-2020 academic year, a target date it successfully hit until COVID-19 canceled spring sports. The unification, built with an entirely new athletic identity of new colors and mascot, was part of a larger strategy in building the national profile of LIU. Dr. Matinov Jr. is the athletic director for the re-branded LIU Sharks and joins Travis Smith to discuss the unique transition and offer advice to leading an athletic department through turbulent times.
0:51 – Walk us through the institutional changes that led to the Sharks.
6:39 – How are both campuses handling athletics?
8:41 – Has the athletics merger impacted academic offerings?
10:15 – Does LIU’s athletics unification provide a blueprint for other institutions?
14:19 – How did the unification impact the NCAA classification?
16:19 – How did you approach the transition of the LIU Post Football program to D1?
22:27 – What advice would you give ADs with those tough situations and the leadership style that is expected to take an athletic department through these turbulent times?
Collegiate Sports Associates Founder & President Todd Turner moderates a conversation between Eastern Kentucky Athletic Director Matt Roan, Saint Mary’s Athletic Director Mike Matoso, and Cal Baptist Athletic Director Micah Parker on creating a culture and environment for success with limited resources. The trio of ADs discuss assessing the culture upon their arrival, implementing their own culture, tough decisions for a new AD, reallocating resources, and much more.
1:30 - When you began your tenure as an AD, how did you assess the culture and prepare yourself to lead in that environment?
5:01 - How did you implement your own style, set of values, and strategies after evaluating the current environment? (Parker & Matoso)
7:50 - Did you have to make some tough decisions when you came in the new role?
10:38 - Did you have to reallocate resources to make changes to change the culture and get it moving in the right direction?
13:13 - How did you assess people’s performance with limited staff and possibly limited abilities to move them elsewhere? (Matoso)
14:10 - How did your career path prepare you to become an AD?
Jonathan Gantt, Associate Athletics Director for Creative Solutions at Clemson, joins Jay F. Hicks on the Sports Creatives Podcast. Gantt discusses how his team and Clemson Athletics have handled these uncertain times, communicating with his team and administration, the appropriate content for Clemson during this crisis, and engaging student-athletes.
3:52 – During the beginning of this crisis, what was the discussion like among creatives on your staff and who came up with the plan your office on how to move forward and how to react to all of this?
7:06 – What did the first 24 to 48 hours look like for Clemson?
9:49 – How is your team, from full-time staff to grad students to student workers, communicating and still making things work during these uncertain times?
14:58 – What is the communication with your administration in terms of obviously messaging and tone, and determining what things need to be discussed?
21:06 – What conversations are you guys having internally on what is appropriate and how to make those decisions on what content is shared for the overall brand, and then with the specific teams?
26:53 – How is your team engaging with the current student-athletes during these uncertain times and moving forward?
Washington AD Jennifer Cohen and Milwaukee AD Amanda Braun discuss how they identify and hire coaches and staff, culture and fit, expectations for other leaders making hires, and more.
1:36 - How do you try to find people that fit within a certain system that you've built at your respective athletic programs?
5:23 - What is the process for determining is a candidate is both qualified and genuine in the interview process?
8:26 - Do you have somebody that plays devil's advocate during hiring process? (Cohen)
10:08 - Is there a difference between hiring a star basketball or football coach as compared to hiring an Assistant AD?
12:59 - How do you know if a potential head coach has what it takes to succeed at your institution?
17:18 - How are you ensuring that the other leaders in your organization are meeting your expectations for new hires?
20:32 - How far ahead are you thinking when it comes to hiring?
Matt Oberlin, Associate AD of Capital Projects, Facilities & Events at Central Michigan, and April Messerly, Associate AD/Facilities & Operations at West Virginia, sit down with Athletic Director U to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on facilities, event management and capital projects. Oberlin, current president of CEFMA, and Messerly, a past president of CEFMA, discuss concerns among their peers, how facilities are being maintained, the impact on capital projects, and more.
0:32 - Introduction
2:24 - What are some of the concerns and discussions during this time with regard to facilities, event management and capital projects?
5:39 - How are you handling the maintenance of athletic fields?
9:06 - How have these changes impacted the relationship and communications with the university?
10:45 - What is the impact of the current state of affairs on capital projects?
17:22 - What has your communication with coaches been?
21:34 - How will the COVID-19 pandemic change how you think about details of facilities in the future?
Jay F. Hicks sits down with Michigan’s Digital Strategy and Creative Lead Brian Wagner and Texas’ Assistant Director, Digital and Social Strategy Marc Jordan to talk about the NCAA’s United For One campaign, led by this duo. The trio talked about the hours and days when the NCAA was beginning to cancel competitions and then seasons due to the corona virus outbreak, how their respective social and digital teams are continuing to operate, how their creative and social teams are continuing to tell the brand story, and so much more.
3:36 – Can you walk us through the origination and execution of the United For One campaign?
11:03 – How do you feel like the campaign was received online, in terms of getting the message out?
14:22 – How did your respective athletic departments handle when competitions and later seasons were beginning to be canceled?
20:53 – How are you operating with everyone on your respective digital social and external teams, including graduate assistants or student workers?
26:15 – How are you guys continuing to create content and tell the brand story? And then what does that look like moving forward?
32:03 – Have you found that you’ve either altered or kept your voice or your tone in the brand that you’ve build and found appropriate ways to do that?
INFLCR Founder & CEO Jim Cavale sits down with State Representative Chip LaMarca and Darren Heitner of Heitner Legal, two of the leaders behind the NIL bill that recently passed in the Florida State Legislature.
Teamworks Founder & CEO Zach Maurides sits down with Athletic Director U to discuss communicating to constituents amidst all the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Maurides discusses how organizations can utilize the Teamworks platform, which is open to all athletic departments for free through the end of April, and the importance of instant communication with student-athletes, staff, coaches, and other stakeholders.
Monmouth Athletics Director Marilyn McNeil and Grand Canyon Interim Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs sit down with Athletic Director U to discuss their approach and strategy to providing feedback to their staff, coaches, and student-athletes of different experiences and backgrounds and how they receive feedback from their superiors and coaches.
1:26 - What is your approach to giving feedback to staff, administrators, coaches, or student-athletes?
3:11 - What is your strategy in dealing with people that have different experiences, backgrounds, etc.?
6:34 - How do you learn about the feedback each individual responds best to, whether they need specific direction or open collaboration?
11:08 - How do you ensure that you are equipped with the knowledge to provide feedback to individuals in all areas of your organization?
13:40 - What do you think the best way for somebody to give you feedback?
NCAA Vice President for Women’s Basketball Lynn Holzman sits down with Athletic Director U to dig into the current state and trajectory of women’s basketball. Holzman touches on the strategic plan, response from issues in men’s basketball, the transfer portal, rule changes, and more. Holzman also chats about the value of her past experience as the Commissioner of the West Coast Conference and what she wishes she knew early in her career.
0:57 - How did your experience as Commissioner for the West Coast Conference help you in your current role?
3:12 - What does not translate from your experience as Commissioner?
4:47 - Can you provide updates to the women's basketball strategic plan and what metrics you are using to judge progress?
10:44 - What has the response been from women's basketball coaches and stakeholders to the events that have transpired in men's basketball?
12:57 - Where and who is that feedback on those issues coming from?
14:44 - How is the transfer portal unique to women's basketball?
16:14 - Can you consciously see a difference in your opinions from your time as Commissioner to now as the Vice President of Women's Basketball?
17:20 - What rule changes are potentially on the horizon for women's basketball?
19:17 - If you could write a letter to your younger self, what advice would you give yourself and what do you wish you knew when you got into this industry?
20:33 - What would you point to as a speed bump in your own career that ended up being beneficial?
22:00 - What do you want the membership to know about the trajectory of women's basketball?
Dr. Eric Wood, UCF Deputy Athletic Director, joins Travis Smith on the Higher Ed Athletics podcast. In this episode Smith and Wood discuss pursuing advanced degrees and how they can be helpful for current and future athletic directors based on challenges facing the industry. Deciding to pursue a doctoral degree was an intentional decision for Wood to demonstrate commitment to keeping higher education at the forefront of intercollegiate athletics. As both a practitioner and academic, Wood discusses the communication challenges between researchers and administrators within college athletics. This conversation will have the audience ready to look up the list of advanced degrees offered at their own institutions.
Oregon State Associate Head Women’s Basketball Coach Jonas Chatterton, Drury Head Women’s Basketball Coach Molly Miller, and UNC Wilmington Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach chat with Ventura Partners’ Katy Young Staudt about a multitude of topics around the sport, namely the topic of men coaching women’s basketball. The trio also dig in on the differences and similarities between men’s and women’s basketball coaching, development, and recruiting, while also touching on mental health, coaching turnover, and advice for young coaches.
2:35 - Are there too many men coaching women's sports? (Chatterton)
4:33 - What is the value of having a male on a coaching staff for women's sports? (Martin & Miller)
8:56 - What will it take to have more women coaching men's sports? (Miller & Martin)
10:51 - What are some of the differences between coaching men versus coaching women?
16:27 - Do you see a difference in the development between men's and women's basketball? (Martin & Chatterton)
19:36 - As a man coaching women's basketball, do you feel that your student-athletes are comfortable coming to you? (Chatterton)
20:59 - How do you approach and manage the mental health of your student-athletes?
23:52 - Do you discuss the more volatile turnover present in women's basketball?
26:30 - What advice would you give to an athletic director on how to know if an assistant coach is ready to be a head coach?
30:53 - What can we do to better prepare young assistant coaches for their next opportunity?
Newly appointed Western Carolina AD, Alex Gary, joins the AthleticDirectorU Podcast just after he is announced as the leader of the WCU Athletics Department. Gary, former Sr. Associate AD for Development at Oregon State touches on his leadership philosophy, his value alignment with the institution, being a part of a new administration on campus at WCU, and his excitement to get to know the Catamounts Student-Athletes.
Elon Athletics Director Dave Blank and George Mason Athletics Director Brad Edwards chat with AthleticDirectorU about employee retention, professional development and burnout. The duo lay out their hiring and search process strategies, onboarding positives and negatives, providing opportunities for employees, and maximizing an employee’s quality. 1:22 – What are your general hiring strategies and what do you to to ensure employees are fulfilled in their work?
5:02 – What does the onboarding process for a new employee look like?
11:46 – Was there moments in your career where you encountered an onboarding situation where you said, maybe this is or is not the right way to go about doing things?
16:30 – How are you working to provide opportunities for your employees to have autonomy, have mastery in what they’re trying to do and purpose and in the grander scheme of things?
21:59 – What are one or two things that leaders can do to make sure that they are maximizing the quality of their employees?
Jacksonville Athletics Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert and Cal State Bakersfield Athletics Director Ziggy Siegfried sit down with Purdue Associate Athletics Director for Strategic Initiatives Tom Moreland to discuss getting comfortable in the AD chair. With similar experiences being promoted to the chair from within, Ricker-Gilbert and Siegfried discuss major decisions, decisions they would handle differently, areas of improvement, advice to first-time athletics directors and more.
1:19 - Walk us through the first major decision you made after stepping into the chair.
6:02 - What was a decision that you would have handled differently early in your tenure?
10:43 - How will you build a search committee the next time you hire a coach? (Siegfried)
11:41 - What is an area you seek to improve at as you continue to sit in the athletics director chair?
15:22 - Are there any disadvantages in being hired internally?
19:44 - What advice would you give to new athletics directors to prepare them for their first time in the chair?
Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade, CIAA Commissioner Jacqie Williams and George Washington Director of Athletics Tanya Vogel sit down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss constituent management, managing influence, filtering information, and maximizing stakeholder value. The trio also touches on weighing opinions from various stakeholders and more.
1:44 - How do you manage the many people that want to have influence over the leadership positions that you have?
5:56 - How do you filter through all of the information and data that’s coming to you to be able to come to a decision on what consensus really looks like?
10:06 - How do you measure all of the different opinions and how do you make decisions?
13:48 - Walk us through the CIAA's decision to relocate its men's and women's basketball tournament from Charlotte to Baltimore. (McWilliams)
16:28 - How does the long-term strategic planning process begin and evolve at the conference level? (McGlade)
18:47 - In the business world and the for-profit world, they say that a CEO’s job is to maximize shareholder value. Obviously, we don’t necessarily have shareholders in college athletics, but what is your ultimate job for the student-athletes or presidents that you may serve?
Tailgate Guys Founder & CEO Parker Duffey hosts a trio of Deputy ADs – Mississippi State’s Jared Benko, Kentucky’s DeWayne Peevy, and Clemson’s Graham Neff – for an in-depth conversation about the Deputy AD role. The group discusses career paths and plans, managing up, addressing their weaknesses, and much more.
1:20 - What are some misconceptions about the Deputy AD position?
3:20 - How do you manage up and what is the importance of managing up as a Deputy AD?
5:56 - As a Deputy AD, what do you wish you knew more about?
9:24 - What are you doing to improve and work on your weaknesses?
13:18 - How specific was your career plan and how aligned has that been plan been with your career path?
18:23 - How do you balance your responsibilities and influence with being able to make things happen?
20:38 - How do you communicate across campus about major issues in college athletics and what your departments are doing about these issues?
25:17 - What are the characteristics of the perfect institution if and when you would step into the AD chair?
INFLCR Founder & CEO Jim Cavale sits down with AthleticDirectorU to dig into the future of Name, Image, And Likeness and the potential these changes pose for INFLCR. Cavale discusses the promotion of the "we" mentality, changes to the INFLCR business, scale, preparing for change, and much more.
1:11 - In a recent blog post, you mentioned that some worry about NIL changes creating a "me" environment, but how do you believe these changes will further the “we” mentality?
3:20 - Do you think NIL changes will allow for further amplification of team and institutional brands?
5:23 - How will potential NIL changes impact mid-level athletes?
7:52 - If you were a senior administrator, how would you be preparing for impending NIL changes?
10:14 - Is the INFLCR platform positioned to adapt to potential NIL changes and help connect brands with student-athletes?
12:08 - How would these changes alter your business model?
13:35 - Can you scale the potential new aspects of the business to serve all the student-athletes that use the INFLCR and Teamworks platforms?
14:58 - How would this potential new revenue stream fit into your business?
UCLA Assistant Softball Coach Kirk Walker and Vanderbilt Director of Baseball Operations Brooks Webb sit down with Teamworks Founder & CEO Zach Maurides to chat about the behind the scenes dynamics that contribute to the success of UCLA softball and Vanderbilt baseball. Walker and Webb touch on their day-to-day responsibilities, managing change, defining success, fostering a competitive culture, and much more.
0:53 - What is a typical day like within your program? (Walker)
1:53 - How do you balance all of your work responsibilities and your personal life? (Walker)
2:46 - What is a typical day like within your program? (Webb)
5:56 - With the successes of your programs, how do you manage change?
9:08 - What is unique about the next generation of student-athletes?
12:50 - How do you help instill and foster the competitive drive of student-athletes?
15:36 - How do you define success?
18:16 - What is one piece of advice you would give to another program to help elevate their program?
Knight Commission CEO Amy Perko and Knight Commission consultants, Collegiate Sports Associates Founder Todd Turner and Penn State Assistant AD, New Business Development & Athlete Viewpoint Co-Founder Michael Cross sit down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss the Knight Commission, its past, the current focus, issues looming for college athletics, and more.
2:18 - What is your leadership vision for the Knight Commission? (Perko)
4:02 - What is the primary focus for the Knight Commission? (Perko)
4:56 - What is your role with the Knight Commission? (Turner & Cross)
7:40 - In your consulting role, how do you help Amy Perko and the Knight Commission execute its purpose?
11:17 - How has the adoption of Knight Commission recommendations changed since its inception in the 1980s? (Perko)
13:30 - What is the "now" for the Knight Commission? (Turner)
14:59 - How difficult is it to think five and ten years ahead? (Perko)
17:37 - How do you manage all of your on-campus duties in addition to thinking about the mission of the Knight Commission?
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman sits down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss the state of the Big East in 2020. Ackerman provides insights on the overall state of women's basketball, the addition of UConn, student-athlete mental health, and measuring success for the league.
1:05 - How do you feel about the college women's basketball product overall?
3:19 - Could women's basketball achieve better parity by balancing scholarship opportunities across women's sports?
5:28 - How is the Big East looking to profile women's basketball with the return of UConn and added levels of exposure to the sport?
8:07 - How do you view UConn's football situation, as it joins the conference?
10:45 - How will the Big East measure the successes of adding UConn back into the Big East?
12:49 - What are the benefits and challenges you are seeing with implementing mental health initiatives league-wide?
Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos and Faculty Athletics Representative Jo Potuto sit down with AthleticDirectorU to provide insights on synergy between the AD and FAR positions. Moos and Potuto chat about accountability, communication style and frequency, differing perspectives, and much more.
1:22 - How would you define the accountability between the AD and the FAR?
3:00- What is the structure of communication between the AD and the FAR?
6:00 - How do you utilize the unique perspective of your counterpart to move the mission of the institution forward?
8:22 - For the FAR, what is the onboarding process for a new AD?
9:10 - What is your dynamic with previous FARs? (Moos)
10:13 - How do you keep the FAR abreast of major decision happening regarding the athletic department? (Moos)
11:55 - How do you reconcile with tough conversations or disagreements? (Moos)
13:03 - What are the campus-facing side of the FAR responsibilities? (Potuto)
15:10 - How have your experiences on various committees informed how you operate as the FAR? (Potuto)
16:22 - What is the value for creating a relationship with the FAR for aspiring ADs? (Moos)
17:47 - What advice would you give to those in, or aspiring to hold, leadership roles to help understand the FAR role and the perspective of the institution? (Potuto)
Ahead of the official announcement to transition to Division I, Tarleton State President James Hurley sits down with AthleticDirectorU to discuss the reasons behind the transition, who he has leaned on to transition to Division I, how Tarleton State engaged its constituents in the decision, and the potential impacts on TSU academically, athletically, and financially.
Travis Smith is joined by Robert Morris University president Dr. Chris Howard on the Higher Ed Athletics podcast. Smith and Dr. Howard discuss presidential oversight in the NCAA governance model and Dr. Howard shares his thoughts on how cash in the system has led us to the Name, Image and Likeness moment. As his term is now complete, Dr. Howard talks about the perspective a university president can provide to the College Football Playoff selection committee while also being honest about the limitations of options with so few division one presidents having football experience. Howard ends the conversation with advice for both university presidents and athletic directors so that each can better understand one another's role in American higher education. 1:30 - Why did you decide to pursue a college presidency? 4:00 - Did you ever consider being a college athletic director instead given your background? 6:00 - Explaining the role of a university president in the NCAA governance model 7:00 - Thoughts on Name, Image and Likeness 9:00 - Joining the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics 12:30 - What type of perspective can a university president bring to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee? 15:45 - Advice to institutional presidents on the role of college sports in American higher education 19:30 - Advice to athletic directors on how to stay current with higher education outside of athletics
San Jose State AD Marie Tuite and Eastern Washington AD Lynn Hickey join Portland State AD Valerie Cleary to discuss creating organizational culture as a new leader in a familiar setting. With all three women serving at their respective institutions prior to becoming Directors of Athletics, the trio touches on keys to creating organizational culture, the impact of hiring, and bringing that culture to the rest of campus.
FAU AD Brian White and New Mexico AD Eddie Nuñez join UCF Deputy AD Eric Wood to discuss their experiences leading new organizations. The trio reviews soliciting feedback, setting expectations for coaches and staff, evaluating progress, and key allies on campus to help move the mission and brand of the institution forward.
Katie Cavender, Assistant Director of Communications for College Football Playoff joins Jay F. Hicks on the newly co-branded AthleticDirectorU and Sports Creatives Podcast. The duo talk about the process of changing the College Football Playoff’s voice on social to be more engaging and less corporation which involved navigating relationships with the organization’s numerous stakeholders to get buy-in.
Texas State Head Women’s Basketball Coach, Zenarae Antione, is joined by Head Men’s Basketball Coaches Anthony Stewart of UT Martin and Russell Turner of UC Irvine for an in-depth conversation on social issues in the industry. The discussion provides insights on hiring minorities as head coaches, women coaches in men’s basketball, and addressing sexuality within the sport.
1:02 - Jeremy talks about his small town roots, and shares how valuable of a decision it was to play Div II baseball at Delta State under Coach Marchant.
7:10 - Jeremy shares the core values and the mental shift that he went through when competing for a spot on the Boston Red Sox, and credits his coaches for helping to build those values and support him as he grew personally and professionally.
8:56 - Jeremy shares a Mike Kinnison coaching story from when the Delta State team was competing in the World Series, and an occasion where Jeremy needed to be pushed to succeed, but also received heartfelt encouragement from his coach.
11:20 - Jeremy discusses the shift from playing at the college level to professional baseball in the minor leagues, and describes the increase in intensity along with the importance of taking care of yourself throughout the process.
12:43 - Jeremy talks about the path that took him from baseball back to working in college sports, and from getting married to earning an MBA, to deciding that he was unhappy in his corporate job and making the decision to work in development for Delta State University.
That decision would lead to an opportunity to take charge as Athletic Director after Brad Teague’s departure.
18:57 - Jeremy shares his thought process in realizing that it was time for the next step in his career after 6 years at Delta State, and the transition from working in Div II to Div I. His career journey would take him from AD at Delta State, to Deputy AD at Southern Miss, to AD at Troy, until he would come full circle back as Athletic Director at Southern Miss.
22:20 - Jeremy talks about the tough decisions and tough conversations that need to be made by athletic leadership, and how his personal process for those situations is driven by faith and by colleagues who can have valuable and candid discussions.
28:00 - “For me, it’s always been about being creative on the revenue side. How can we get more resources to our student-athletes and our coaches, where they can get their needs list met?”
Jeremy talks about looking at both sides of the balance sheet from a financial leadership perspective, and how his philosophy revolves around creating more opportunities for resources to avoid budget cuts whenever possible.
37:16 - Jeremy shares his number one piece of advice for professionals moving up in their careers in college sports, and his vision for Southern Miss athletics
Naima Stevenson Starks, the NCAA’s new Vice President of Hearing Operations gives AthleticDirectorU an update on the position and the new enforcement structure. Stevenson Starks emphasizes that the new process is designed to accommodate certain types of cases rather than supplant the current enforcement structure. The conversation covers the use of independent members and answers the key question that people in the industry want to know, will the new structure speed up the enforcement process?
Kentucky's Mitch Barnhart joins Travis Smith for a wide ranging conversation on the Higher Ed Athletics podcast. Barnhart explains why and how a Power 5 AD keeps the focus on non-revenue sports in a football and men's basketball driven market. Barnhart then sheds light on the built-in relationship between athletic directors and presidents that comes with the NCAA governance model. Barnhart explains to Smith why having a small group of counselors for advice on difficult decisions is critical in this industry and what aspiring athletic directors need to understand about higher education outside of just their athletic department. 01:14 - Background story 05:50 - What the less than 1,000 student Ottawa University experience taught him that he still uses in his position at Kentucky? 08:55 - Growing his AD tree and his leadership style for aspiring ADs 12:21 - How Power 5 ADs with football and men's basketball keep focus on non-revenue sports 15:35 - Kentucky's approach to Generational Leadership 17:56- Relationship between athletic directors and presidents in athletic conferences and within NCAA governance model 21:30 - Importance of having relationships with people in the industry for counsel and advice 24:11 - Favorite Books 25:24 - What keeps you up at night? 26:59 - Thoughts on what ADs need to understand about higher education outside of athletics
Success Beyond Winning is the topic of conversation between Sean Frazier, AD at NIU, John Hartwell, AD at Utah State, and Learfield/IMG Executive VP and former AD, Mike Hamilton. The three touch on defining success beyond the easy evaluation points of wins and losses. Frazier and Hartwell talk about internal versus external messaging when discussing athletic expectations, insight on fans and realistic expectations, and the group wraps the discussion on an aspirational note.
Justin Burleigh, Chief Product Officer at Ticketmaster, talks about the company’s new digital ticketing product, Presence. With the primary benefit of tying tickets to a person or device, athletic departments can now understand who is in their respective venues and what those patrons want to experience when attending events. Burleigh also discusses some of the new products that Ticketmaster is releasing and how the company can provide input into event facilities renovation and construction.
Athletics leaders, Ed Scott of Morgan State and Stevie Baker-Watson of DePauw join Jason Fein, of Bates College, on AthleticDirectorU to discuss work-life balance while leading a small staff. The trio discuss identifying professional fatigue, schedule flexibility, and advice to new leaders on life in the chair.
Chris Freet, Deputy Athletics Director for External Engagement at the University of Kansas, joins Jay F. Hicks on the newly co-branded AthleticDirectorU and Sports Creatives Podcast. The duo discuss Freet's first time overseeing development and creating a culture of success for the Jayhawks, the priority of social and digital for senior leadership team, and the challenges of developing social and digital in Lawrence. The conversation also covers the Miles to Go series on ESPN+, featuring Head Football Coach Les Miles, the fears that leadership had to overcome, the show's ideation, and much more.
Washington State Director of Athletics, Pat Chun, and Sr. Associate AD & COO, Bryan Blair, are joined by Jean Frankel, President & CEO of Ideas for Action LLC in this episode of the AthleticDirectorU Podcast. The trio give in depth insight about various aspects of the new strategic plan. Including thoughts on why parts of it were included and how they will be executed.
For an in depth look at the Eligibility Center, NCAA Vice President Felicia Martin visits with AthleticDirectorU on a variety of topics, starting her view of the unit prior to arriving in Indianapolis. Martin also discusses the functionality of her team, reviews recent core curriculum changes, academic fraud trend lines and much more.
Jim Knowlton, Director of Athletics at Cal, discusses building strategic alliances as a new leader. Knowlton touches on his meticulous process of deliberate listening during the first 90 days on campus and how it ties in with creating alliances with the campus community. Knowlton also talks about the important role of the President when establishing a collaborative presence on campus.
Tim Brogdon, Assistant AD/Digital Strategy at the University of Miami, joins Jay F. Hicks on the newly co-branded AthleticDirectorU and Sports Creatives Podcast. The two discuss internal creative agencies, being the top advocate for social and digital to senior leadership in order to innovate, and Miami’s process of under going a brand audit. The conversation also covers Miami’s ongoing education with the organization’s SID to ensure the brand’s social and digital strategies are being properly executed.
AthleticDirectorU presents a football head coaches roundtable focused on the topic of staff development. Head coaches Kevin Sumlin of Arizona, Glenn Caruso of University of St. Thomas (MN), Lance Leipold of Buffalo, and Mark Farley of Northern Iowa join Josh Hoeg, Offensive Coordinator at Stevenson University, to discuss the nuances of leading a football program, while simultaneously developing those who are being led. The insights provided go far beyond coaching football.
Athletic Directors, Sherryta Freeman of Lafayette and Martin Newton of Samford, join Zach Maurides, Founder and CEO of Teamworks, for a conversation centered on leveraging skills developed as a former athlete in their current roles leading an entire athletic department. Freeman and Newton discuss how they channel their competitive nature, advice they give to administrators who didn’t play college sports, and advice to student-athletes who want to work in the business.
TCU Deputy Athletics Director, Mike Sinquefield, provides insight on his leadership style. Going from support positions such as Equipment Manager and Director of Football Operations, Sinquefield still sees himself as a leader who is on campus to support and serve coaches and Student-Athletes. He also goes into his process of helping current TCU AD Jeremiah Donati adjust to his role leading the department.
With a very insightful discussion on talent and its inherent influence on culture and vice versa, AthleticDirectorU hosts a conversation featuring Ryan Hawk of The Learning Leader Podcast, Mark French the brains behind The Players Tribune, Jacqueline Williams-Roll who is the Chief HR Officer with General Mills, and Laura Juras, the VP of People & Culture at the Minnesota Vikings. This group talks about important aspects of creating an excellent culture, cultivating talent, learning from your career path, and much more.
NCAA Executive VP for Regulatory Affairs, Stan Wilcox, visits with AthleticDirectorU on the nature of his current position and gives his thoughts on managing the wide array of challenges that face college athletics. He also provides a brief overview of the decision making structure within the NCAA.
Bob Bowlsby, Commissioner of the Big-12 Conference, joins fellow college athletics leader, Jeff Hathaway in a discussion for AthleticDirectorU on the evolving landscape of college athletics. Bowlsby gives his thoughts on a number of topics from making final decisions as the leader to amateurism in college athletics. The two also dive into their thoughts on attendance to live events.
Directors of Athletics, Keri Becker of Grand Valley State and Anthony Azama of Washington University of St. Louis, sit down with Shamaree Brown, Director of Student-Athlete Programs & Compliance at the ACC, to discuss taking over a successful athletics department. Moderated by Brown, Becker and Azama talk about the pressures of living up to winning expectations, establishing a new vision as a leader, evolving as a leader, and measuring success in the chair.
Developing and executing a strategic plan for an athletics department is one of the most important tasks an Athletics Director can undertake because of its importance in laying a foundation for the future success of the organization. Washington State's Director of Athletics, Pat Chun, and Sr. Associate AD for Sports Administration, Bryan Blair, give AthleticDirectorU an inside look to some of the processes they've undertaken as they develop and implement a strategic plan for Cougar Athletics.
Men’s Basketball Assistant Coaches Duane Simpkins of George Mason, Donny Guerinoni of Harvard, and Chris Capko of Southern Cal get together with Chad Chatlos of Ventura Partners and AthleticDirectorU to cover issues facing college basketball. The trio provides their thoughts on the FBI investigation, the Rice Commission’s recommendations, professional development as an assistant coach, and the head coaching search process.
Florida Director of Athletics, Scott Stricklin, and Baylor’s Associate AD and Acrobatics & Tumbling Coach Felecia Mulkey visit with AthleticDirectorU to discuss evolution as a leader. Coach Mulkey moderates the conversation as Stricklin describes the value of introspection, self-awareness and a variety of additional topics.
Jared Smith, President at Ticketmaster, visits AthleticDirectorU to discuss a number of topics ranging from leadership to the customer experience. Smith expresses excitement about the growth of the ticket and entertainment industry, specifically the introduction of the digital ticket.
Fundraising is the topic of this episode of the AthleticDirectorU Podcast. Associate Dean for Advancement at Rutgers Business School, Richard Knupp, and Ben Broussard, Assistant Vice Chancellor & Senior Associate AD for Advancement at Colorado, discuss the process of communicating with donors during changes in leadership. They also dive into mistakes that may drive away potential donors.
Duke Athletics Director, Kevin White, chats with AthleticDirectorU about career development and his track record of producing ADs. White points to leadership and political acumen as two of the most important skills necessary to run an athletic department. During a reflective moment, White also expresses his appreciation for the long list of administrators who have come under his leadership and added to his own knowledge base.
Peter Pilling, Director of Athletics at Columbia and Bernie Mullen, Chairman and Founder of The Aspire Group, visit AthleticDirectorU to talk about third party partnerships and rights in college athletics. The two discuss the current trend of outsourcing revenue streams and the possibilities of where outsourcing could possibly go in the future within the college athletics industry.
Sherard Clinkscales, AD at Indiana State, and Shawn Heilbron, AD at Stony Brook, visited with AthleticDirectorU to discuss loving the lifestyle of leadership in college athletics. The two leaders touch on some challenges of the profession, such as work-life balance and reconciling with Student-Athletes after a coach leaves. Both also cover the importance of a family atmosphere and sincerity as ingredients for a successful culture in college athletics.
Joe Moglia, Chairman of Athletics and former Head Football Coach at Coastal Carolina, visits AthleticDirectorU to discuss the guiding principles he uses for his personal life, as well as in his professional leadership roles. These principles are being able to stand on your own two feet, taking responsibility for yourself, treating others with dignity and respect, and living with the consequences of your actions. Moglia also emphasizes hiring as a leader's number one job to lead an organization to success.
Directors of Athletics Tim Hall of UMBC and Thorr Bjorn of Rhode Island visit with AthleticDirectorU to discuss collaboration and innovation in college athletics. Moderated by Towson Deputy Athletic Director/Senior Woman Administrator Tricia Turley Brandenburg, the conversation covers topics related to embracing technology, including campus partnerships, balancing requests from coaches, and much more.
Georgetown Director of Athletics, Lee Reed, and Dr. Maya Ozery, Executive Director of the Cooper Athletics Leadership Program visit with AthleticDirectorU to discuss making Student-Athlete Development a priority. The two talk about the involvement of the Georgetown’s President and the process of garnering support from donors to push the mission forward. Reed & Ozery also dive into engaging coaches and staff to ensure those in the Student-Athlete Development roles are empowered throughout the department.
Athletics Directors Chris King of Texas Rio Grand Valley and Justin Sell of South Dakota State visit with AthleticDirectorU to discuss mentoring top staff members. Reviewing the attributes of what makes someone an "A" player, King and Sell both identify those who embody values such as integrity and the pursuit of excellence as important factors. The conversation also covers the interview process, talent development, evaluating progress and offer advice on what would have been helpful to them as they were ascending the ranks of college athletics. Hayden Garrett of Parker Executive Search moderates the conversation.