The AthleticDirectorU Podcast

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 126:52 - 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-Making29:43 - 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?

Powered by Ticketmaster   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?