Higher Ed Athletics

Travis Smith
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College Athletics is a Decision Sport. Higher Ed Athletics helps aspiring athletic directors get better by interviewing the top administrators in division one college athletics.

  1. 3D AGO

    AD Short Lists for Toledo, Kentucky, Oregon State and Wisconsin

    To continue demonstrating how I think about AD openings as I work to break into executive search, here are my shortlists for Toledo, Kentucky, Oregon State and Wisconsin. I try to base these names off reality (contracts), trends and situational needs of the institutions. I do not use sources for these names and no one has influenced me to mention their names. These are not predictions but instead the names I would reach out for to measure interest if Higher Ed Athletics was leading the search. 0:00 Introduction3:45 Toledo9:35 Kentucky20:30 Oregon State27:38 Wisconsin

    38 min

  2. 4D AGO

    New Haven Athletic Director Devin Crosby

    Devin Crosby joined HEA to talk in-depth about New Haven's 5-day decision to reclassify from D2 to D1. Under his watch New Haven raised $9 million to help support the transition. The first half of the episode is about institutional vision and alignment. Then the conversation shapes into advice on how ADs can think creatively to solve problems, like manufacturing a football rivalry with a local non-conference school. Crosby has spent much of his career in D1 but he was also a D2 AD at Lynn University for 8 years. We talked about how aspiring D1 ADs could benefit from applying to D2 AD jobs. 0:00 Introduction1:30 The 5-Day D1 Decision7:25 AD Vantage - Where Victory is Vetted8:50 Raising $9 Million the Same Year13:00 The Blueprint After the Decision21:20 Manufacturing a Football Rivalry23:30 The South Florida Showdown25:10 Onrise - Mental Health Care for Athletes26:43 Leadership Style & Empathy31:35 Should D1 Administrators Consider D2 AD Jobs?37:10 Advice for Aspirational ADs AD Vantage empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts. Learn more: https://www.athleticdirectorvantage.comOnrise provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue. Learn more: https://onrise.care

    39 min

  3. APR 6

    Eric George: Rice Deputy Athletic Director

    Eric George joined the Rice Owls in late 2023 after 4 years at Clemson where he started as the Senior Associate AD/CFO before being promoted to Deputy AD. He is a business-minded strategist with a CPA that has worked for some incredible athletic directors. This conversation is mostly focused on how George thinks in his job, how he learns from others, and how he and his wife processes opportunities that led him to Rice and the ones that he will have in the future. I finish by asking Eric about the trend in FBS AD hires going younger lately and how that might change his approach. Eric is very focused on his deputy role at Rice and learning from Tommy McClelland, but I know he will be a great AD for some school at some point. 0:000 Introduction2:25 Proud Rice Initiatives So Far # 15:45 HEA: AD Chair Strategy Sessions7:18 Proud Rice Initiatives So Far # 28:50 AD Vantage - Where Victory is Vetted10:10 Learning from Great Athletic Directors13:55 Studying Athletic Director Content & Interviews16:35 How Eric Keeps Thoughts Organized for Future AD Role23:55 Career Design & Processing Opportunities33:40 Onrise - Mental Health Care for Athletes34:41 Balancing AD Ambitions with Deputy AD Demands37:20 The Evolving Role of the FBS Athletic Director42:40 FBS Presidents Taking Chances on Younger First-Time ADsHEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. Learn more: ⁠https://pilytix.ai/ AD Vantage empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts. Learn more: https://www.athleticdirectorvantage.com Onrise provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue. Learn more: https://onrise.care

    48 min

  4. APR 1

    Studying Athletic Director Press Conferences: Syracuse, Oklahoma, Charlotte, New Mexico

    The idea of "AD Film Study" is to watch a handful of athletic director press conferences and break them down in a way that I think can help future ADs in preparing for their introductory press conference, whether that be in their words or understanding the settings of the press conferences. At the end I offer a list of final thoughts and tips based on what I observed.I watched Bryan Blair (Syracuse), Roger Denny (Oklahoma), Kevin White (Charlotte) and Ryan Berryman (New Mexico) press conferences. Each situation was different when you think about it. Blair was the G6 sitting AD that is now joining the P4. Most Syracuse fans expected it to be someone with ties to the university and Blair had to introduce himself to the fan base. Denny was a surprise hire at Oklahoma coming from Illinois when everyone thought Oklahoma would go industry outsider or at least hire a sitting AD. Kevin White was the P4 deputy from Clemson, likely seen as an aspirational peer school to Charlotte from an athletic department perspective, and had more of a traditional pathway to the AD chair. Ryan Berryman was the interim that everyone seemed to know would be the permanent AD despite his young age.And if you want to support the HEA Road Trip I’m planning, please consider donating 5, 10 or 20 bucks via my HEA Stripe accountIf you prefer reading, I wrote a very long article of my notes for each of these press conferences on the HEA website0:00 Introduction3:38 Bryan Blair - Syracuse10:45 Explaining the HEA Road Trip11:45 Roger Denny - Oklahoma25:00 Custom HEA Briefings + Career Mapping Conversations27:30 Kevin White - Charlotte41:20 Ryan Berryman - New Mexico52:25 Final Thoughts & TipsHEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. AD Vantage empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts.Onrise provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue.

    1h 1m

  5. MAR 30

    Evansville Purple Aces AD Ziggy Siegfried

    Ziggy Siegfried has been the AD of the Evansville Purple Aces since April 2022 after serving as the AD at CSU Bakersfield for 8 years. Siegfried hosted me for a visit in Evansville and gave me a tour of campus before sitting down for a wide-ranging conversation. Fighting for Evansville Fan Market Share. Donor Fatigue, Revenue Generation & Naming Rights. Uniform Patch Strategy. Deputy ADs as Basketball General Managers. Hiring Coaches. Most Difficult Decisions. Getting High School and College ADs in a Room Together. visit www.HigherEdAthletics.com to check out my D1 AD Hiring Trends + Tracker and my new D1 AD Directory HEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. Learn more: ⁠https://pilytix.ai/AD Vantage empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts. Learn more: https://www.athleticdirectorvantage.comOnrise provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue. Learn more: https://onrise.care 0:00 Introduction3:23 City of Evansville Market Share with USI in Town7:10 ONRISE Partnership8:14 Communication Approach with Donors & Fans10:28 Donor Fatigue, Revenue Generation, Naming Rights17:10 Uniform Patch Strategy & Considerations24:03 Deputy ADs are Basketball GMs, too29:13 AD VANTAGE: WHERE VICTORY IS VETTED30:30 Coaching Hires36:30 Most Difficult Decisions as an AD39:39 Best Moments as the Purple Aces AD42:17 High School and College ADs in a Room Together

    46 min

  6. MAR 23

    Lee De Leon: Mid Tennessee State Deputy AD/CRO

    Lee De Leon joined the Blue Raiders in 2021 as Deputy AD after a long career at some incredible places, including Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona and Houston on his way to becoming a young first-time AD at Abilene Christian from 2014-2018. We've seen a recent trend of several young ADs being hired as first-time ADs at New Mexico State, Austin Peay State, New Mexico and UL Monroe. So I start the conversation asking specifically about what it felt like being such a young AD trying to learn things at ACU. This conversation predominantly talks about institutional fit, including why his one year at Purdue was a life lesson in fit. We also talk about the evolving role of the Deputy AD and why his time as an AD feels similar to what he does now at MTSU. De Leon shares how he's changed as an administrator in the past five years and what he's learned from longtime MTSU AD Chris Massaro, including why they get paid to hit the curve balls. Faith is incredibly important to Lee, and he talks about the beginnings of "ADs for Christ" and how he sees it as ministry in the industry he's worked 20+ years in so far. I have no doubt Lee will be an AD again soon. HEA is presented by ⁠PILYTIX⁠, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. ⁠AD Vantage⁠ empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts. ⁠Onrise⁠ provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue. 0:00 Introduction1:40 What it was like being an AD so young3:47 Onrise - Mental Health Care for Athletes4:46 Working at a Christian University6:40 How different AD jobs are at the places Lee's worked11:40 Evolving as an administrator the past 5 years14:25 AD Vantage - Where Victory is Vetted15:45 Career Mapping in the De Leon family27:30 What Lee is working on now to become a better future AD again30:25 Lee's personal mission statement31:40 ADs for Christ and Kingdom Coaching

    38 min

  7. MAR 9

    Chants Creativity with Coastal Carolina Athletic Director Chance Miller

    This conversation is absolutely loaded with strategic advice for current and aspiring ADs. Chance Miller brought new ideas to Coastal Carolina, including wild halftime shows and free concessions at football games. Chance explains where the ideas come from and how they've worked so far at Coastal. Despite being hired in 2024, Chance is already working with a new president (and served on the presidential search committee) and explains how that transition has worked up to this point. Miller goes in-depth on what he was evaluating last fall before making the decision to hire a new football head coach, and shares what he was looking for in the search. He also discusses the strategy Coastal Carolina is taking with uniform patch sponsorships across the athletic department. The conversation ends with BYOD (Bring Your Own Deputy) as I ask Miller to explain why it was important for him to bring Deputy AD Andy Humes with him from University of South Carolina. If you will be interested in AD or Deputy AD jobs between now and the next 2-3 years, fill out the new HEA Candidate In-Take Form so you can be added to Travis's executive search database: HEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. AD Vantage empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts. Onrise provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue. 0:00 Introduction0:15 Free Concessions at Football Games7:05 Onrise: Mental Health Care for Athletes8:10 President Transition14:15 Football Coaching Change Decision (AD Vantage)21:30 Uniform Patch Deal25:00 BYOD - Bring Your Own Deputy

    29 min

  8. MAR 8

    Who I Think Syracuse Should Target as New Athletic Director

    In this episode, Travis studies the AD search at Syracuse from the perspective of who he thinks a board and new chancellor would (or should) select. One outsider. One Commissioner. Two Sitting FBS Athletic Directors. If you will be interested in AD or Deputy AD jobs between now and the next 2-3 years, fill out the new Candidate In-Take Form on the HEA website so you can be added to the HEA database as it turns into an executive search business. HEA is presented by ⁠PILYTIX⁠, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. ⁠AD Vantage⁠ empowers athletic directors with comprehensive staff data, performance analytics, and AI-powered candidate insights to make smarter hiring, compensation, and retention decisions in an era where every dollar counts. ⁠Onrise⁠ provides complete mental health Coverage for your Athletes. One call. Same-day setup. Your athletes get immediate access to peer support from retired pros, licensed clinicians, and 24/7 crisis care. Less than one in-house FTE. No hiring hassles. No initiative fatigue.

    17 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

College Athletics is a Decision Sport. Higher Ed Athletics helps aspiring athletic directors get better by interviewing the top administrators in division one college athletics.

Information

  • Creator
    Travis Smith
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Travis Smith
  • Show Website
    Higher Ed Athletics

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