Come for the insights, stay for the Landman behind-the-scenes NIL story. Ryan Peck has learned from some incredible athletic directors, most recently Wren Baker, Jeremiah Donati, and now Mike Buddie. In this conversation, Peck definitely shares what he's learned from the deputy positions, but I wanted to see how an up-and-coming senior administrator is carving out his own experiences in the job, too. Peck was on the steering committee for the university's strategic plan and was able to learn and share insights with other university stakeholders across campus in what will certainly prepare him for the president's cabinet role one day as an AD. Peck also talks about the impact of TCU being heavily featured in the latest season of Landman and how they were able to create NIL deals for their athletes to be extras on the show. I asked Ryan how he considers and prepares for certain opportunities that have or will come his way. To round out the conversation I ask Peck his thoughts on schools potentially looking at more outsiders for AD openings and what his approach is and will continue to be for his career. I hope you like these new installments of interviewing the next generation of athletic directors as college athletics continues to evolve.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.0:55 Learning from Wren Baker, Jeremiah Donati, Mike Buddie & Others6:20 Onrise: MENTAL HEALTH CARE for ATHLETES8:18 Experience on TCU's Strategic Plan Steering Committee16:13 AD Vantage: COACHING HIRES17:30 LANDMAN comes to TCU - NIL Deals for Athletes as Extras24:08 Decision-Making Process for Career Mapping34:21 How does Ryan Peck Prepare for Job Opportunities40:25 Thoughts on Outsiders as ADs and Learning from Pro Sports for College Role

Since 2026 is the 250th birthday of America, and I'm reading books about the American Revolution, I thought it made sense to ask Army Athletic Director Tom Theodorakis to join HEA for a conversation. Theo shares what it feels like every day at West Point and why it is such a special place. I asked him what perspective he gets from working at different institution types, including P4 schools, another military academy, and even The Ivy League at Harvard. The conversation turns to outlining his vision going into his second year in the AD chair. We discuss what it takes to put on an Army/Navy game and what it will take to keep it from being changed as the College Football Playoff dates continue to change. It's safe to say the game won't be in July. Theo explains how Army has to continue to think about what college athletics looks like at their institution since they do not do House, NIL, and the transfer portal is not the same for them. He also communicates what athletics means at West Point and what the future leaders of our nation's Army learns from the experience, including failure and trying to build up muscle memory of winning in tough situations. 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 Introduction0:40 Experiencing West Point Daily as AD1:55 Perspective from Army, Harvard, UCLA, Arizona, Air Force6:52 Transitioning from 1st Year to 2nd Year as AD11:20 Visit Onrise.CARE for Mental Health Athlete Care12:20 What it takes to put on the Army/Navy Game18:45 How do you protect the Army/Navy Game Date?22:00 Institutional Collaboration at West Point27:05 Deciding to complete a Doctorate in Education31:35 Aspirational Advice: Get out of your Comfort Zone

Dr. Andrew Goodrich starts the conversation discussing how the similarities of being an FCS AD (previously at Gardner-Webb) outnumber the differences of being an FBS AD despite the incredibly low number of FBS ADs coming from that background. He then walks through the Akron AD search process being an active AD at the time. Goodrich talks about the decision to pursue a doctorate in higher education and how it serves him today as an AD. The conversation turns to an in-depth discussion about evaluating and hiring head coaches, including what data points he focuses on to complement his qualitative approach. Goodrich says Akron is ready to go with jersey patches and talks about the thought process they went thru in December.

www.HigherEdAthletics.com

HEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance.

HEA has partnered with AD Vantage for AD Insights and Coaching Hires. 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.

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:25 FCS and FBS Similarities Outnumber the Differences
• 4:50 Tactical Strategy Preparing for Akron Search Process
• 8:45 Did Name Leak Early at Akron?
• 11:10 Decision to Pursue a Doctorate Degree and How it Helps an AD
• 17:40 AD VANTAGE: Importance of Evaluating Head Coaches and Prepared for Searches
• 29:00 Men’s Basketball Optimism This Season
• 34:51 Approach to Jersey Patch and Facilities Naming Rights
• 38:05 Being a Branch of the Kevin White AD Tree

Danny White joins HEA to talk alignment with Chancellor Plowman, including how they are both builders and change agents. The conversation first talks about his doctorate degree in higher education as the dissertation design is similar to mine. We then jump back into the concept of collective bargaining in college athletics. White explains his philosophy of building a strong administrative team and why launching former deputies into AD jobs is a good thing despite needing to constantly replenish. I ask Danny about the pro sports model we're seeing in college athletics and how current athletic administrators can keep moving forward despite the hype of outsiders coming for AD jobs. HEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. HEA has partnered with AD Vantage for AD Insights and Coaching Hires. 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.0:00 Introduction2:10 Dr. White's Doctorate Dissertation5:25 Change Agents7:55 Becoming a Builder: Born or Developed?13:35 Collective Bargaining in College Athletics17:25 Danny's CBA Plan & Athletes.Org Plan21:20 Launching Tennessee Deputies into AD Jobs & Replenishing Roles Within31:22 Advice to Administrators Concerned about Outside Industry People Coming for AD Positions

To kick off 2026, I react to recent AD hires at Baylor, Colorado and ULM, and give my thoughts on several openings, including at Oklahoma, Cal, Charlotte, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Washington State, Delaware, New Orleans, Wagner and Austin Peay State. I also share why I don't expect San Francisco to do a search.

Watch and subscribe on YouTube: 1:30 Baylor Reaction2:50 California Reaction to Co-AD Model and Candidate Interest4:30 Oklahoma Thoughts & Prediction8:12 Colorado Reaction10:28 New Mexico Reaction & In-House Prediction12:16 Charlotte Hires TurnkeyZRG15:59 UL Monroe Reaction17:50 Rhode Island - Search Firm or Committee Only?18:28 Austin Peay State Thoughts21:10 Washington State Reaction to Interim Activity21:45 Delaware Likely Naming Interim to Permanent Soon22:28 Why I think San Francisco won't do a Search24:03 New Orleans Delayed by System Structure - Possible Rebrand for Next AD?27:30 Wagner goes with Collegiate Consulting

HEA is presented by PILYTIX, an AI tech company for higher education institutions and sports organizations. Increased Donations. Fast, Effective Targeting. Improved Performance. HEA has partnered with AD Vantage for AD Insights and Coaching Hires. 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. Watch my interview tutorial with CEO Tanner Stump as he walks me through a mock head coach hire on the platform.

AD Vantage Founder and CEO Tanner Stump walks me through how to hire a Head Coach with their platform. From a program comparison report and looking at several coaching metrics to creating my own watch list that updates metrics every day, come with us as I hire the next great women's volleyball head coach.

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

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/

Sean Frazier joins to talk about Northern Illinois athletics and the future of the AD position in college athletics. Frazier starts the conversation explaining the strategy behind moving football to the Mountain West while keeping other sports regional with the Horizon League. Will they miss MACtion weeknight games? Sean expresses his concern about outsiders coming into the profession without having an understanding of higher education and the importance of realizing that forgetting about any individual sport could cause an AD to lose their job. Frazier discusses what metrics he thinks are most critical when he is evaluating head coach searches. The conversation shifts to the College Football Playoff and Sean shares his opinion on expansion and the idea of a G6 playoff alongside the CFP. Travis asks Sean to recreate his career if he woke up today as a 30 year old administrator and what he would do to stick out on his journey to become an Athletic Director.

• 0:40 Moving Football to Mountain West & Other Sports to Horizon
• 8:10 Will NIU Miss MACtion?
• 12:10 Biggest Concerns for AD Profession in the Future
• 26:20 AD Vantage: Metrics Frazier uses in a Head Coach Search
• 37:52 Thoughts on College Football Playoff & Creating a G6 Playoff
• 46:35 Sean Recreates his Career as a 30 Year Old Administrator

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/

HEA has partnered with AD Vantage for AD Insights and Coaching Hires. 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

Julie Roe Lach is the commissioner of the Horizon League for a few more weeks before transitioning into an Executive VP position with Pacers Sports & Entertainment. The conversation begins with addressing that job change and then giving her Mount Rushmore of Horizon memories. We talk about the congressional coalition known as the Tenacious Ten and how the conferences are working together to keep their positioning in the future of D1 membership decisions. Roe Lach shares why soft skills, diplomacy and alignment with the different presidents and chancellors and ADs is so important to be an effective conference commissioner. We discuss her role as chairwoman at the Indiana Sports Corp and that transitions into a discussion about outsiders potentially coming for AD jobs. Julie talks about Northern Illinois and the regional strategy to add them as a full member while the football program goes to the Mountain West. Roe Lach ends the conversation with advice for the next commissioner of the Horizon League. The search is underway with Parker Executive Search.

• 0:10 Starting New Job w/ Pacers Sports & Entertainment
• 3:15 Horizon League Celebration at NFL Stadium
• 6:05 Mount Rushmore of Horizon Moments
• 11:15 Congressional Coalition - The Tenacious Ten
• 16:00 What Commissioners Talk about Together
• 18:00 How to be an Effective Conference Commissioner
• 21:40 Co-founding College Sports Law Practice at CCH+A
• 24:25 Chairing the Indiana Sports Corp to Bring Events to Indianapolis
• 28:38 Potential Outsiders for AD Jobs
• 34:20 Explaining the Northern Illinois Strategy for the Horizon League
• 40:35 Words of Encouragement for the Next Horizon League Commissioner

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/HEA has partnered with AD Vantage for AD Insights and Coaching Hires. 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

Amy Folan joins Higher Ed Athletics for a discussion about fundraising as well as her lessons learned and career journey from the Texas Longhorns to CMU. Folan shares her thought process behind the hiring of a new football coach this past offseason in Matt Drinkall who has now led the Chippewas to a bowl berth in his first year. The conversation shifts to creative new revenue strategies her department is looking into and how to refine traditional approaches. Folan discusses the pro sports model ability to be innovative with 1-2 sports but how college athletics needs to take that approach across the entire department. She also mentions how college athletics gets no revenue from sports gambling when it would significantly limit the sports gaming opportunities if they didn’t play those college games.

• 0:00 Introduction 
• 2:15 Decision to Finally Pursue an AD Job 
• 6:10 Experience Working with Former Texas AD DeLoss Dodds 
• 11:45 AD Vantage Question – Football Head Coach Search Paying Off 
• 20:35 MAC Football Night Games – Challenges & Opportunities 
• 25:28 Breaking Fundraising Records 
• 28:52 PILYTIX Question – Is Donor Fatigue Real? 
• 32:35 Creative Revenue Strategies 
• 38:25 Amy Folan During a CMU Basketball Game 

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/

HEA has partnered with AD Vantage for AD Insights and Coaching Hires. 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

Power 4 Athletic Director jobs don’t open too often. Baylor is one of only 4 current Power AD jobs open, with the others being Cal, Oklahoma and Colorado. This is the only one that appears to be a quick hire because it was unexpected. There have been 21 Power AD hires since 2024 with 8 of those hires coming from sitting Power ADs and 5 from deputy AD positions at Power schools.

Below are many names I think will be mentioned as potential replacements. Let me be clear, I think some of these ADs would simply say no, but I suspect they’ll get a call from a search firm about the opening.

I am not making a prediction on the next Baylor AD as I look to transition into executive search and I want to put more emphasis on the profile of the position and potential candidates for institutions to consider – not me making predictions on what I’d do. These mentioned names are simply based on my own research and understanding of situational factors.

• 2:00 Jeramiah Dickey - Boise State AD
• 4:47 Wren Baker - West Virginia AD
• 6:05 Jeremiah Donati - South Carolina AD
• 7:15 Jared Mosley - North Texas AD
• 9:20 Bryan Blair - Toledo AD
• 11:25 Amy Folan - Central Michigan AD
• 13:04 Scott Woodward
• 13:44 Hunter Yurachek - Arkansas AD
• 14:41 Ryan Peck - TCU Senior Deputy AD
• 15:56 Marcus Sedberry - Wisconsin Deputy AD/COO
• 16:52 John Daniel - Cincinnati Senior Deputy AD/COO
• 17:50 Brady Hart - Tennessee Deputy AD/CRO

Higher Ed Athletics 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/HEA has partnered with AD Vantage for AD Insights and Coaching Hires. 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