I believe aspiring athletic directors need to know more about the role of college presidents and what it means to be a member of the cabinet. I asked Kent State VP & University Secretary Dr. Char Reed to talk to me about her role as the chief of staff to the president. Reed explains why she is heavily involved in athletic director hires and gives some insight into the search that ultimately brought Randale Richmond to Kent State. Get your notebook and pencil ready for this conversation because Dr. Reed gives perspective that every prospective AD needs to hear.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

Grand Canyon University is a large private Christian University in Phoenix and they are known for their men's basketball home environment as the Havocs. Those in the industry know GCU has joined the Mountain West and Boggs gives details on the decision and the ROI of the move. We talk about her process of a head coaching hire from A-Z and how she evaluates her head coaches, too. GCU has recently partnered with a local TV network to regularly air multiple GCU sports broadcasts - something I think more athletic departments need to try and replicate. The conversation is bookended with advice for those aspiring to be an AD in this new era of college athletics, including why she puts out social media videos documenting the day in the life of a D1 AD.

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: www.athleticdirectorvantage.com

I give my thoughts and predictions on the Charlotte and Austin Peay State AD openings. Charlotte is in a strong position as an institution and athletic department if they can get football to be a winner in the Queen City. President Licari at APSU did an interview with CSA Search & Consulting's Drew Turner and provided lots of clues for what he's looking for in the next Govs AD - I react and give a prediction on the profile background of the next AD.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/

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Rob Higgins is new on the job but you would never know that if you visited USF like I did this week. He's a former ball boy and alumnus. You cannot use the word "potential" anymore around USF. Instead, I think the Bulls have arrived and USF is set to be the next power conference school. This is the most aligned institution I have ever studied and a plan is in place to win the building, win the campus, win the community, and then win the country. Higgins had been the executive director of the Tampa Bay Sports Commission for 20+ years and brought several large events to the city, including NCAA tourneys, Super Bowls, and WrestleMania. He's now ready to put the new on-campus football stadium to good use with events and naming rights when it opens in September 2027.

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/

Jim Dries, CEO of PILYTIX, joined HEA to talk about the increased donor fatigue in the world of college athletics right now, and why coaching buyouts will probably make fatigue worse. He explains why just throwing more fundraisers at the solution is not necessarily the right play. Instead, athletic departments need to rethink their qualified donor pool and use the data they probably are already collecting to be more strategic and efficient in their approach. I ask Jim what future ADs should know about the problem of donor fatigue and future of fundraising best practices to prepare for the interview.

There have been 245 D1 AD hires at 211 unique institutions since January 2020. The Deputy AD position is by far the most popular immediately prior job with 84 of those hires and another 70 were previous ADs moving to a different chair. In this video I update my thoughts on the remaining 15 D1 AD jobs still available after a handful of hires were made in the back half of September. Bookmark my D1 AD Hiring Trends + TrackerVisit www.HigherEdAthletics.com

There were plenty of clues about institutional alignment in the Rob Higgins hire at USF. I break down why I accurately predicted him getting the job months in advance as a case study in institutional fit and how boards/presidents operate. College athletics is a copycat industry. The Danny White AD tree branches continue with Utah State's hire of Cameron Walker. I explain why more presidents will hire to replicate the UT model than automatically looking at candidates outside the industry.

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Maisha Kelly joins Higher Ed Athletics for a conversation about Drexel athletics in a post-House era. We talk about her start as a 6th grade teacher and how she built her career over time in 10 years at Bucknell leading to becoming Drexel's AD. Kelly is working with a new president and she shares how the department put together a 25-page document to help onboard him to the current and future positioning of the Drexel Dragons. I asked Maisha if it's still just as important to win in men's basketball if your team is going to be ripped apart the following year.0:00 Introduction0:20 Teaching Career Before Athletic Administration Career4:35 Comparing Normative Career Patterns of ADs to Maisha's Career9:45 Did 10 Years at One Stop Help or Hurt AD Search?12:00 Keeping in Touch with Other ADs15:40 Assessment Document to Onboard New President23:30 Drexel Athletics Strategy in the Post-House Settlement28:30 Athletic Department Aspirational Peers - Who are Drexel's? How to Study Them?36:25 Do Non-Football D1 Schools Look at Men's Basketball The Same Importance Today?

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Jason Penry absolutely lights up when you ask him to talk about fundraising.. A seasoned administrator in both athletics and university administration, Penry now spends his time consulting and teaching. He agreed to join me for a deep-dive episode about the topic of fundraising. I asked Penry what he would tell someone that has limited or no experience in fundraising and is on the track to be an AD.