No Longer Credentialed

Longtime college sports communicator Mark Cohen probably slid into your social media feeds a little while back. The 36-year veteran of the business was abruptly let go in a four-minute meeting with his new athletic director at TCU earlier this summer, and the tributes poured in from all areas of sports to pay tribute to Cohen and his massive influence on the Horned Frogs’ most recent successes. I’m sure many of you were wondering, “Who is this guy?” Honestly, we wanted to get to know Mark, too.

So, we did. He joined us to talk about his journey as a college sports communicator (3:32), what he liked the most about working in college sports (12:51), how some things in sports can’t be replicated working in other fields (17:37), his non-negotiables (18:59), how being a true publicist is a lost art these days (29:55), how it felt to get such an outpouring of support on social media (31:46), what his immediate thoughts were after being relieved of a long career at TCU (35:19), what’s changed in the business in the last few years (40:59), what he thinks is next in college sports (46:04), did he think administrators took advantage of his passion? (48:34), and his involvement in the TCU community with two autistic sons (51:05). Also sprinkled throughout the podcast are his stories from the 2022 TCU national championship run - did he ever sleep?

We also had to inquire about his stint on “Stump the Schwab” (51:50) and his infamous flag in the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl (51:51).

This week’s sponsors of the podcast are The Four-MInute Exit Meeting and OnlyFans Sports Edition (28:04). Just in case sponsors were wondering, we do have Venmo. 

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

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We’ve spent much of our time on this podcast speaking about the burnout associated with working in college sports and how it affected our personal and work lives. In this week’s episode, we speak to someone who has quantified our feelings into groundbreaking research.

Dr. Matt Huml, an Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati, teaches sport administration courses in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. He is also on the forefront of the work issues that people working in college sports face every day. We ran across a piece in Sportico he and Dr. Elizabeth Taylor wrote in 2022 titled - Why Employees Are Fleeing The College Athletics Industry - and quickly chased down the rabbit hole of his work, which explains a lot about the current state of the business. We identified with his research, personified it, and we wanted to talk with him.

In 2019, he helped write a groundbreaking study titled Workaholism In Sport: A Mediated Model Of Work–Family Conflict And Burnout, which detailed the conflict that many of us have faced doing a job that we were passionate about. He’s also studied remote work for college athletic department personnel, he’s done research on the spouses of sports workers, and recently, published a study called Working to Live or Living to Work? How Daily Work Experiences Affect Sport Employees’ Biometric Health. 

In this episode, we’ll talk to Dr. Huml about some of the things he found out in his initial work on burnout (5:04), his findings and insight into work-family dynamics (9:55), the jaw-dropping turnover rate in collegiate sports (12:02), what burnout really is (18:21), how culture applies to actions on the field and not for the athletic department (27:45), do athletic directors really understand what’s happening (29:50), would staffers ever walk out (35:25), what he learned from actual staffers to try to even out work-life balance (36:50), and his advice for senior leadership to address burnout and to actually value the time of their staffers (37:20).

Dr. Huml also answers questions about generational trends in the industry (40:28), whether higher-ups will start building athletic culture around real family (41:30), and what would be the one big thing he would recommend for athletic directors (44:39). We wrap up the interview with Dr. Huml asking us a big question (58:46).

Special thanks to Dr. Huml for his time and insight for this fascinating interview. 

For more of Dr. Huml’s research, you can find it here.

Oh, and before we forget, we want to thank our newest sponsors, Slim’s Magic Carpet Rides and We Build Moats (32:19). We hope to see their multi-figured check in the mail soon. 

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

In Episode 10 of No Longer Credentialed, Barca is joined by special guest host Eric "Stooche" Jones, filling in while Boggs is on vacation. To mark the milestone 10th episode, Barca opens with a full Kenny Powers–style eulogy, declaring that Boggs now lives through him (0:30). Hell yeah, dude.

Then it’s a five-alarm fire rant (4:30) aimed squarely at athletic directors, as Barca torches leadership for their role in the House Settlement fallout and the mass layoffs sweeping college sports.

From there, it’s Wild Stories Working In Sports, a greatest-hits set of absurd moments from the trenches: A fan threatens to storm the office and fight Barca after Signing Day content doesn’t meet his donor expectations (10:00); A staff parking ticket sparks a lobby blowup and nearly turns into a fistfight (25:54); A gameday volunteer is crushed when a coach tosses her full can of Fresca from the podium in the trash (33:53); An elderly elevator operator accidentally strands an entire visiting coaching staff at the end of a game (40:57).

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all the socials at @NLCPod:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod
X: https://x.com/nlcpod
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

In our summer hodgepodge episode, we’ll give another run at HR and Leadership (2:35), we’ll recap our full Zombie AD lists from the House Settlement episode (20:07), and Barca is Up To His Ears about the current state of social media and wonders if social media influencers should be running the whole shabang (25:38).

This week’s episode is once again sponsored by Never Getting Promoted and Find My Boss. You remember - the Chiquita commercial (19:03).

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

In this episode, we take a look back at our over 40 years of experience working on the front lines in sports and reveal our top two players who have shocked us with their success in the professional ranks (2:35).

This week’s episode is sponsored by a metatarsal and a robot (19:50).

And while Boggs is concerned with all of the business aspects of men’s college basketball, he’s Up To His Ears about the structure of the game ON the court(38:55). Are we trying to kill it?

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

With the House Settlement finalized, we take a deep dive into the fallout of the agreement (2:39) and how it will impact the labor force in the industry (HINT: It’s a 5-alarm fire). We’ll also put on our ZombieAD hat and take a stab at ways to cut costs and raise revenue in these challenging times and introduce some ideas that college presidents surely have thought about. Is a major college football brand worth as much as the top-valued team in Major League Soccer? 

Our sponsors this week remind everyone working in sports about the grim times ahead (24:48), and Barca is Up To His Ears about cute job postings in the sports industry that really aren’t funny (47:17).

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

We’re back for another edition of No Longer Credentialed.

This week on the podcast, our “Sponsored By” segment goes from a 2-minute read to a 30-minute segment (3:07) that veers off into road travel etiquette, access to team rooms and our favorite meals on the road.  

Boggs is Up To His Ears about the organizations that support the people who work in sports (32:55) and wonders if they do enough to help alleviate burnout and the brain drain of the profession. 

Come for the industry talk, stay for the plantains and AI Boggsy. 

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok:⁠ ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod⁠

We’re back for another edition of No Longer Credentialed.

This week on the podcast, our “Sponsored By” segment goes from a 2-minute read to a 30-minute segment (3:07) that veers off into road travel etiquette, access to team rooms and our favorite meals on the road.  

Boggs is Up To His Ears about the organizations that support the people who work in sports (32:55) and wonders if they do enough to help alleviate burnout and the brain drain of the profession. 

Come for the industry talk, stay for the plantains and AI Boggsy. 

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

In this episode of No Longer Credentialed, we’ll take in some listener feedback, take you inside the ropes of hosting and being around big events, both from the event and digital side, and Barca has some words of wisdom about HR and what they’re not. 

The guys dive into some listener feedback from people in the industry (3:04) as we all commiserate over working in the business.

Boggs talks about his four key things to remember when hosting big events (6:44) including always having his eyes on the camera and Barca dishes on some digital strategies (21:40) and tells an Omaha-CWS masterpiece of a story.

We’re also waiting for our sponsors of this week’s episode (19:43) to CTC (Cut the Check).

And in our final segment, Barca is Up to His Ears about HR (38:18) and what he’s learned from his years working with them (HINT: They’re just doing their jobs).  

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod

We’re back with a new episode of No Longer Credentialed with a new game we call “What Would You Do?” where we address some important questions in the business.

We’ll talk about social media schedule releases and fuddy-duds crushing fun vibes (5:57), athletes not talking to the media after losses and hard situations (11:25), social media boundaries (26:35) and whether we’d give our alma maters a discount on our services (38:52). 

We’ll also give our illustrious sponsors the minutes they desperately deserve (25:02) and Boggs has some choice words for clueless middle managers in college sports (43:40).

This episode was produced and written by Brandon Barca and Andy Boggs.

Next week, we’ll take you behind the scenes of hosting a big event. It’s a fun and exhausting time of the year and we’ll take right to the middle of it. 

Find us on all of the socials at NLCPod.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NLCPod

X: https://x.com/nlcpod

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/nlcpod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nlcpod

TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@nlcpod