Feb. 20, 2008

1) Number of years in your current position?  1 year

2) Why/when did you decide to pursue a career in intercollegiate athletics?  After playing baseball in college (and not being good enough to get drafted) I determined that I wanted to work in the business of sports and graduate school was the logical next step.

3) What was your path to working in athletics development?  I worked in the front office for AAA and AA minor league baseball teams right after grad school for 2½ years. That was long enough. I got that out of my system and it was clear to me that I wanted to get back into college athletics as a career. I started in Marketing and Development at my alma mater, James Madison University, in 1996. Then my career path took me to Auburn University and West Virginia University in positions that were primarily development-oriented from 1997-2007 before moving to the University of Missouri in an External Operations capacity last August.

4) In your mind, who in this industry can serve as a good role model?  There are a lot of them. Too many for me to only name a few and leave someone out. I would encourage people to find role models and mentors at not just the "big" schools. Some of the best development people I have met have come from "non-marquee" or "smaller" schools. You have to hustle and be creative at any level of intercollegiate athletic development but the development officers at smaller schools REALLY have to get after it to generate revenue.

5) How has your involvement with NAADD influenced your career?  My first conference was 1996 in Las Vegas. I haven't missed many of the annual conferences since that time. From a learning, networking, and mentoring standpoint it is second to none in the field of development in my opinion. My role on the Executive Committee has been a tremendous experience as well.

7) What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?  "It's a marathon not a sprint". I didn't always follow it but I now see the wisdom of it.

8) What advice would you give to someone looking to enter the field of intercollegiate athletics development?  Get a sports administration/management master's degree.

9) What is the best example of great stewardship that you have witnessed at your institution?  We host a reception two nights before the bowl game at the team hotel with our six-figure donors and up. The coaches and their spouses attend as well. We have a really short but effective program featuring the head coach. We spend some money on the menu and atmosphere. The exclusivity and access is tremendous and it serves as a wonderful stewardship function. The best donor prospects to make major gifts are ones that already have and everyone's first gift is usually their smallest.

10) What percentage of your work-week is spent in your office?  Too much. Probably 80%. In my current role of overseeing External Operations my job is more administrative than specifically development-oriented. A good development employee should be out as much as 50% or more if possible. It's hard to raise money sitting at your desk.

11) How do you maintain balance between your professional and personal life?  I really make this a priority. I have a wife and three young kids. I take pride in the work that I do but I do my best to keep it all in perspective. No one on their "death-bed" ever said, "You know, I really wish I had gone to work more often".

12) In your opinion, where is collegiate athletics development headed in the future?  I think with the ever-present emphasis on generating revenue, private funding, facility improvements, and escalating scholarship/tuition costs that the industry will continue to grow. The profession really took off in the 90's and I think that trend will continue. Development staff sizes keep getting bigger and many of today's Athletics Directors rise up out of the development ranks.

13) What are you most looking forward to at the upcoming Convention in Dallas?  Seeing friends, relaxing from the "rat race," and learning something new along the way.