was speaking to a former professional sports GM (yes I’m being vague on purpose) recently about RU sports (specifically the “open” GM role). They have no direct ties to RU except having worked in the northeast, but offered an interesting take on the state of RU athletics that aligns with my thinking. When I asked them what they’d do to right the ship, their answer was very succinct…blow it all up and start from scratch.
I don’t think most of us would disagree, but when I asked them to be more specific they said the following:
Layoff nearly everyone in the AD. They said you can’t build a winning culture from a losing culture.
Require excellence from all members of the AD. If you want excellence from the student athletes, they need to be supported with excellence
Focus on fan experience first. Make life easier for the fans. Make them feel a part of the teams they support. Remove any obstacles in front of them that limit how they support the teams. You have to give them something before you ask for something
Move on from the past. Tradition is great…if the tradition is winning.
Bring in more operators - people who understand how to get shit done
Bring in people who understand player valuation and contract negotiation.
Foster relationships with alumni based on skill set, not just donation size
Build an athletic brand and allow it to inform decisions (e.g. we want to be a future-forward, cutting edge brand then that needs to be present across how we operate, outfit, and market our teams. It needs to inform design decisions across facilities, etc)
Think outside the box when hiring coaches, give chances to up and comers, but ensure that any hire is done because they bring a competitive advantage
Ensure that everyone understands the basic concepts of building successful teams
It was an awesome chat and I wish we could just hire this person, but I’m not sure they’d be interested in the AD role nor do they have any college athletics experience. But maybe that shouldnt matter?
