You spent about four years, from 2010 to 2014, at University of Miami. Not only did you make a big move to the University of Miami, but the responsibilities grew extensively.
What do you think your secret sauce is for being promoted so many times in a short span through your career?
I love this question because, SEAT on it's surface, is a technology organization, but all of us know it's much more than that.
So, I can remember when I interviewed at Miami with Kirby Hocutt, who is now the athletic director at Texas Tech. I talked to him about my desire to reach across the aisle and to help the department beyond the scope of the job I was interviewing for. I was interviewing for a communications role, but I wanted to help grow attendance, I wanted to help solve some of their problems within the fan base, I wanted to help with revenue, I wanted to help with the academic success of an institution that's a top-25 academic institution, but doesn't broadly have that reputation.
The lesson I would hope to be able to share with people is to be the person that's willing to collaborate and reach across the aisle and work with other areas to help better the overall organization. The other piece is, if you focus on building your team and growing your staff personally and professionally, that's going to be a key factor when the athletic director or boss is looking to shift responsibility. At the end the day, when the boss is looking at their structure, they're going to gravitate to the leaders on their staff that have engaged staffs, that are good teammates and that are getting the job done efficiently.
Without a doubt, it was the work of our team that provided those opportunities, and I would stress that to anyone that's looking for those opportunities. Your growth opportunity is with the success of your staff you been entrusted to oversee. They will create and open up doors, and the leaders within your organization will quickly notice that.
And the final decision for me in accepting the job at South Florida, was a piece of advice that Kenny had given, "Don’t be afraid to work at a school where you are the underdog, and where you don't have the resources of Oklahoma." His point was, there's something to be learned from being the underdog. You know, it's easy to throw money at problems, but often that doesn't create the solution. His point was it's about rolling up your sleeves, developing a really good team, and working hand in hand with them to solve problems. And so that's why I jumped at the
Don’t be afraid to work at a school where you are the underdog, and where you don't have the resources of Oklahoma."
opportunity with South Florida, and it was fantastic learning ground. We were truly an underdog. We were in, what was at the time, a very prominent league, the Big East. We woke up every day fighting for our share of publicity and opportunities within that league. I had the chance to work with some really talented and driven people. I kind of enjoy the idea of waking up every morning as an underdog.
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