Reflections from CALS26
By Kyle Bowlsby
I left CALS26 at TCU with a lot of thoughts about where college athletics is headed, but probably my biggest takeaway is this:
There has never been a more exciting time to work in college athletics if you are intellectually curious, enjoy solving problems and are energized by change.
That is particularly true at the FBS level, where athletics is becoming much more integrated with revenue, media, technology and the broader university enterprise. That does not mean every level needs to follow the same model. There are plenty of institutions where a more traditional athletic department structure makes sense and where the challenges and opportunities look very different.
One thing that always stands out to me at CALS is the quality of the people in this business. Despite all the noise surrounding college athletics, there are tremendous people at every level who genuinely care about student-athletes and keep them at the center of their decision-making. I think that sometimes gets lost.
I have also watched some incredibly talented people rise during this period of change. There are people who have spent their entire careers in college athletics who may have been constrained by the way departments were traditionally built. Today, the industry needs more of what they have always been good at: solving complicated problems, building businesses, connecting people and ideas, and thinking differently.
At the same time, we are seeing more people enter college athletics from professional sports, media, technology and other industries. That is healthy. We have seen great success stories and examples where talented people have struggled to understand the nuances of college athletics and higher education. There is something to learn from both.
Maybe the biggest leadership change is the continued evolution of the Athletic Director. The job is becoming much bigger than running an athletic department.
Presidents are increasingly thinking about how athletics fits into the larger university. How can it advance the institutional brand, support enrollment and philanthropy, deepen corporate relationships and better connect with alumni and the community?
The question is becoming less, “Can you run the athletic department?” and more, “What can you build with the athletic department?”
That is why I think problem-solving ability is becoming as important as pedigree. A résumé tells you what someone has already done. Presidents increasingly need leaders who can think through problems and opportunities that may not even exist yet.
One other thought from CALS: we have seen tremendous turnover in AD and commissioner seats over the last decade. The new generation of leaders, including many of the people Will Reece refers to as the CALS “Faculty,” have been forced to innovate and problem-solve at a pace few of their predecessors experienced.
They have navigated enormous change and continue to show up, share ideas and find paths forward at the campus, conference and national levels. I have a tremendous amount of respect for that.
For a long time, Athletic Directors were largely judged on how effectively they could manage athletics.
Going forward, I think more will be judged on the value they can create through athletics.
