A Good Sport

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Posted on June 16, 2026 by Alumni

Alumni

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What's your greatest memory?

It’s not possible to point to one; it’s the numerous achievements. Whether they’re championships, amazing individual performances, new facilities, watching coaches do their work at a high level. Ultimately, I get the greatest joy watching our student-athletes walk across the stage and get their degrees. In many cases they’re the first in their family, and that’s about as rewarding as it gets.

How did the debut of football a month after you started affect your goals?

I’m very proud that when we started football, I talked with our staff and administrators to let them know that we cannot neglect any of our other sports for the benefit of football. Football actually enhanced, directly or indirectly, all of our sports.

Academic performance among student-athletes greatly improved under your tenure. What was your approach?

We made sure that our coaches and student-athletes understood that graduation is important and that we were all philosophically on the same page. That impacted who we recruited and who we hired as coaches. It also meant being good partners with our tremendous faculty.

Any Regrets?

You’re never satisfied, but I think we have over many years adapted to a lot of changing landscapes, from conference realignment to shifting rules and legislation to the world of revenue sharing and name, image and likeness to the world of unlimited transfers.

What should your successor known?

This job is filled with opportunities thanks to the people who came before me. The growth from the ’60s to the ’90s, into the 2000s and where we are today, if you look at it, it’s really quite impressive. So take advantage of that. You’re in a situation where you have amazing support around the campus from the president’s office, our board of trustees, faculty and staff, students and alumni, and our community.

Where are college sports headed?

Absent some type of federal antitrust protection, significant changes to transfers and limiting the amount of money that can be provided to student-athletes are going to be very difficult. So I think we all just need to embrace this and not only live in that world, but we’ve got to be good in that world.

How can fans support the university?

Everything helps. Coming to a game helps. Talking about us helps. Posting about us on social media helps. Giving to the Loyal, Strong & Faithful Fund helps. Buy the gear, come to a game, talk about us, and make us a part of your life.

What will be your legacy?

I hope it’s that I ran a department based on strong values and principles and that we enhanced people’s lives. That we did things in a way that was ethical, fair and transparent. I hope that we made people proud to be a Jaguar.

Learn more about Where Bold Begins, the campaign for the University of South Alabama, at SouthAlabama.edu/WhereBoldBegins. Make your bold impact with a gift today.

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