It was another busy week on the campus side of the industry. NACDA brought thousands of administrators together to discuss the dozens of issues facing the industry. Here were a few other headlines you might’ve missed:
Vanderbilt’s revolution under Candice Storey Lee: This week’s SBJ included my cover story on Candice Storey Lee, this year’s athletic director of the year.
Lee has received her share of praise, but digging into the efforts she’s spearheaded in Nashville was genuinely eye-opening. It’s hard to overstate how impressive her five-plus year tenure at her alma mater has been.
I thought this quote from football coach Clark Lea around why he’s stuck around at Vanderbilt despite his success over the last two seasons summed up Lee’s efforts well:
“Opportunity gives you a chance to evaluate where you are and really take a good look at where it’s headed and what’s the best thing. Because this isn’t charity work. This is your profession, and you want to win. I want to win a national championship.
“As I’ve gone through that process, the thing that I come back to over and over again is the people. This is not necessarily about the place for me. A lot of people think that because I’m an alum from Nashville that this would be where I choose to be. It’s not that. I’m way too competitive for that. But the people that are ahead of me, Chancellor [Daniel] Diermeier and Candice, it’s the best chancellor-AD tandem in the country. They literally are superheroes as they’re doing their jobs, and the way they clear the path ahead of us and, again, allow us to have this aggressive vision for sustained success.”
Oklahoma is the latest school to re-up its Learfield deal: This may have gotten lost in the NACDA/Sorsby/Senate hearing shuffle last week, but Oklahoma and Learfield announced a new deal last week.
Negotiations around an extension have been ongoing for the better part of a year, while the finalized agreement will see Learfield help develop the Sooner Evolution Center, an on-campus facility geared toward helping Oklahoma athletes activate NIL deals.
The deal is another boon for Learfield, which has been on a run of re-upping clients for lengthy renewals. OU’s previous deal was slated to run through 2032, and will now conclude in 2037. This also marks Learfield’s 40th renewal or extension over the last two years and its 15th in the Power Four in that span.
