Canzano: A day in the life of a college AD
Are they entrepreneurs? Or ADs?
Jon Haarlow found a seat in the dugout at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman. The Washington State athletic director, on the job officially for just six days, was charged with throwing out the first pitch at Sunday’s WSU baseball game.
“There’s a new energy around here,” he told me on the phone.
A day earlier, Haarlow started his morning with a youth soccer game for his 7-year-old son, Gage. Then, he was off to a Cougars’ volleyball match, followed by the annual “Crimson and Gray” spring football game, and meetings with sponsors and donors.
“I tried to introduce myself to everybody, and shake as many hands as I could,” Haarlow told me. “I got home late and helped put the kids to bed at night, then made it about as far as the couch before I crashed out.”
The AD sought out the parents of WSU football players in the stands at the spring game. He told them he appreciated that their sons were suiting up for the Cougars. It’s a smart tactic, but I can’t ever remember that being part of the game-day duty for a college athletic director.
Two summers ago, I spoke with a dozen athletic directors about how their jobs were changing. I published a piece that was a candid and revealing peek into their world. The ADs worked in seven different conferences, including the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and Pac-12.
How had their job changed? What didn’t the public know? What were/are the pressures? And what’s the impact of having a supportive university president?
Their answers blew me away.