Throughout the year we will be bringing you a new feature called "Conversations With Commish" as MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher sits down with various guests from our institutions, various bowl partners, members of the NCAA staff & more. We hope you enjoy!
Conversations With Commish S2E6: David Sayler, Miami Director of Athletics
David Sayler has been Miami’s athletic director since Jan. 2, 2013. Since his arrival, Sayler has preached the mission of “Graduating Champions,” an approach that provides guidance and support (fundraising) to Miami student athletes in the pursuit of excellence both in the classroom (graduate) and on the field (win championships). To that end, Miami was named the winner of the Cartwright Award for 2017-2018 which is voted on by all MAC institutions and recognizes the best Athletic Department in the conference in the areas of academics, community service and competitive results. The successes continued to mount for Sayler in 2018-19 as the RedHawks did something never before done in the history of Miami Athletics. The RedHawks captured both the Reese and Jacoby Trophies, for the top men's and women's program in the Mid-American Conference. Miami added school records in Coaches of the Year (7) and Players of the Year (10), cementing 2018-19 as one of the greatest single years in Miami Athletics history.
Conversations With Commish S2E5: Mark Alnutt, Buffalo Director of Athletics
Mark Alnutt enters his second full season as athletic director after serving as deputy director of athletics at the University of Memphis. Alnutt is a member of the NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee, a position he will hold until the end of the 2022-23 academic year. Alnutt recently concluded a very successful first year as AD at Buffalo. The football team won a school-record 10 games, a MAC East Division title and played in the Dollar General Bowl. Both the men's and women's basketball teams won their respective MAC Tournaments and each advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. During 2018-19, Buffalo was one of only seven schools in the nation to play in a bowl game as well as have both its men's and women's basketball teams advance to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. The men’s basketball team, which was nationally ranked for a MAC-record 17 straight weeks, averaged 5,290 people per game as the Bulls went undefeated at home and enter 2019-20 tied for the longest home winning streak in the nation. The nearly 2,000 person increase per game from 2017-18 to 2018-19 was the seventh largest in the country.
Conversations With Commish S2E4: Michael Alford, Central Michigan Director of Athletics
Michael Alford is in his third year as Central Michigan’s Zyzeleweski Family Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics, and his impact on Chippewa Athletics has been remarkable. The 2018-19 season was the most successful fundraising year in Chippewa Athletic Fund history, and the 2019-20 season begins with ground having been broken on the Chippewa Champions Center, a transformational project overlooking Kelly/Shorts Stadium that will fill critical needs for the university community, support student-athlete success, and serve as an inspirational environment for students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff. Alford arrived at Central Michigan in July 2017, after a national search, as a senior executive with a strong history of fundraising and marketing at the University of Oklahoma, with the Dallas Cowboys, at the University of Alabama, with ESPN, at the University of Southern California, with the Cincinnati Bengals, and at the University of Cincinnati.
Conversations With Commish S2E3: Bob Vecchione, Chief Executive Officer, NACDA
Bob Vecchione is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the largest association of athletics administrators with over 15,700 individuals and over 1,700 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Membership includes athletics directors, associate and assistant athletic directors, conference commissioners and affiliate individuals and corporations.
Prior to taking over as executive director, he was responsible for arranging the growth and management of the Association externally and internally. During his time at NACDA, Vecchione has installed a multitude of programs that provide benefits to the increasing membership and has continually upgraded NACDA’s technological capabilities to better serve its members. Programs such as Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, NCAA Football, the Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year Award, the NACDA Daily review in addition to many others were added in contribution of Vecchione’s determination.
Prior to joining NACDA, Vecchione served two years at the University of Minnesota as assistant athletics director for media relations. In the time that he was in Minnesota, Vecchione also was able to support as executive director of the 1992 Twin Cities Final Four Organizing Committee. He also had an 11-year career at National Car Rental and, during that span, became one of the original NCAA corporate partners.
Conversations With Commish S2E2: Rogers Redding, National Coordinator of Officials
Rogers Redding is the CFO National Coordinator of Football Officials. In this role, he serves as the national spokesperson for college officiating issues, works directly with the college football community to accurately communicate officiating issues at all levels, and creates and develops national training programs. He also assigns and evaluates postseason officiating crews and coordinates national meetings of the college officiating community. Redding was a Division I referee from 1988 to 2003 in the Southwest Conference and the Southeastern Conference. His officiating career included three National Championship Games and one SEC Championship. He also served as the Southeastern Conference Coordinator of Football Officials from 2006 to 2011. Redding was the NCAA Secretary-Rules Editor for the Football Rules Committee from 2008 until September of 2017. He has a distinguished background in academia, his last post being the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of Physics at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Conversations With Commish S2E1: Kym Adair, Exexutive Director NOVA Arizona Bowl
Kym Adair has been a fixture in the Tucson Business Community for over 20 years. In July of 2018, Kym was named the Executive Director/CEO of the NOVA Home Loans Arizona Bowl located in Tucson, Arizona. Prior to accepting the role, Kym was an officer of the Board of Directors of the Bowl game and worked closely with the Staff in the execution of the game. Her previous ten years of experience as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for the Bowl’s title sponsor, NOVA Home Loans, provided her tremendous opportunities to develop strategic relationships with key Bowl partners which enabled her to make a seamless transition into the Executive Director role.
Conversations With Commish S1E11: NCAA President Mark Emmert
Mark Emmert became the fifth president of the NCAA in October 2010. As president he has championed greater support for student-athlete wellness and academic success. His commitment to the academic success of athletes is also reflected in newly heightened academic standards for initial eligibility. Additionally, he ushered a new governance structure in Division I. Emmert graduated from Washington with a degree in political science and has both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University. Emmert holds an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from Monmouth University and an honorary doctorate of laws degree from Molloy College.
Beth Goetz joined Ball State in June 2018 after serving as the chief operating officer for athletics at the University of Connecticut (UConn) since 2016. As Ball State's Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Goetz will oversee athletic programs and activities that fully conform with institutional, Mid-American Conference (MAC) and NCAA rules and guidelines. As a former college soccer player at Brevard College and Clemson University, Goetz said she values the role athletics plays in the development of student-athletes.
Len Komoroski is Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, which includes the Cleveland Monsters (AHL), Cleveland Gladiators (AFL), Canton Charge (NBAGL) and Cavs Legion Gaming Club (NBA2K). In addition, he plays a leadership role for business operations and business-related endeavors for Cavaliers Chairman Dan Gilbert’s family of sports and entertainment interests in Ohio. He is also a principal in JACK Entertainment, which operates JACK Casino Cleveland and JACK Thistledown Racino. In addition, Komoroski played a significant leadership role in Cleveland securing the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Conversations With Commish S1E8: Western Michigan Director of Athletics Kathy Beauregard
Kathy Beauregard, the Director of Athletics at Western Michigan University, has been involved with the Broncos in several capacities over the course of the past 38 years and is in her 22nd season as Athletic Director in 2018-19. Beauregard is the longest serving athletic director in the Mid-American Conference and is just one of nine female Athletic Directors at the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools. In addition to her responsibilities overseeing the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, Beauregard sits on the President’s Senior Leadership Cabinet, assisting WMU President Dr. Edward B. Montgomery as an advisor on his leadership counsel. Beauregard initially came to WMU in 1979 as head women’s gymnastics coach. In nine seasons (1980-88), she produced two MAC title teams and was twice named the MAC Coach of the Year.
Conversations With Commish S1E7: Central Michigan Women's Basketball Coach Sue Guevara
In her 11 years at the helm of the Central Michigan women’s basketball program, Sue Guevara has taken the Chippewas to unprecedented heights, transforming the program into a Mid-American Conference power and a team to be reckoned with in March. In 2017-18, Guevara led CMU to the best season in program history, capped by NCAA Tournament wins over No. 24 LSU and No. 10 Ohio State and a berth in the Sweet Sixteen. CMU finished 30-5, a program record for victories, and was ranked 20th in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll, and with an outstanding RPI of 15. Guevera took the Chippewas into the NCAA Regional fresh off their second consecutive Mid-American Conference regular-season championship and their first MAC Tournament title since 2013.
Conversations With Commish S1E6: Buffalo Women's Basketball Coach Felisha Legette-Jack
Felisha Legette-Jack is entering her seventh season at the helm of the Bulls in 2018-19 after being named the 12th head coach in UB women’s basketball history on June 14, 2012. Legette-Jack has accumulated a 119-76 overall record at Buffalo, second most wins in program history by a head coach. She was able to go over the 250 career victory plateau last season as she currently owns a 260-239 career head coaching record across 16 seasons as head coach.
Legette-Jack has led UB to five straight winning seasons for the first time since the Bulls joined the MAC in 1998-99. She helped guide the Bulls to a program record 29 wins last season to go along with a program best 16 MAC victories. The Bulls have produced three straight 20+ win campaigns for just the second time in school history and they are the only team in the MAC to win at least 19 games in each of the last three campaigns. Buffalo has also produced five straight 17+ win campaigns under coach Jack.
The 2017-18 campaign was the most memorable in Buffalo women's basketball history as the Bulls were able to earn an at-large bid, first in the MAC since 1996, and went on to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history after collecting upsets of #6 South Florida and #3 Florida State in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the programs first tournament victories. Buffalo closed out their historic 2017-18 season with a 29-6 overall record and a 16-2 MAC mark, both program records for wins in a season. The Bulls were also able to claim their first-ever MAC East division regular season championship under Legette-Jack's guidance while also earning the #2 seed for the MAC Tournament, highest in program history.
Conversations With Commish S1E5: Sean Frazier, Director of Athletics at Northern Illinois University
Sean Frazier began his sixth year at NIU in 2018-19 with the Huskies’ momentum firmly on the upswing, a clear direction established and continued emphasis on providing the best possible experience for NIU’s 400 student-athletes in 17 sports programs. Under Frazier, the Huskies have claimed two honors unprecedented in the school’s history, most recently in May 2017 when NIU won the Mid-American Conference’s Fred Jacoby Trophy, presented to the top women’s athletic program in the MAC, for the first time in school history. NIU has also produced multiple All-Americans under Frazier’s watch, including the first two in Huskie women’s track and field history with Hope Schmelzle’s sixth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships followed by Jehvania Whyte’s earning indoor and outdoor All-America honors for her performances at the NCAA Championship meets in 2018. Football defensive end Sutton Smith became just the second consensus All-American in school history in 2017, and is the fourth Huskie to earn first team All-America honors in football in the past five years. In December 2015 the NCAA and Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) selected NIU Athletics as the 2016 recipient of the NCAA/MOAA Diversity and Inclusion Award. The award recognizes and celebrates the initiatives, policies and practices of colleges, universities and/or athletic conference offices that embrace diversity and inclusion. For Frazier, whose roots in the topic of racial relations and diversity run deep, the award was especially significant. In 2014, he was honored with the Distinguished Service Award for his leadership of MOAA. Since arriving at NIU, he has assumed a leadership role on campus, serving on multiple committees, including as a co-chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.
Conversations With Commish S1E4: Mike O'Brien, Director of Athletics at the University of Toledo
Now in his 17th year as vice-president and athletic director at the University of Toledo, Mike O’Brien has helped shape the UT Athletics program into one of the very best in the Mid-American Conference. Whether embarking on ambitious capital projects or nurturing the athletic and academic achievements of UT’s student-athletes, O’Brien has left a legacy of success that few can match. O’Brien, who has the second-longest tenure among ADs in the MAC, is recognized as one of the leaders among NCAA Division I athletic directors. In 2012, he was named the Football Bowl Subdivision Northeast Region Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of College Directors of Athletics. O’Brien is a member of the NCAA Division I Council. He currently serves on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee, and previously served on the Competition Oversight Committee. He also chairs the MAC Football Coaches Committee and was the conference’s athletic director representative to the College Football Playoff Committee (formerly the Bowl Championship Series). He has served as the chair of the Mid-American Conference Athletic Director’s Committee and was a member of the NCAA Division I Football Issues Committee.
Conversations With Commish S1E3: Lea Miller-Tooley, Director of Sales & Marketing, Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl
Lea Miller-Tooley, a sports marketing executive who has helped bring several high-profile events to the Bahamas, serves as the Director of Sales and Marketing of the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl. One of the founders of the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl, Miller-Tooley oversees relations with the bowl’s sponsor lineup, handles sponsorship negotiations, sales and marketing of the bowl in the U.S. and the Bahamas and works closely on governmental relations in the Bahamas. Miller-Tooley, the founder and president of Complete Sports Management (CSM), an all-encompassing sports marketing agency, leveraged her global connections to bring collegiate sports to the Bahamas in 2010. That year, she was retained by the Atlantis as an independent consultant to manage the Battle At Atlantis, a Division I men’s basketball doubleheader. The following year, the doubleheader became a full-fledged tournament – the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis – which boasts one of the most impressive fields of participants each year and is one of the most-successful early-season NCAA Division I tournaments in history. Miller negotiated broadcast agreements with ESPN, NBC Sports Network and AXS-TV, which promotes the Islands of the Bahamas as a premier sports tourism destination. The continuing success of the Battle led Miller-Tooley and CSM to seek an opportunity to bring college football to the Bahamas. With the NCAA lifting a three-year moratorium on new FBS bowl games for the 2014 season, CSM partnered with the MAC and Conference USA to get the Bahamas Bowl sanctioned by the NCAA, the first bowl game outside either the U.S. or Canada since the 1937 Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba. She helped negotiate six-year contracts for the game to be played at Nassau’s Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium and with television partner ESPN to broadcast the game. Miller-Tooley’s company also brings men’s Division I college basketball teams to the Bahamas on foreign tours to compete on a global stage against top international squads. Prior to founding Complete Sports Management, Miller-Tooley worked for IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company, in business development. She also worked in finance in New York City for Morgan Stanley and BMO Capital.
Conversations With Commish S1E2: Dr. Satish K. Tripathi, University at Buffalo President
Internationally recognized as an accomplished researcher and transformative higher education leader, Dr. Satish K. Tripathi was appointed the 15th president of the University at Buffalo in April of 2011. Dr. Tripathi joined the University at Buffalo in 2004, serving as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs until his appointment as president in 2011. Dr. Tripathi is the first international-born president in Buffalo’s history, Dr. Tripathi graduated at the top of his class from Banaras Hindu University in India. In addition to a doctorate in computer science from the University of Toronto, he holds three master’s degrees – one in computer science from the University of Toronto and two in statistics from the University of Alberta and Banaras Hindu University. Dr. Tripathi provides leadership to the Mid-American Conference as Chair of the MAC Counsel of Presidents, serves as the MAC representative to the NCAA Board of Directors. In addition he serves on the NCAA Board of Governors, where he is Chair of the Finance Committee.
Conversations With Commish S1E1: Dan Gavitt, NCAA BasketballDan Gavitt joined the NCAA staff as vice president of men’s basketball in August 2012 after spending the previous seven years as the associate commissioner for men’s basketball at the Big East Conference. In his current role, Gavitt oversees the day-to-day operations of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship as well as the NCAA’s 11-year, $10.6-billion contracts with broadcast partners CBS and Turner Broadcasting. He also supervises the Postseason NIT and NCAA Divisions II and III Men’s Basketball Championships, and serves as the staff’s day-to-day contact to the Division I men’s basketball committee and the men’s basketball oversight committee.