@1QLeadership Question: How can an athletics director build and sustain a championship‑level athletic department in the Great Plains?

Montana State Director of Athletics, Leon Costello, discusses presidential leadership transitions on campus, the strategic growth of the athletic department, and how aligned support for athletics drives institutional success.

Costello explains how strategic planning, investment in student‑athlete support staff, and revenue growth have fueled competitive success, culminating in a football national championship and a strong departmental culture.

He also reflects on coach retention, NIL and transfer‑portal dynamics, and how deep engagement with student‑athletes and coaches helps Montana State sustain a championship environment and long‑term leadership development. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown

@1QLeadership Question: What matters most in how we develop student-athletes?

College football analyst Yogi Roth challenges administrators to see athletes not as transactions or brands, but as **human** stories whose mental skills and identity must be developed as intentionally as their physical talent. He argues that in today's NIL and transfer-portal era, alignment on "what matters most" from the president to the graduate assistant is the only sustainable way to support coaches, protect athletes' mental health, and keep sport rooted in purpose rather than purely in revenue.

- Mental performance is framed as a competitive advantage: Roth emphasizes visualization, self-talk, body language, and "competing in the absence of fear," urging programs to front-load mental skills support with licensed professionals just as aggressively as they invest in strength and conditioning.

- Athlete identity and NIL: The discussion warns that a hyper-transactional environment and NIL money amplify "athlete identity syndrome," and calls on coaches and departments to help athletes know their story, voice, and purpose beyond their sport and logo so the college experience sets up the next 40–60 years, not just the next season.

- Alignment and culture as AD work: Roth stresses that presidents, ADs, coaches, and staff must be able to answer the same "what matters most here?" question, and that administrators should structure resources, policies, and daily operations to mirror those priorities to create a sustainable alignment. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown

@1QLeadership Question: How are athletic departments incorporating pro sports operating principles while protecting their school's institutional mission?

Ed Kull, VP & Director of Athletics at Saint John's University, discusses how the athletics department is adapting to a rapidly changing, more professionalized era of college sports, especially men's basketball. He talks about using a revenue-first, startup-style approach and how that model intersects with mission, academics, and student‑athlete welfare.

- Kull describes leading the department like a **startup**, emphasizing three parallel revenue streams: annual fund, capital projects, and new revenue-sharing obligations tied to the professionalization of college sports. He highlights resource constraints (small staff, no football, limited facilities) and how creativity in licensing, sponsorships, and partnerships is helping the department stay competitive.

- The conversation also explores how Kull's corporate and pro sports background (Coca-Cola, Vitamin Water, NFL, private equity) shapes a professional sports model inside a Catholic, non-profit university.

- Kull stresses education on money management and life after sport, the need for legal and advisory structures, and his belief that academics and degree completio

@1QLeadership Question: How can university presidents creatively lead conference realignment while protecting academic priorities and strengthening institutional and league stability for the long term?

Dr. John R. Porter of Lindenwood University, and Dr. Yancy Freeman of University of Tennessee Martin, explore how university presidents balance athletics and academics. The two CEO's discuss leading through conference realignment challenges in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They also cover using creative, business-minded strategy to stabilize and grow their respective institutions.

Presidents' role in athletics

The guests explain that athletics is often the most visible and attention grabbing part of a university, driving applications, enrollment, school pride, donations, and media exposure, which forces presidents to devote significant time and strategic focus to sports. They emphasize that athletics must enhance the academic mission, not overshadow it, so they deliberately balance funding and messaging between academic priorities and athletic success.

Stabilizing the Ohio Valley Conference

When member schools left or considered leaving, the Board of Presidents responded with unusually candid, frequent conversations to reaffirm commitment, increase exit fees, and engage consultants to craft a long term strategy and structure for the conference. They describe this moment of "friction" as ultimately positive, creating tighter relationships among presidents, clearer shared vision, and a more intentional search for a new commissioner who can elevate the OVC.

Creativity, strategy, and leadership style

Dr. Porter applies business discipline and growth thinking—like building a multi-entity education system and treating Lindenwood as an enterprise—to drive execution, revenue growth, and investment capacity that can support both academics and athletics. Dr. Freeman focuses on strategic planning rooted in enrollment management and student experience, contributing an outcome-driven approach to conference strategy and to aligning athletics with campus-wide priorities.

-Tai M. Brown - One Question Leadership Podcast

@1QLeadership Question: How can leaders in college sports build innovative, business-savvy organizations that still protect and prioritize the long-term wellbeing and development of student-athletes?

Gary Stokan, retiring President and CEO of the Peach Bowl, reflects on his 47-year career in sports and how coaching principles shaped his leadership in college football. He shares his core frameworks—TEAM (teamwork, empowerment, accountability, management), CARE (customer, attitude, relationships, excellence), and ROCKS (relationships, opportunities, competitiveness, knowledge, strategy)—as simple guides for building people-first, business-smart organizations.

Stokan and 1Q guest host, Steph Garcia Cichosz also unpack his role in growing the Peach Bowl, bringing the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta, and navigating today's changing landscape of NIL, the transfer portal, and playoff expansion. Throughout the episode, he stresses keeping student-athletes' long-term wellbeing at the center while maintaining an "attitude of gratitude" and enjoying the journey. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown - Steph Garcia Cichosz

@1QLeadership Question: What exactly is the problem in college athletics?

Sean Frazier, VP of Athletics and Recreation at NIU, discusses how and why the Huskies is restructured its conference affiliations, and also explores how new financial models can help sustain athletics without burdening the institution.

• Frazier explains NIU's strategy to "decouple" football from its traditional all-sports conference, moving football to the Mountain West, Olympic sports to the Horizon League, and wrestling to the Pac-12 to reduce travel costs, increase media revenue, and better align regionally while maintaining academic and athletic standards

• He describes the financial and strategic logic behind this model, including regional scheduling savings, expanded media markets, and using new conference affiliations to enhance both the university's athletic profile and potential academic and research partnerships

• The discussion also explores private capital and private equity in college sports, distinguishing capital from equity, examining venture-capital-style investment, and emphasizing the need for entrepreneurial thinking and stronger governance to address new expenses like revenue sharing and NIL without compromising core academic values

A frequent guest on 1Q, Frazier has always thought strategically, and creatively, about the intercollegiate athletics community and how to position all involved for success. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown

How do you become indispensable to your athletics department and athletics director?

Charity Anderson, Assistant AD for Scholar-Athlete Success at UC San Diego, joins 1Q's Steph Garcia Cichosz to offer insight into this question after serving for five years as an Executive Assistant to then-Tritons AD Earl Edwards. Anderson discusses the impact of collaboration and how she remains compassionately curious while staying rooted in her core values.

00:00 - Introduction

01:24 - You've been with the Titans for six years, including five years as executive assistant to the great Earl Edwards. You have a background in sports psychology and you have experience working directly with athletes, including as a SAAC advisor. Walk us through your journey to San Diego.

03:52 - You said you had aspirations to be a sports psychologist - where did that come from?

06:57 - So in the ecosystem of athletics, you wanted to support the holistic, whole person side of an athlete - rather than serve as a coach or agent.

09:00 - Where does the executive assistant side come into this story? How do these puzzle pieces fit together?

12:05 - There are three pieces to your puzzle: your sports psych background, your high level of emotional intelligence, and your organizational capacity. What advice do you give aspiring senior leaders who hope to recreate their own version of this?

15:29 - What was the moment for you when you realized you were living your truth?

18:07 - Respect and trust… when did you trust the senior administrators around you, in that they were taking your perspective and your feedback seriously and truly incorporating your perspective?

21:57 - Do you feel pressure to be an AD or do you feel you can be the most effective from behind the scenes?

- One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown - Steph Garcia Cichosz

@1QLeadership Question: What role do external partnerships, internal collaboration, and campus engagement play in growing the athletics program's visibility, revenue, and fan base?

From the 2024 PacNet Conference, Phil Wang, Sr. Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs at UC Irvine, talks about his almost 20 years at UCI. His transition from finance to external affairs, and how the department is maximizing automation and innovation with Learfield and Paciolan.

Wang also covers collaboration with campus, the value of athletics within the university and broader community, and how the department operates with resources that could be considered limited in the context of the athletics industr. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown