Troy University Athletics
Athletic Director Update - Nov. 1, 2012
11/1/2012 8:28:00 PM | General
AD's UPDATE
Nov. 1, 2012
Dear Trojan Family:
It is hard to believe that this morning I embarked on my second month as your Director of Athletics. I am excited to launch with this letter what will become a weekly update on Trojan Athletics and what we are doing to make Troy Athletics the premier program in the Sun Belt Conference and a nationally recognized brand.
In this inaugural letter, I will recap some of the highlights of my first month on the job and give a sneak peek at some of the key things our athletics department will be working on in the coming weeks.
My primary focus in the first month on the job has been to get a gauge on the current state of Troy Athletics through individual meetings with all of our head coaches and athletics department administrators, as well as many in the Troy University administration. In an effort to facilitate the meetings with our coaches and administrators, I developed a questionnaire that I asked each of them to complete prior to our meetings.
Below are some of the questions that were asked to both coaches and administrators:
• What things about Troy Athletics do you want to preserve?
• What things about Troy Athletics do you want to change?
• Give a current SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis of your sport/area.
• Who are the 3-5 most respected people in Troy Athletics, and why?
• What would you like to see me do as AD?
• What are you afraid of that I will do as AD?
All head coaches got the following items in addition to the above:
• Give an overview and evaluation of your staff.
• Give an overview and evaluation of your current roster.
• What is your recruiting philosophy?
• What is your non-conference scheduling philosophy?
• Give an evaluation of the following support areas: Academic Support, Compliance, Business Office, Development, Strength & Conditioning, Training Room, Media Relations, Marketing & Promotions
• What are 3 – 5 things you believe your sport needs to consistently compete at the top of the Sun Belt Conference, and thus be in contention for NCAA post season play?
I have been very pleased with the candid and detailed information that the coaches and staff have provided in these meetings. The information is being assembled in its entirety so that we can prioritize those areas we need to address.
My meeting schedule has been quite extensive over my first month at Troy as I have tried to accomplish the above mentioned tasks, while also devoting some much needed time to donor visits (Dothan, the Florida Panhandle, Mobile and Troy), Sun Belt Conference Meetings, practices and contests for our various teams, and other miscellaneous meetings. While I was enthusiastic and excited about the future of Troy Athletics prior to my October 1 start date, the energy and passion that I have witnessed the past month in our student-athletes, coaches, staff, the Troy University faculty & staff, the City of Troy, alumni, donors, and fans convince me that we will be successful in making Troy Athletics the premiere program in the Sun Belt Conference. This success at the conference level will also lead to further national exposure through NCAA postseason appearances.
In terms of our fall sports performance, our volleyball program currently sits in second place overall in the Sun Belt Conference. Coach Sonny Kirkpatrick's squad is having an outstanding year and has a realistic shot at obtaining 20 wins. Our women's soccer team concluded their season yesterday in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament after a sixth-place regular season finish. Both the men's and women's cross country teams finished in 10th place in their respective Sun Belt Conference Championship meets.
Our football team currently sits at 4-4 (3-3 Sun Belt), with road games left at Tennessee and Middle Tennessee and home contests against Navy and Arkansas State. Our players and coaching staff are working hard for a strong finish to become bowl eligible, which will happen with two more wins.
All of our teams need your support. Come out to our contests and give the Trojans the home field advantage they deserve when playing here in Troy! Our men's and women's basketball teams begin their seasons next week. Make sure you get out and see these exciting teams in the new Trojan Arena.
We will place a heavy emphasis on our development efforts. There are several capital projects we want to get started as soon as possible pending the needed funding. These projects include softball, tennis, golf and the football north end zone project. We are currently formulating our strategies to reach the funding marks to start these projects which will help our program make tremendous strides toward our goal of being the best overall athletics program in the Sun Belt Conference!
Good luck to our volleyball team this weekend with home matches versus Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, and to our football team in Knoxville against Tennessee. Let's make it a winning weekend in both sports!
Thank you for your support of Troy Athletics! Go Trojans!
John Hartwell
Troy University Director of Athletics
Nov. 1, 2012
Dear Trojan Family:
It is hard to believe that this morning I embarked on my second month as your Director of Athletics. I am excited to launch with this letter what will become a weekly update on Trojan Athletics and what we are doing to make Troy Athletics the premier program in the Sun Belt Conference and a nationally recognized brand.
In this inaugural letter, I will recap some of the highlights of my first month on the job and give a sneak peek at some of the key things our athletics department will be working on in the coming weeks.
My primary focus in the first month on the job has been to get a gauge on the current state of Troy Athletics through individual meetings with all of our head coaches and athletics department administrators, as well as many in the Troy University administration. In an effort to facilitate the meetings with our coaches and administrators, I developed a questionnaire that I asked each of them to complete prior to our meetings.
Below are some of the questions that were asked to both coaches and administrators:
• What things about Troy Athletics do you want to preserve?
• What things about Troy Athletics do you want to change?
• Give a current SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis of your sport/area.
• Who are the 3-5 most respected people in Troy Athletics, and why?
• What would you like to see me do as AD?
• What are you afraid of that I will do as AD?
All head coaches got the following items in addition to the above:
• Give an overview and evaluation of your staff.
• Give an overview and evaluation of your current roster.
• What is your recruiting philosophy?
• What is your non-conference scheduling philosophy?
• Give an evaluation of the following support areas: Academic Support, Compliance, Business Office, Development, Strength & Conditioning, Training Room, Media Relations, Marketing & Promotions
• What are 3 – 5 things you believe your sport needs to consistently compete at the top of the Sun Belt Conference, and thus be in contention for NCAA post season play?
I have been very pleased with the candid and detailed information that the coaches and staff have provided in these meetings. The information is being assembled in its entirety so that we can prioritize those areas we need to address.
My meeting schedule has been quite extensive over my first month at Troy as I have tried to accomplish the above mentioned tasks, while also devoting some much needed time to donor visits (Dothan, the Florida Panhandle, Mobile and Troy), Sun Belt Conference Meetings, practices and contests for our various teams, and other miscellaneous meetings. While I was enthusiastic and excited about the future of Troy Athletics prior to my October 1 start date, the energy and passion that I have witnessed the past month in our student-athletes, coaches, staff, the Troy University faculty & staff, the City of Troy, alumni, donors, and fans convince me that we will be successful in making Troy Athletics the premiere program in the Sun Belt Conference. This success at the conference level will also lead to further national exposure through NCAA postseason appearances.
In terms of our fall sports performance, our volleyball program currently sits in second place overall in the Sun Belt Conference. Coach Sonny Kirkpatrick's squad is having an outstanding year and has a realistic shot at obtaining 20 wins. Our women's soccer team concluded their season yesterday in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament after a sixth-place regular season finish. Both the men's and women's cross country teams finished in 10th place in their respective Sun Belt Conference Championship meets.
Our football team currently sits at 4-4 (3-3 Sun Belt), with road games left at Tennessee and Middle Tennessee and home contests against Navy and Arkansas State. Our players and coaching staff are working hard for a strong finish to become bowl eligible, which will happen with two more wins.
All of our teams need your support. Come out to our contests and give the Trojans the home field advantage they deserve when playing here in Troy! Our men's and women's basketball teams begin their seasons next week. Make sure you get out and see these exciting teams in the new Trojan Arena.
We will place a heavy emphasis on our development efforts. There are several capital projects we want to get started as soon as possible pending the needed funding. These projects include softball, tennis, golf and the football north end zone project. We are currently formulating our strategies to reach the funding marks to start these projects which will help our program make tremendous strides toward our goal of being the best overall athletics program in the Sun Belt Conference!
Good luck to our volleyball team this weekend with home matches versus Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, and to our football team in Knoxville against Tennessee. Let's make it a winning weekend in both sports!
Thank you for your support of Troy Athletics! Go Trojans!
John Hartwell
Troy University Director of Athletics
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