Troy University Athletics
Photo by: Brady Fitch
Winning Together: The Culture Behind Troy’s Athletic Surge
8/3/2026 1:05:00 PM | General
Success often breeds success.
At Troy University, coaches across the board are feeding off what's perhaps been the most successful year ever at the school.
"I think the secret sauce is that 'Trojan Spirit'… that we can go beat anybody, anytime, anywhere … bring it home, we're Trojans," Troy women's basketball coach Chanda Rigby said during a recent Trojan Tour event.
The truth is, not long after Troy football coach Gerad Parker arrived on campus three years ago, he was introduced to the "Trojan Spirit" by Rigby.
"Chanda Rigby was the first one that opened up my heart and mind to saying, 'You better believe it,'" Parker said. "If you go into any game trying to play it close, or well, we're a little bit short; we don't have enough - you've just got to get over all of that. We've got enough."
The camaraderie among Troy coaches is easily visible. They don't just offer advice and talk about supporting each other - they follow through.
As Troy's baseball team hosted a Super Regional this past June for the first time in school history, the football coaching staff not only attended the game, but hyped up the fans in their own special way right before the final out was recorded to send the Trojans on to the College World Series.
"We're in the top of the ninth right before that double play (to end the game), and they're running up and down the stands … the football staff," Dan Heck, who is in his first year as Deputy Athletics Director/External Relations & Revenue Generation at Troy, said. "Nobody made them do that. It wasn't a marketing stunt. They're on their own up there, hyping up the crowd.
"That's pretty unique; that doesn't happen everywhere. I've worked at a few other Division I schools, and you don't have head coaches that support each other like that. We have a group text within our coaches where we're encouraging each other. We have a great alignment."
Besides just being present at the Super Regional held at Riddle-Pace Field to support Troy head baseball coach Skylar Meade and his team, Parker was also in attendance for a game at the Gainesville Regional and for one at the College World Series in Omaha.
"It was awesome to watch them make the run," Parker said. "Troy is a special place where everyone is connected, so it was a neat opportunity for us to see them and root them on."
Something to prove
Having "a little bit of a chip on our shoulder" is how Troy head volleyball coach Josh Lauer describes the attitudes of teams on campus.
"Everyone tells us we can't; everyone tells us we're a little bit too small," Lauer said. "It's just that little bit of doubt that puts that chip on your shoulder that drives you a little bit more. It's bonding.
"The other thing that this group (of coaches) has is a really great positive mindset and they want success for each other. We realize a rising tide lifts smaller boats. Every single one of our recruiting (possibilities) got better when Skylar's team goes to Omaha. Period. Because the brand rises and all of the recruits see it. Those things matter, and how we support each other matters, too."
This past year Troy's football team won the Sun Belt Conference West Division title, played in the league championship game and finished the season in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl.
For the second straight year, the Trojans' men's basketball team won the Sun Belt regular season title, SBC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Troy's women's basketball team went 25-8 and played in the WBIT Tournament.
And Troy's baseball team gained national attention by winning the Gainesville Regional, followed by hosting and winning a Super Regional to earn a berth into the College World Series.
"When the Power T is on ESPN for three weeks, that helps all of us, right?" Heck said. "We all know in Alabama and locally what Troy is all about, but that national stage takes it to the next level all across the board."
Meade, in his fifth season leading the Trojans' baseball program, points out how significant it was for Troy to host a Super Regional.
"The greatest thing that happened to our program - and I hope one of the biggest things that happened at the university - is what happened in that Super Regional," Meade said. "The 7,033 people being at a game - it is astonishing. That's a credit to all of the fans; everyone who worked on this.
"Omaha is awesome - they do a lot of cool things and you're there to win a national championship - but the Regional is what makes you realize that anything is possible."
Parker believes the exposure during Troy's baseball run this year elevated every program at the university, including his football team.
"Instead of the people outside of us maybe thinking of us as a regional brand, I think now it's becoming a national brand, and that's what you want," Parker said. "I think it (national accolades for baseball) helps and pushes the needle of all things for all programs."
All coaches on board
As the baseball team enjoyed its success, Troy athletics director Kyle George heard from other coaches on campus.
"I'll give Clay Bounds, our men's golf coach, the credit here," George said. "As soon as the Omaha run came to a conclusion, he jumped in there saying to Skylar, 'Thank you for showing that we can have a legitimate chance of winning a national championship.'
"Everybody is always supportive of each other, but that part showed that this is real. We've got a chance to win national championships here at Troy.
"We talk about what comes next. Alright, we've been in these key moments, let's go win. Look at basketball. How do we get to the second weekend (of NCAA tourney)? Football. How do we get to the college football playoff? Those are the goals now of what we get to as that bar has been raised."
The College World Series appearance amped up interest in general for Troy athletics.
"I was talking to our football staff, and they were saying, 'We've got more guys showing up to our camps than we ever have before,'" George said. "They're (prospects) like, 'Hey, I've seen you guys in Omaha. I want to go see what's happening in Troy.'
"It gets you exposure that you just can't get anywhere else. Winning, but also the way that we won. I think that part stands out the most."
For Adam Howard, who was hired in late March as the new men's basketball coach at Troy after Scott Cross left to take over Georgia Tech's head coaching position, that winning trajectory is what's so attractive.
"Professionally, being at a place where they're winning at a high level in baseball, in men's and women's basketball, volleyball and football … so much momentum and so many great coaches and administrators," Howard said of coming aboard.
"There's a history of winning and there's a standard … a little bit of an expectation now after what Coach Cross and his staff had done for several years. So to enter this community and to be at this level and be at a place like this was a no-brainer for myself and family."
Fans enjoying the surge
Ricky Ward of Bonifay, Fla., is a 1991 graduate of Troy and staunch supporter of the program. He's proud of how Troy has performed on the big stage of college athletics.
"I think people realize if you come to Troy, you're going to get a good education, you're going to be a school that appreciates you, and you're going to win," Ward said. "We've got coaches there that are teaching them something besides just winning a game. But winning is nice."
Willie Tullis, who starred as a quarterback for the Trojans (1979-1980) and then spent eight years in the NFL as a cornerback and kick returner, is amazed at the progress at his alma mater.
"It's good being a Trojan, that's for sure," Tullis said. "To look where we came from and look where we are now, we're in Division I and competing on every level … It's just mind-blowing to me, but I'm loving the ride.
"The amazing thing about Troy is we lose good players, and we lose good coaches, and we keep reloading."
The time is now
"There's no better time to be at Troy," Parker said. "It's a blue-collar, chip-on-your-shoulder place. Our guys come to our (football) building … there's not many distractions in Troy.
"We don't have traffic; we don't have to talk about rush hour. The doors are relatively unlocked. Come on in, get better and be about the right stuff."
Parker believes Troy being overlooked on the national stage at times works to its advantage.
"I think flying under the radar is probably what we do best," Parker said. "I think everybody has a really good feeling of knowing who we are at Troy – leadership, coaching and our players, and I think that's why it works.
"My job - our job - is to keep that working and ride the momentum of a Group of Six program that's had one hell of a year."
Something all of the coaches at Troy can agree on.
At Troy University, coaches across the board are feeding off what's perhaps been the most successful year ever at the school.
"I think the secret sauce is that 'Trojan Spirit'… that we can go beat anybody, anytime, anywhere … bring it home, we're Trojans," Troy women's basketball coach Chanda Rigby said during a recent Trojan Tour event.
The truth is, not long after Troy football coach Gerad Parker arrived on campus three years ago, he was introduced to the "Trojan Spirit" by Rigby.
"Chanda Rigby was the first one that opened up my heart and mind to saying, 'You better believe it,'" Parker said. "If you go into any game trying to play it close, or well, we're a little bit short; we don't have enough - you've just got to get over all of that. We've got enough."
The camaraderie among Troy coaches is easily visible. They don't just offer advice and talk about supporting each other - they follow through.
As Troy's baseball team hosted a Super Regional this past June for the first time in school history, the football coaching staff not only attended the game, but hyped up the fans in their own special way right before the final out was recorded to send the Trojans on to the College World Series.
"We're in the top of the ninth right before that double play (to end the game), and they're running up and down the stands … the football staff," Dan Heck, who is in his first year as Deputy Athletics Director/External Relations & Revenue Generation at Troy, said. "Nobody made them do that. It wasn't a marketing stunt. They're on their own up there, hyping up the crowd.
"That's pretty unique; that doesn't happen everywhere. I've worked at a few other Division I schools, and you don't have head coaches that support each other like that. We have a group text within our coaches where we're encouraging each other. We have a great alignment."
Besides just being present at the Super Regional held at Riddle-Pace Field to support Troy head baseball coach Skylar Meade and his team, Parker was also in attendance for a game at the Gainesville Regional and for one at the College World Series in Omaha.
"It was awesome to watch them make the run," Parker said. "Troy is a special place where everyone is connected, so it was a neat opportunity for us to see them and root them on."
Something to prove
Having "a little bit of a chip on our shoulder" is how Troy head volleyball coach Josh Lauer describes the attitudes of teams on campus.
"Everyone tells us we can't; everyone tells us we're a little bit too small," Lauer said. "It's just that little bit of doubt that puts that chip on your shoulder that drives you a little bit more. It's bonding.
"The other thing that this group (of coaches) has is a really great positive mindset and they want success for each other. We realize a rising tide lifts smaller boats. Every single one of our recruiting (possibilities) got better when Skylar's team goes to Omaha. Period. Because the brand rises and all of the recruits see it. Those things matter, and how we support each other matters, too."
This past year Troy's football team won the Sun Belt Conference West Division title, played in the league championship game and finished the season in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl.
For the second straight year, the Trojans' men's basketball team won the Sun Belt regular season title, SBC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Troy's women's basketball team went 25-8 and played in the WBIT Tournament.
And Troy's baseball team gained national attention by winning the Gainesville Regional, followed by hosting and winning a Super Regional to earn a berth into the College World Series.
"When the Power T is on ESPN for three weeks, that helps all of us, right?" Heck said. "We all know in Alabama and locally what Troy is all about, but that national stage takes it to the next level all across the board."
Meade, in his fifth season leading the Trojans' baseball program, points out how significant it was for Troy to host a Super Regional.
"The greatest thing that happened to our program - and I hope one of the biggest things that happened at the university - is what happened in that Super Regional," Meade said. "The 7,033 people being at a game - it is astonishing. That's a credit to all of the fans; everyone who worked on this.
"Omaha is awesome - they do a lot of cool things and you're there to win a national championship - but the Regional is what makes you realize that anything is possible."
Parker believes the exposure during Troy's baseball run this year elevated every program at the university, including his football team.
"Instead of the people outside of us maybe thinking of us as a regional brand, I think now it's becoming a national brand, and that's what you want," Parker said. "I think it (national accolades for baseball) helps and pushes the needle of all things for all programs."
All coaches on board
As the baseball team enjoyed its success, Troy athletics director Kyle George heard from other coaches on campus.
"I'll give Clay Bounds, our men's golf coach, the credit here," George said. "As soon as the Omaha run came to a conclusion, he jumped in there saying to Skylar, 'Thank you for showing that we can have a legitimate chance of winning a national championship.'
"Everybody is always supportive of each other, but that part showed that this is real. We've got a chance to win national championships here at Troy.
"We talk about what comes next. Alright, we've been in these key moments, let's go win. Look at basketball. How do we get to the second weekend (of NCAA tourney)? Football. How do we get to the college football playoff? Those are the goals now of what we get to as that bar has been raised."
The College World Series appearance amped up interest in general for Troy athletics.
"I was talking to our football staff, and they were saying, 'We've got more guys showing up to our camps than we ever have before,'" George said. "They're (prospects) like, 'Hey, I've seen you guys in Omaha. I want to go see what's happening in Troy.'
"It gets you exposure that you just can't get anywhere else. Winning, but also the way that we won. I think that part stands out the most."
For Adam Howard, who was hired in late March as the new men's basketball coach at Troy after Scott Cross left to take over Georgia Tech's head coaching position, that winning trajectory is what's so attractive.
"Professionally, being at a place where they're winning at a high level in baseball, in men's and women's basketball, volleyball and football … so much momentum and so many great coaches and administrators," Howard said of coming aboard.
"There's a history of winning and there's a standard … a little bit of an expectation now after what Coach Cross and his staff had done for several years. So to enter this community and to be at this level and be at a place like this was a no-brainer for myself and family."
Fans enjoying the surge
Ricky Ward of Bonifay, Fla., is a 1991 graduate of Troy and staunch supporter of the program. He's proud of how Troy has performed on the big stage of college athletics.
"I think people realize if you come to Troy, you're going to get a good education, you're going to be a school that appreciates you, and you're going to win," Ward said. "We've got coaches there that are teaching them something besides just winning a game. But winning is nice."
Willie Tullis, who starred as a quarterback for the Trojans (1979-1980) and then spent eight years in the NFL as a cornerback and kick returner, is amazed at the progress at his alma mater.
"It's good being a Trojan, that's for sure," Tullis said. "To look where we came from and look where we are now, we're in Division I and competing on every level … It's just mind-blowing to me, but I'm loving the ride.
"The amazing thing about Troy is we lose good players, and we lose good coaches, and we keep reloading."
The time is now
"There's no better time to be at Troy," Parker said. "It's a blue-collar, chip-on-your-shoulder place. Our guys come to our (football) building … there's not many distractions in Troy.
"We don't have traffic; we don't have to talk about rush hour. The doors are relatively unlocked. Come on in, get better and be about the right stuff."
Parker believes Troy being overlooked on the national stage at times works to its advantage.
"I think flying under the radar is probably what we do best," Parker said. "I think everybody has a really good feeling of knowing who we are at Troy – leadership, coaching and our players, and I think that's why it works.
"My job - our job - is to keep that working and ride the momentum of a Group of Six program that's had one hell of a year."
Something all of the coaches at Troy can agree on.
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