Lessons from a Navy Seal Turned DIII Athletic Director

The Business of College Sports

This week, I'm joined by a former U.S. Navy Seal and Purple Heart recipient who now serves as a D3 athletic director. Mike Wisecup is the AD at Colby College and joined us to discuss his background as a Navy Seal and how he applies it to his athletic department. Wisecup also discussed the challenging aspects of his job--one of which is maintaining cohesiveness within an athletic department.
Colby College recently opened the Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center, a facility with more than 350,000 square feet, making it the largest athletic facility in D3. The complex includes the only Olympic-sized Myrtha pool in Maine, an ice arena with year-round regulation ice, the Margaret M. Crook Center with three regulation-length basketball/volleyball courts and so much more.

Some of the things we discussed included:

• His unexpected journey from Navy Seal to Athletic Director and the surprising similarities between the two positions
• His college experience as a student athlete at the United States Naval Academy
• The challenges of his position
• How departments can eliminate the “silos” inside a department and create cohesiveness
• What went into the building of D3's largest athletic facility
• Things he wished he'd known about building and opening the facility

Following his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1998, Mike Wisecup served as a Navy Seal for 20 years and was awarded a Purple Heart before moving into college athletics and working his way to becoming the athletic director at Colby College.

With a passion of molding students into better citizens, Wisecup discusses his journey, some challenging aspects of his position and how schools can eliminate siloed departments inside an athletic program and increase universal cohesiveness within the department.

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You can find more of her analysis on the business of college sports at BusinessofCollegeSports.com and Forbes.
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