Insights From A First Time AD With Mississippi State’s Zac Selmon

Guest Zac Selmon, Mississippi State

19:23 min watch

Summary

“The days are long but when you’re driven by purpose… it’s fun.” That’s Mississippi State Director of Athletics Zac Selmon in conversation with ADU’s Tai M. Brown at the 2024 NACDA Convention, where the two reflect on Selmon’s first year as an AD. Selmon discusses the personal side of a career transition, including the impact his move to the Big Chair had on his family and the importance of learning the nuances of a department’s local community. Selmon: “Train yourself, if you want to be in [an AD] position, so that when it does come, it doesn’t feel so unnatural. …. having a network has been really helpful for all the transitions.” Selmon and Brown also discuss the value of storytelling, the reason Selmon calls his senior leadership team “entrepreneurs,” and why Selmon strives to make MSU the “most connected athletics department in the country.” Selmon: “The most connected team wins.”

The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).

- You’re about a year and a half in… do you feel like an Athletics Director now? Is there a time when it really clicks that you are in the Big Chair?
- Have you found aspects of the role that you’ve felt are a challenge?
- I wonder about that local perspective- learning the people, figuring out how to involve your wife as the AD’s wife - all of those dynamics as a first time AD.
- You’ve restructured the department to give everyone their own “domains.” You call them entrepreneurs. Tell me about that.
- The thing that really interests me is calling them entrepreneurs - how much autonomy do they have to structure their units the way they envision?
- How did you vet that? How did you determine that the folks you hired for these roles had what it would take to be successful?
- Everything is storytelling. Talk to me about that in terms of your thought process over the last year and a half and as you move forward in the chair.
- When in your career did you realize there was a separation between who you are and what you do? How do you help your student-athletes make that discovery within heir own stories today?
- It seems like Mississippi State has always been on the forefront of supporting student-athlete health and wellness.
- Have you been able to identify when and how staff become burned out?
- That peace index is interesting - how does that work?
- So it’s a constant self-assessment as an individual but also as an organization?
- Is the process for vetting Head Coaches the same process for vetting staff? Do you consider coaches entrepreneurs?
- And I guess that’s the same process for staff.

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