Higher Ed Athletics Podcast: Long Island’s Dr. William Martinov

Apr 23, 2020

In October 2018, Long Island University announced it would consolidate the athletic departments at both of the private institution’s campuses of LIU Brooklyn (D1) and LIU Post (D2) into a single D1 institution beginning at the start of the 2019-2020 academic year, a target date it successfully hit until COVID-19 canceled spring sports. The unification, built with an entirely new athletic identity of new colors and mascot, was part of a larger strategy in building the national profile of LIU. Dr. Matinov Jr. is the athletic director for the re-branded LIU Sharks and joins Travis Smith to discuss the unique transition and offer advice to leading an athletic department through turbulent times.

 

0:51 – Walk us through the institutional changes that led to the Sharks.
6:39 – How are both campuses handling athletics?
8:41 – Has the athletics merger impacted academic offerings?
10:15 – Does LIU’s athletics unification provide a blueprint for other institutions?
14:19 – How did the unification impact the NCAA classification?
16:19 – How did you approach the transition of the LIU Post Football program to D1?
22:27 – What advice would you give ADs with those tough situations and the leadership style that is expected to take an athletic department through these turbulent times?