Dec 3, 2019
1:02 - Jeremy talks about his small town roots, and shares how valuable of a decision it was to play Div II baseball at Delta State under Coach Marchant.
7:10 - Jeremy shares the core values and the mental shift that he went through when competing for a spot on the Boston Red Sox, and credits his coaches for helping to build those values and support him as he grew personally and professionally.
8:56 - Jeremy shares a Mike Kinnison coaching story from when the Delta State team was competing in the World Series, and an occasion where Jeremy needed to be pushed to succeed, but also received heartfelt encouragement from his coach.
11:20 - Jeremy discusses the shift from playing at the college level to professional baseball in the minor leagues, and describes the increase in intensity along with the importance of taking care of yourself throughout the process.
12:43 - Jeremy talks about the path that took him from baseball back to working in college sports, and from getting married to earning an MBA, to deciding that he was unhappy in his corporate job and making the decision to work in development for Delta State University.
That decision would lead to an opportunity to take charge as Athletic Director after Brad Teague’s departure.
18:57 - Jeremy shares his thought process in realizing that it was time for the next step in his career after 6 years at Delta State, and the transition from working in Div II to Div I. His career journey would take him from AD at Delta State, to Deputy AD at Southern Miss, to AD at Troy, until he would come full circle back as Athletic Director at Southern Miss.
22:20 - Jeremy talks about the tough decisions and tough conversations that need to be made by athletic leadership, and how his personal process for those situations is driven by faith and by colleagues who can have valuable and candid discussions.
28:00 - “For me, it’s always been about being creative on the revenue side. How can we get more resources to our student-athletes and our coaches, where they can get their needs list met?”
Jeremy talks about looking at both sides of the balance sheet from a financial leadership perspective, and how his philosophy revolves around creating more opportunities for resources to avoid budget cuts whenever possible.
37:16 - Jeremy shares his number one piece of advice for professionals moving up in their careers in college sports, and his vision for Southern Miss athletics