By GRANT TRAYLOR

Associate Athletic Director of Strategic Communications

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Two years ago today, Marshall University embarked on a new adventure within its Athletic Department when Christian Spears started as the new Director of Athletics.

 In Spears’ introductory speech he joined with Marshall President Brad Smith in outlining a plan for success within athletics that would be predicated on five key championship principles: the Five Ps – Pace, Process, Planning, Performance and Pride.

 That ‘Game Plan’ would not only be the pathway to building success on the field, but also resurrecting the culture surrounding athletics – one that would be a source of pride for all within the university and community realm.

 As Spears speaks about his department just 24 months following the start of that journey, he sees the fruits of a championship culture all around him, which has led to success on the fields of play as well.

 “On the anniversary of two years at this amazing university under the leadership of Brad Smith, our athletics department team could not be more excited to be here at Marshall,” Spears said. “In 24 months, we have developed a mindset that “everything matters” which has led us to consider the depth and breadth of our impact on Marshall University and the value of every aspect of what we get to do, which ranges from encouraging a more thoughtful, inspirational and intentional approach to serving our student-athletes to honoring our fan experience and to developing a connected community.”

 In just the last month, the championship culture has shown itself in many ways on the field.

 Just this week, Marshall’s Women’s Basketball team earned the Sun Belt Conference Championship in front of a large contingent of fans in Pensacola, Florida. On Sunday, a large crowd gets to share in the experience, starting at 7 p.m. with the NCAA Selection Show Watch Party at the Memorial Student Center as the Herd learns of its opponent for when it makes its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1997.

 On March 1, the incredible culture surrounding Marshall Athletics showed itself again when a crowd of nearly 4,000 enjoyed Opening Day at Jack Cook Field – Marshall Baseball’s Field of Dreams. It was only fitting that, after nearly six decades of awaiting an on-campus field, the first pitch thrown to a Marshall batter in the team’s new home was crushed over the left-field wall for a home run by Tre Hondras.

 There have been several other memorable moments in Marshall history in the last 24 months as well:  –

• January’s announcement of Randy Moss into the College Football Hall of Fame on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown (the culmination of a Marshall Athletics project since May 2023)
• November’s dual exhilaration as Marshall Men’s Soccer won the 2023 SBC Championship – Marshall’s first team title in the Sun Belt- and became the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament
• In-state product Abby Herring became the first female qualifier in Marshall history for the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in November
• The hiring of Marshall legend and USA Softball representative Morgan Zerkle as the softball team’s new head coach
• Marshall Football earning Power Five wins in each of the last two seasons: a win at No. 8 Notre Dame in 2022 and a home win over Virginia Tech last season
• Marshall’s Swim and Dive earning the distinction of having the top Team GPA in Division I for two consecutive fall semesters (Fall 2022, Fall 2023) with a 3.80 while being named a Scholar All-America
• The 2022-23 Marshall Men’s Basketball team achieving its most regular-season wins in 75 years while guard and beloved Son of Marshall Taevion Kinsey broke the school’s all-time scoring recordThese are only a handful of the iconic moments that will go down in Marshall history forever that have occurred over the last two years.

 To fully appreciate the successes of those programs, though, one must first understand how Marshall Athletics got to those moments. It wasn’t by accident; it was by design through the shared vision of Spears and Smith on how to achieve success in a holistic fashion for the university.

 One of Smith’s main objectives as president at Marshall University has been to create transformational relationships instead of transactional ones. It is one that the athletic department adopted immediately under Spears to reshape the culture surrounding Marshall Athletics – an effort which Smith sees as a success under Spears’ guidance.

 “From the football team’s historic win over Notre Dame, an unbelievable leadoff home run to open Jack Cook Field and our excitement cheering for Coach Caldwell’s women’s basketball team during this incredible postseason run, what a special era we’re in with Marshall Athletics,” Smith said. “Athletic Director Christian Spears is leading our university on a transformational journey to excellence with hiring decisions like bringing Marshall legend Morgan Zerkle home to lead our softball team and also efforts spent developing program enhancements across every sport that improve athletic facilities and elevate our fan experience.”

To start the culture change, Spears began within the athletic department, which meant finding the right people to be part of the Marshall Athletics family. Just like any sports team, everyone playing a role must be bought into the plan of success for it to be achieved.

 Sometimes that meant finding the right head coach to lead an athletics program – those like baseball coach Greg Beals, women’s basketball coach Kim Caldwell, softball coach Morgan Zerkle, track and field coach Keith Roberts or women’s soccer coach Rafa Simoes – all of whom possessed the qualities, energy, commitment and passion to make their respective programs successful. Other times that meant bringing in personnel for athletics staff and administration positions who may not be as visible as coaches, but whom are just as integral behind the scenes to ensure that the athletic department is performing at the highest level.

 Spears’ process has also included the athletic department building a stronger bond with the university realm to improve communication and efficiency while helping to build each other’s reach. One of those collaborations was the “Marshall For All, Marshall Forever” Tour across West Virginia in which coaches and student-athletes would join with university leaders to recruit students from across the state to Marshall University by sharing the impact of the university and athletics on their experience. Other ventures included Marshall Athletics’ 2022 reorganization of its partnership with Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and Marshall Health to include athletic training for all Marshall student-athletes, which maximizes the opportunity for quality medical care while emphasizing student-athlete health and well-being.

 In a business sense, the university side has worked closely with athletics to identify duplicate contracts utilized by both sides and merge them into one entity. The Information Technology department at Marshall also now houses HerdVision – Marshall’s home for ESPN+ broadcasts – to give expanding support as Marshall grows its national brand through its sporting events. All these mergers and collaborations have been an effort to help Marshall Athletics put more resources into its focal point: the transformational experience for student-athletes and fans.

 With the in-house efforts in full swing, Spears’ vision was to also create an impactful core group of leaders who could serve as the visionaries for the future of Marshall Athletics – a group that became Marshall’s Champions Advisory Board.

 The Champions Advisory Board (CAB) was created with the mission to positively enhance the experience of student-athletes by providing additional resources while having the goal of driving visions to create championships. This group has led the charge in turning ideas to reality in the quest to enhance the student-athlete experience.

 Discussions between CAB and Spears set the foundation for Marshall’s ‘All M’ Campaign – a $70 million campaign that, once completed, will provide enhancements for all Marshall Athletics programs, which benefits all Marshall student-athletes for years to come.

 “Over the past two years, the pace at which improvements have been made has been remarkable and our achievements have been numerous – from graduating impressive numbers of student-athletes to hiring first-class coaches and from building and upgrading top-notch facilities to clinching championships,” said Keith May, member of the Champions Advisory Board. “It’s an exhilarating time to be part of Herd Nation, and I am confident that under the continued leadership of Athletic Director Christian Spears and President Brad Smith, as well as their exceptional colleagues, we have a bright future ahead at Marshall.”

 That $70 million campaign has brought forth many enhancements to Marshall Athletics, including the construction of Jack Cook Field, the new scoreboard and other enhancements at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, the Pathway Project and Scaggs Family Practice Facility in the Cam Henderson Center, a new videoboard, lights and many enhancements at Dot Hicks Field, a new basketball floor for men’s and women’s basketball and new Taraflex court for volleyball, new Herd Fuel stations across Marshall’s athletic venues and the Memorial Student Center to aid in the nutrition of student-athletes, the current construction of locker rooms for Men’s and Women’s Golf at Guyan Country Club and the future construction of videoboards for Men’s and Women’s Soccer, plus many other exciting plans for the future as Marshall Athletics continues its growth.

 In addition to the ideas and leadership of CAB, the Big Green Scholarship Foundation has taken huge strides forward in its efforts, receiving a record-setting amount of donations from passionate Marshall fans who want to see the successful trend continue.

 The investments made in facilities upgrades have translated to success for student-athletes in more areas than just sports. In addition to the aforementioned athletic success, Marshall University’s student-athletes excelled in the classroom with a Cumulative GPA of 3.18 for the Fall 2023 semester, which included eight programs finishing with perfect Graduation Success Rates and 15 of Marshall’s athletics programs finishing with a Team GPA of 3.0 or higher.

 In addition to numerous Dean’s List and Honor Roll honorees, Marshall celebrated the inclusion of Marshall Football center Logan Osburn as a 2023 Campbell Trophy nominee.

 It continues a trend in which success has come in all forms for Marshall Athletics.

 “Our Athletics Department has undergone an extraordinary transformation over the last 24 months,” said Beatrice Crane Banford, Senior Associate Director of Athletics. “Dreams we’ve had for decades have come true….This period of actualization is just the beginning.”

 Furthermore, Marshall’s student-athletes have also become more engaged in all Marshall sports, coming out in waves to support other sports programs and their fellow student-athletes while also becoming more active on social media through social media collaboration, as well.

 The tight-knit nature of Marshall’s family of student-athletes has impacted the Marshall student body with increased student attendance and interaction at games, as well. The athletic department has also capitalized on those opportunities with students present by incorporating them in on-court and on-field promotions through the department’s increased marketing efforts. 

 Marketing efforts have not been limited to just students, however, as the External Department has emphasized the fan experience and engagement opportunities at all venues through promotional contests, light shows and interactive videos on the videoboards, which have turned Marshall sporting events into entertainment destinations for the entire family.

 Upon Spears’ arrival, one target area for enhancement included an open shared space for the External Department inside City National Bank to aid in the freeflow of ideas in the marketing, creative and ticketing realms. The collaboration has resulted in a noted increase in attendance at games and a significant growth of each program within Marshall’s social media channels.

 A new agreement with CLC, accompanied by a strategic plan to simplify and unify branding, has also led to revenue generation and brand growth on a national and global level for Marshall Athletics.

 Marshall Athletics has experienced significant growth and success in nearly all aspects of the department over the last two years, but Spears said now isn’t the time to stop – especially when momentum, morale and the team chemistry is at an all-time high.

 Caldwell outlined the vision, energy, family-oriented nature of Marshall Athletics and commitment to excellence as reasons why she called Marshall her ‘dream job’ when she was hired last March.

 “It’s hard for me to put into words how supportive the Marshall Administration is,” Caldwell said. “I am incredibly grateful for all the help I have received so far for this year. As a coach in a new environment, I have had many days where I feel like a failure and Christian Spears looks me in the eyes and gives me a pep talk. I have had moments where I feel like I’m drowning and Beatrice Crane Banford has been our life raft. There is not a day that goes by that I feel like I have to make decisions alone and there hasn’t been a single moment where I felt like I couldn’t ask for help. I have never been someplace where the administration goes above and beyond to take care of their coaches and athletes like Marshall.”

 Spears said that he looks to carry all the momentum from the last two years into his third year as he looks to take Marshall Athletics to new heights while building the department’s bond with the university and the community.

 “The work absolutely continues, but new themes have emerged,” Spears said. “When ‘everyone matters’, you start to see personal and professional growth and you start to realize how much you contribute to the whole. We have awesome people trying to make The Herd even greater. When ‘everything and everyone matters’, impossible doesn’t exist anymore. People believe in what we are doing and we’ll continue to grow at a tremendous pace.”