Wisconsin should hire me to be their next athletic director

Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

Quick note before today’s story: Dennis and I will be at NACDA in a few weeks! I’m getting to Las Vegas on Sunday the 7th, and will be in town until the morning of the 10th. If you’re going to be at the event and want to say hello, drop me a line!

Now, I want to be clear about something. I still really like this job. I still enjoy writing the Extra Points newsletters, I’ve found that I really love making games and software tools, and I am still energized by running a small business. I’ve turned down a few opportunities to potentially work directly for a school, and I think it would be difficult to get me to quit Extra Points and get me to do something else.

But difficult does not mean impossible. For the right opportunity? Sure, I’d be willing to pack up, move and try something different.

Well friends, one of those might have opened up. The University of Wisconsin needs a new athletic director, and the posting is public.

In the real world, these types of jobs are cloak and dagger affairs, brokered by search firms, agents, and go-betweens. But at Extra Points, I believe in transparency. I don’t have an agent. I don’t even think I’d know how to get one.

So we’ll do this in public. Friends, I am applying for the AD job at the University of Wisconsin.

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Dear distinguished members of the University of Wisconsin and the CSA team,

I understand that I would be considered, charitably, a most unconventional candidate for the Athletic Director role at the University of Wisconsin. But these are unconventional times, and I believe that if we can look beyond what appears to be a tongue-in-cheek bit, you’ll be able to understand there is also real substance behind my interest, and an opportunity to help this great university. 

It is true, I have never been a P4 athletic director, or in fact, an athletic director anywhere. But I am the founder and publisher of Extra Points, a leading industry newsletter read by over 70,000 people every weekday, including multiple employees of the UW athletic department and academic community.

The CSA job description calls for Wisconsin’s next AD to “Develop and implement effective strategic, financial, and organizational management plans within a complex Division I athletics department”, and to “Understand and successfully navigate emerging issues related to NIL, revenue-sharing models, scholarship limits, conference dynamics, media partnerships, and the future business model of college athletics.”

I would humbly submit that in my current role, one that requires me to report on the cutting edge of NCAA governance reform, NIL, revenue generation strategies and startups, has prepared me for those responsibilities even more than I would had I spent the last four years working as an Associate AD at Iowa State. Helping industry professionals truly understand the world we’re living in is my entire job. 

I love that job, and have turned down opportunities to work in athletic departments before. But I must confess, despite being a graduate of The Ohio State University, and despite being what some Wisconsin residents might describe as a “FIB”, I have real love for Madison, the University of Wisconsin, and most importantly, the Wisconsin Idea. 

My late mother, Dr. Regina Figueiredo-Brown, earned her PhD at the University of Wisconsin. My youngest sister graduated from Madison West High School, and I’ve spent more time in Dane County than almost anywhere I’ve actually lived. On a table in my office sits a red Terrace Chair, a reminder of not just my mother, but of the institution and ideals that she loved so much. And also, memories of watching the lake and eating an ice cream cone the size of an infant.

And look, I live in Chicago. But I went on my honeymoon to Wisconsin. Did I do this because I got married at 24 and had like, $700 in my checking account? Yes. But ALSO because I legitimately do love this state, from its encased meats to the great outdoors to the art museum that can flap its wings.

I understand the pressures that this athletic department is under, perhaps even better than some of the traditional candidates you’ll get. Wisconsin is being asked to compete with financial behemoths in the Big Ten, without the donor base or revenue streams of Ohio State or Michigan. The largest programs in the conference are spending over $50 million more each year on operational spending, to say nothing of athlete payroll that gets laundered over the cap. Ohio State is spending over $100 million more.

The temptation to change what makes UW unique and special will be strong, and you’ll get candidates who will tell school leadership that they must Modernize and Get With The Times, or risk being left behind.

Modernization, sure. But in order to prosper in whatever new era of college sports we’re approaching, I deeply believe that Wisconsin cannot cut corners or try to become something it isn’t.

To that end, if I was hired as AD, I would announce three major projects that I believe would help galvanize a disjointed fan base, take advantage of UW’s unique attributes, and set this athletic department up for competitive, financial and educational success.

First, I would launch The BadgerFund (money…for Badgers), a specific investment fund built to support startups, projects and research from UW students, professors and alumni, specifically to solve problems in college sports. Why should UW athletics be forced to spend a fortune on vibe-coded or poorly engineered software force-fed to it by existing college sports heavyweights? This is Wisconsin, and we have access to some of the most talented engineers, business analysts, creative writers, thinkers and doers in the entire world. Better to spend money to teach and support entrepreneurship across the state, funding improvements in licensing, corporate sponsorships, nutrition and elite performance, and more. Successful projects could even be licensed to other athletic departments, with UW collecting a fee. 

We are a university and community of entrepreneurs. We should embrace that. 

Second, I would announce an immediate campaign to truly get the entire state behind not just the University of Wisconsin athletic department, but the school itself. In an era where regular Americans are facing financial pressure and are increasingly skeptical of the value of higher education, it is critical that athletics lean into that whole tortured Front Porch metaphor and actually pound the pavement to remind Badger-state residents that the university, and thus, the athletic department, is for them. We won’t get their support without it.

If there’s a fish fry in a Knights of Columbus basement in Chippewa Falls, we’ll be there. The Rusk County Fair? I’m there, hawking tickets and spreading the gospel of the Badgers. We’ll set up museum-like displays of UW athletic history to public libraries all over the state, partner with the State Agricultural Department to find new local farmers to produce Officially Licensed Wisconsin Foodstuff, have Bucky flip the coin at the Culver’s Bowl, and more. We’ll get Charlie Berens to do play by play for some Olympic sports. We’ll sponsor a mini-golf Masters Tournament in the Dells and soak Chicago tourists for every dollar they’ve got.  

We will be such relentless campaigners and promoters of the UW brand all over the state that we’ll make politicians jealous of our hustle. 

Third, we are going to be aggressive in capturing America’s attention. Our programs will schedule aggressively in every sport, and will constantly look for new venues, new formats and new platforms to showcase our athletes and universities. As other major programs cancel high-profile out of conference contests, we’ll double down on playing anywhere, anybody.

Michigan doesn’t want to play a football game in Germany anymore? That’s fine. We’ll do it, and we’ll teach those Krauts a thing or two about beer and football. We’ll float a rink out on Lake Michigan and beat Minnesota's hockey team on it. If suddenly it’s okay to stage combat sports events on the lawn of major government buildings, well, then Wisconsin wrestling will host a beatdown in front of our state capital building. We will not shy from the spotlight, wherever it may be.

Fourth, we’re going to be a national leader in college sports video games. It’s great that our football college athletes are able to have their digital likeness in a college football game. We’re excited that in the near future, our men and women of Badger Basketball will have the same honors. But I’m tired of waiting for EA Sports to call back. We’ll push the envelope and be aggressive in getting UW hockey athletes in future NHL games, our volleyball players in direct-to-PC titles, and in supporting the licensing efforts for AAA and indie startups alike. If you want to be in the game, I will make sure you want to be at Wisconsin.

And finally, we need a vision, an ambitious stretch goal, something that fans didn’t think would be possible in this era, to inspire those legions of Wisconsin residents to support this university and athletic department. A bold goal to remind people that we’re not about business as usual anymore. 

I know that’s the number, because I built a SaaS tool that tracks college sports finance across the country. I don’t just make jokes on Twitter! I can do math as well!

Speaking of math, I understand that because of my less traditional background, my compensation should look different.

When Rutgers hired Keli Zinn as their new AD, the most recent new AD to join the Big Ten her base compensation is set at $1.3 million. James Smith is making $1.2 million at Maryland. Don’t pay me that much money. Give me $300,000, hire an experienced ex-AD as my #2, and kick the rest of the money into the ol’ revenue sharing fund.

I’m a team player, and I understand that it’s okay to raise your hand and admit when you don’t know something. For example, I know that I took to drinking much, much later in my adult life, and I absolutely cannot consume alcohol at a Wisconsin-level. I am committed to learning and growing together. 

I love college sports. I love land-grant universities. I love the great state of Wisconsin. There are very, very few schools that I care about enough, and have enough faith in, where I’d be willing to get out of the newsletter game and try to put all of these theories into action. Wisconsin is one of those rare schools. I am willing to learn to drink those weird Old Fashioneds and Fight On For Her Fame.

Best of luck in your search.

Matt Brown

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Anyways, I’ll let all of you know when I get asked to drive to Madison for my interview.

We’ll have more analysis and original reporting for next week, and then I’m off to Las Vegas for NACDA. I hope to see you all there!

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Thanks for reading, everybody. I’ll see you on the internet.