Your dragon: Find it and tame it, or slay it and move on

For the past few months, I have been working with grad students at the University of South Carolina and the Vinik program at the University of South Florida on their post-graduate plans. Most will be seeking full-time employment, and a number of them are standing at Robert Frost’s divergent pathways in the woods trying to figure out which road to take. My advice usually includes the following points:

■ Figure out what you want to do first — what are you most passionate about?

■ You will have multiple workplaces and possibly several careers.

■ You can be wrong about your choice at this point in your life, so don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

■ You may end up working in a field/area that doesn’t exist at the present time.

A recent addition to my hopefully sage counseling is that we must recognize that each of us has a dragon — and the dragon must be tamed or it must be slayed so that you can move on. Most commonly this refers to a situation in which a graduate is trying to choose between an “on-the-field/court career” or a career working on the business side. All my past experiences reinforce that the on-the-field/court dragon is much stronger and that is the dragon that must be tamed or slayed first — enabling the student to move on to another option, if necessary. Coach Tim Corbin, a grad student of mine at Ohio State, who has won multiple national championships at Vanderbilt, started his career as an intern at Wofford College working various jobs in the athletic department and serving as an assistant baseball coach. The experience enabled Tim to tame his dragon and pursue his coaching career, first at Presbyterian, then at Clemson and ultimately building a baseball dynasty at Vanderbilt.

My own career has had a number of twists and turns. I refer to myself as a pracademic because I have found myself to be happiest as a practitioner AND as an academic. In other words, I found a way to tame two dragons and create a very fulfilling and rewarding career for myself, while at the same time involving my students in a variety of experiential learning opportunities. Taking a leave from UMass and working at the NBA was a big step. But working at the DeVos Program at UCF and founding the Vinik program at USF and launching a consulting practice proved I could tame and ride two dragons.

It isn’t always easy to slay a dragon. Sometimes it comes from failure or because riding that particular dragon is not what you envisioned it to be. I began my teaching career at Robert Morris University in 1982. At the time, I harbored an idea of teaching and coaching baseball at a small college. In the spring of 1983, the baseball coach at Robert Morris resigned and I was offered the opportunity to assume that role, beginning with taking the team on the spring trip. After a disastrous road trip in which we failed to win a game, we began our routine of daily practice to prepare for the season. My dragon slayed me by reminding me how much I hated practice as a player and by reminding me that a coach’s life has many more hours of practice preparation than I was interested in undertaking. I slayed my dragon and was able to refocus my career aspirations at the ripe old age of 32. My colleagues and former students honored me at a roast years later, giving me an RMU baseball jersey with the No. 1 — signifying one more win than I had in my coaching career.

Students have a problem talking about their dragon, or their true passion, for fear that they will be discouraged or ridiculed. When a student tells me that they want to be a general manager, I first ask if they understand what that role entails (identifying, developing and managing talent), explain that we don’t offer a specific course in graduate school and, that in 34 years, I have seen only three of my former students assume that particular role. I then tell them about the path they need to begin following to get there and wish them well. This usually is a real test for the strength of that particular dragon and your willingness to pursue it.

However, the biggest issue with students may be their limited knowledge about opportunities in the sports industry and what dragons could awaken their interest. As faculty, we must do a much better job of introducing possible dragons for our students to consider. There are outstanding opportunities with companies such as Oak View Group, Fenway Partners, Elevate, Legends, Wasserman, Merlin Entertainments and many others. These organizations offer multiple dragon possibilities, but as I said, students are relatively unaware and come to school focusing on team sports and other facets of the sport industry that are more well known.

Suggestions for identifying your dragon:

■ Let your heart lead your head — what is it that you feel most strongly about?

■ Don’t let fear of being wrong dictate how you choose your dragon.

■ Don’t expect it to be easy — learn how to cope with hard.

■ Solicit advice and opinions from those you respect, but most importantly, bet on yourself and remember it’s your future and you are the CEO of YOU (and your dragon).

Bill Sutton (billsuttonandassociates@gmail.com) is a professor of practice at the University of South Carolina, director emeritus of the Vinik Graduate Sport Business Program at USF and principal of Bill Sutton & Associates. Follow him on X @Sutton_ImpactU.

Questions about OPED guidelines or letters to the editor? Email editor Jake Kyler at jkyler@sportsbusinessjournal.com