Colleges
Cleary has seen evolution of college sports
Q&A with Mike Cleary, Executive Director, NACDA
Mike Cleary, the retiring executive director of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, doesn’t play golf and isn’t really looking forward to learning how in retirement. At 76 years old — even though he recently announced that he’s relinquishing NACDA leadership to Bob Vecchione in June — Cleary intends to continue coming into the Cleveland office about as often. “I might come in a little later and go home a little earlier,” Cleary said with a chuckle. He’s the only executive director NACDA has had since its formation in 1965. He’s watched it grow from a group of 300 to more than 6,000 administrators. He spoke with SportsBusiness Journal staff writer Michael Smith.
 |
| Cleary |
The executive director’s primary duty has been to run the annual convention. How has it changed in the last 46 years?
CLEARY: Our first convention was in Chicago. Back then, we had 311 members and 300 of them came to that convention. We had 10 exhibit tabletops that we sold for $300 apiece. Now we have 6,500 members representing 1,500 schools, and at the convention we’ll have 250 exhibits that we’ll sell for $2,950 apiece. We’ve grown tremendously.
How has NACDA evolved?
CLEARY: Where I see that we’ve really made a difference is that we are made up of people from Division I, from junior colleges, from NAIA. These people serve on committees together and get to know one another and really form bonds within their profession. They would never have another opportunity like that to get to know each other and learn about each other. Also, we were one of the first to branch out. We’ve had black presidents, women presidents. We’ve tried to be all things to all people, to be as inclusive as possible and it’s worked.
What is the biggest challenge facing intercollegiate athletics today?
CLEARY: Trying to manage social networking. That’s a big one. And budget issues. We hear administrators talking about that all the time. That’s where the opportunity to meet and talk about common issues when they get together is so beneficial.
What’s ahead for NACDA?
CLEARY: I may not do a lot of things well, but I do think I put together a good staff. Before I hired Bob 18 years ago, I didn’t really have a right-hand man. I basically ran NACDA myself. Bob came over from National Car Rental and really brought an interesting viewpoint. With his help, we’re bringing in more than $2 million in annual revenue, all of which goes back into the association, and we’ve got more than $1 million worth of real estate in Cleveland.
