San Diego State Director of Intercollegiate Athletics JD Wicker sits down with ADU’s Steph Garcia Cichosz at the 2024 NACDA Convention to reflect on the values of “patience and persistence” when directing an athletics department that is striving for sustained competitive excellence during times of change. Wicker and Garcia Cichosz discuss recent success for the Aztecs, how to stay on top once a high level of athletic and academic success has been achieved and the strategy behind building a program into a national brand.
Wicker also offers insight on communication strategies with student-athletes, campus partners and staff; discusses how he redefined the “Aztec way” when hiring a Head Football Coach; and shares his “fill your battery” moments and habits that help him maintain momentum. The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing: -
0:36 - The theme in the media these days is chaos and change but I want to use two words SBJ used to describe you - patience and persistence. How are those qualities part of your leadership style and how are those a benefit in this time of change?
-
2:09 - With this uncertain landscape, how are you communicating down to your staff? What's your process for conveying stability?
- 3:22 - How are you communicating out to external stakeholders - campus partners and your president?
-
4:24 - Finally, how are you conveying stability and reassurance to the student-athletes themselves?
- 5:49 - What's your process for evaluating potential when hiring a new staff member?
-
6:50 - That's a little intimidating! What would you do if you had to deliver an all-staff presentation as part of your interview process?
- 7:33 - How did you define the "Aztec way" when identifying a new Head Football Coach during this last coaching cycle?
-
9:15 - What's the secret to achieving a high level of academic success (via APR) across multiple programs?
- 10:32 - Let's talk about the recent Mountain West activation in Times Square - why is it so important to make San Diego State a national brand?
-
11:52 - We say that it's hard to get to the top but it's harder to stay there; what are you doing from a resource perspective, a personnel perspective, a strategic thinking perspective to capitalize off all the recent momentum for the Aztecs?
- 14:13 - How do you stay hungry and continue elevating yourself to new levels of success?
-
16:10 - Tell me about the human impact of these changing times.
- 17:19 - What are a few habits you've maintained over the course of your career that allow you to reset and get back to the office ready to attack?
|