Q: What's your top priority as the new athletic director?

A: My first priority is to devise a strategic plan that will take this athletic department to another level in the future. The overall competitiveness of the program will be our top focus. We'll also be looking at revenue generation – how we can do more in marketing and fundraising on the development side. And then, of course, the academic performance of student-athletes. A second priority is"friend-raising." We need to be out strengthening old relationships and building new ones. I'm a people person and I like developing relationships. That's a strength of mine. And it's going to be a focus. An athletic director has to do a lot of external work as well, and I'm looking forward to that.

Q: What's different about being a student-athlete today compared to when you were playing wide receiver for Vanderbilt University 15 years ago?

A: I would say the pressure is greater today on our student-athletes. The internet, message boards – it all places the actions of the student and the programs under a microscope. As a result, there are no secrets in athletics. Everything they do is magnified. They used to say that when we were playing ball, but now it's much more true. Anything that's done that's kind of outside the lines will be in the newspaper the next day, or on the internet hours after it happens. That takes things to another level. The stakes are higher today, too. The big money deals that we have, for example, with the NCAA Tournament and the bowl games. It creates more pressure on the student athlete than when I played 15 years ago.

Q: Is money the key to building winning traditions in athletics?

A: Money is a part of it, as far as being able to offer the right facilities and salaries for your coaches. But in our business, the key to building a successful sports program is the coaches. College athletics is built around the coaches. When you think of great coaches, that's where the great programs are. And so if you can get the good coaches and you can get them to stay, then you can build your program. Now, if you can get the money to go with it, that's even better. It's part of my job to go out and find those resources to help our coaches. But if you don't have the coaches, you can have all the facilities you want, and you're not going to be able to build a program.

Q: You often talk about the "greater EMU" being the team that everyone is playing on. Will you elaborate?

A: I'm a team person. I've played on teams all my life and I believe in the concept of team first. The athletic department is part of the institution. The institution should be the main focus, not the athletic department. You can't have the tail wagging the dog. Now, we can help the institution with its visibility and its goodwill. And that means the focus needs to be on academics. I played football at a school (Vanderbilt) that's all about academics. In my home, there were no athletics without academics first. (Dr. Gragg's mother has three master's degrees.) We need to keep in mind, always, that we are part of the greater institution.

Q: If you could watch one sport all day, which one would it be and why?

A: You're going to get me in trouble on that! Having 21 sports and 16 head coaches at EMU, I definitely can't be nailed down to one sport. Right now, since it's baseball, softball, track and crew season, those are the sports I'm watching. Overall, I prefer watching college athletics to the pros. It's different at our level. You're not playing for money. You're playing for self, for reputation, for team. In the professional realm, I don't know if everyone is playing for that.