Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Kilwien.
Hi Richard, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in a small town of about 2,000 residents in rural Northeast Texas. After graduating high school in 1983, I attended Texas Tech University and earned a bachelor’s degree in the summer of 1988. While I always loved following and participating in sports as a kid, it wasn’t until the summer prior to my final year of college that I merged my interest in writing and storytelling with my interest in sports by applying for a student job in the sports information office at Texas Tech. Over the last 35 years, I have been fortunate to have worked in athletic administration at eight different universities, a now-defunct athletic conference and two media companies. Presently, I serve as a Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Operations at UC San Diego.
Although my personal journey, like most people, began as a kid – especially growing up in such a small town environment – most of my significant influences came about after I discovered my professional path. While in college, I didn’t take academics seriously enough. I changed majors three times and definitely spent more time in the recreation center playing basketball than in the library!
The spring prior to my senior year, I decided to pursue a minor in journalism (I wrote for the student newspaper in high school and had a knack for it). That summer, my roommate told me about a speaker in a public relations class that served as the sports information director at Texas Tech and explained what he did. I thought it seemed like something I would be interested in, so I volunteered my time to learn more about the profession. The sports information director’s name was Joe Hornaday and I credit him with getting me started in the profession and giving me responsibilities that led me down this path.
After earning my degree, I was hired at the University of Houston as a sports information intern. My boss, Ted Nance, was one of the legends of the profession and is a member of several Halls of Fame, including the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He was a huge influence on me. While at Houston, under Ted’s guidance, I was able to work with world record track and field athletes such as Carl Lewis and Leroy Burrell and football Heisman Trophy winner Andre Ware.
Following my internship at Houston, I was hired as an assistant sports information director at Duke University. While at Duke, I was able to work with the men’s basketball team that won back-to-back national championships and won one of the most memorable games in NCAA Tournament history – a 1992 regional final victory over Kentucky that featured a buzzer-beating shot by All-American Christian Laettner. I was selected to travel to Tokyo to serve as a program ambassador and operations advisor for the Duke football team. And, I got a chance to make a visit to the White House as a staffer with the men’s basketball program that was recognized by the President. Looking back, it was really cool to work with Coach Krzyzewski and athletes like Grant Hill, Laettner, Bobby Hurley and all the great players of that era of Duke basketball.
That spring I received a call from Fred Jacoby, the commissioner of the (now-defunct) Southwest Conference. They were looking for a person who could serve as the communications director for the league’s basketball program and my combination of local knowledge (both my alma mater and Houston were members of the SWC) made me the ideal candidate. While in that position, we hosted the 1994 NCAA Regional Finals – of which I served as the media coordinator. One of the thrills of that experience was meeting US President Bill Clinton after the final game that his beloved University of Arkansas had just won. It was quite the experience to run a media operation that included the White House press corps, the secret service and a visit from the President. Unfortunately, the league announced that spring it was disbanding (to form what is now the Big 12 Conference).
Following the dissolution of the Southwest Conference, I moved into a position at Raycom Sports in Charlotte, N.C. Raycom is now known mostly as a media company that owns television stations. At that time, it was better known as a sports television producer of college football and basketball games and for conducting big-time college basketball tournaments, bowl games and other sporting events. While at that position, I was handed the opportunity to help develop a new area of the company related to emerging technologies – namely, the Internet. I was able to help develop the concept for the first-ever college official athletic website (which no college is without these days).
But, I still had the desire to work on campus so it wasn’t a hard decision when I was offered a job at my alma mater as its director of sports information in Summer of 1996. I replaced the man that hired me nine years earlier as a student assistant for the Texas Tech program that was moving into the Big 12 Conference. I had a great relationship with the athletic director, my boss – Gerald Myers, who provided me with loads of responsibilities and I was able to do some cutting-edge things. I promoted our running back, Byron Hanspard, to win the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s leading running back and to a fourth place finish in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. I was able to lead a team that launched the nation’s second official athletic website. We installed the first ever videoboard in the football stadium and created a video department to run it. We updated and launched a new branding initiative and logo that remains in use today.
After leaving Texas Tech for a position in the tech industry, I quickly realized my life was in college athletics.
I accepted a position at a small Jesuit school, Santa Clara University, and spent six wonderful years – starting out as communications director and finishing as a senior administrator in charge on marketing, communications, sponsorship and ticket sales and a host of other responsibilities. While there, we built a small radio network that distributed Bronco men’s basketball games. We streamed audio of basketball, soccer and baseball games – something very few schools of that size were doing at the time. We developed a new athletics brand and increased merchandising opportunities. The SCU women’s soccer team won the national championship and we attracted 5,000 people to watch their season opener the following season. It was a great experience.
In 2006 I accepted a position at the University of Washington. I was in Seattle for four years and, while there, we expanded website content, became the first communications department in the Pac-10 (now Pac-12) to embrace social media and conducted live, real-time coverage of National Signing Day. But, with the department struggling financially, the football team doing terribly and the athletic administration that hired me departing, I was one of nearly 20 people laid off from their positions in Husky athletics.
My family and I moved back to the Bay Area for a communications position at a small Catholic institution in Moraga – Saint Mary’s College. The small environment, combined with some phenomenal success by the basketball program, helped make that such a unique and positive experience. We strived to make every sport, every student-athlete feel special. The men’s soccer program won a league title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, losing narrowly at the University of North Carolina. The men’s basketball team played in a couple of NCAA basketball tournaments and had a team led by several international players from Australia that would go on to play in the NBA and in the Olympics.
After a few years, my wife and I moved back to Texas where I accepted a position at the University of Texas at Arlington. A college roommate was my supervisor and the position was appealing. Our son had graduated high school and was playing college soccer in Florida. So, with our families relatively close by and the chance to easily catch flights to Fort Myers, we were looking forward to staying in Texas for, perhaps, the rest of my career. The basketball team was successful, the athletic administration committed and I had a prominent role with the university’s communications staff.
But, I got a call from UC San Diego… Who wouldn’t want to live in San Diego?
The Triton athletic program was moving from Division II to NCAA Division I and was looking for an experience communications director that could help expand the brand. Since I arrived, I’ve been fortunate to develop a fantastic relationship with Athletic Director Earl Edwards, obtain a prominent role in university communications and evolve into a position that oversees a number of the department’s external areas.
Working in college athletics is very transient. Very rarely do people move to a community and find a job. Almost always, the path is to find an open position, join 100s of other applicants, then move to wherever the location. We have lived in four different states and nine different cities during my career. The profession is also strongly based on personal relationships – which heavily dictated every one of the positions I’ve had.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There is not really such a thing as a smooth road – especially if you expect success. At its core, college athletics is unpredictable. Teams win and lose. Coaches and student-athletes come and go. Administrations succeed and fail. Failure is part of the story of almost every great leader. It is how you deal with those setbacks that defines you.
College athletics is a complex industry. Except for the few individuals who make headlines, there are generally, low salaries and long work hours. Most people work in athletics because of a love for sports and a respect for higher education. But, that does breed burnout and creates challenges in recruiting and retaining employees. The high level of turnover means constant training and a low levels of consistent excellence.
Like most people, I’ve certainly had tough situations. But, having a strong support system has been the most important key to overcoming those hard times. My wife and son have been there every step of the way and have been remarkably supportive. They have sacrificed greatly and, for that, I’m eternally grateful.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I oversee a variety of external areas within the athletics program at UC San Diego – brand management, communications, content production, event operations, marketing, social media, special events, student engagement, ticket sales and operations, video production and too many more to describe. I manage a team of about 20 talented, motivated professionals, some full-time and a few interns. They are a fun, innovative group that understands the role they play and that we are in such an incredible, transformative time in UC San Diego’s athletic history.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
It was a long, long time ago! I lived in such a small town. Everybody knew everyone else. It was tough to get away with anything. I enjoyed sports, but the only organized team sports I was able to participate in until 7th grade was little league baseball. After that, junior high football, basketball and track. In high school, I was also a pretty fair tennis player. From a personality perspective, I don’t think I was that outgoing. Although, I did drive a candy apple red Subaru Brat – a little mini truck that drew attention everywhere I went!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.UCSDTritons.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/UCSDTritons
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UCSDTritons
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/UCSDTritons
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/UCSDTritons
