Jeremiah Donati was appointed as TCU’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics on December 11, 2017.
Since his arrival at TCU in 2011, Donati has played a major role in enhancing the TCU student-athlete experience through donor-supported facility upgrades totaling nearly $500 million.
During Donati’s tenure as athletics director, the Horned Frogs have won eight team national championships and 11 Big 12 Conference titles. In the 2023-24 athletics season, TCU was one of just five schools nationally to win multiple NCAA Championships with its titles in rifle and men's tennis.
The 2022-23 athletics season was the most successful in TCU's 150 years. TCU became the only school in the College Football Playoff era to reach the CFP, NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, and College World Series in the same academic year.
We discuss:
- The changing landscape of NIL, recruiting, and Private Equity entering athletics
- The process of raising capital and the business side of college athletics
- The future of conference realignment in football, coaching hiring and firing, and more
Topics:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:32 - Jeremiah’s career and background
00:09:39 - The evolution of TCU as a University
00:12:05 - Building a Power 5 School mentality
00:14:55 - Raising money for an Athletic department
00:18:40 - Becoming Athletic Director at TCU
00:25:03 - The NIL dilemma
00:32:39 - Transfer Portal issues
00:37:16 - Is PE going to become involved in college athletics?
00:42:19 - How do universities make money via athletics?
00:43:43 - Coaching: Recruiting, hiring, and firing
00:59:03 - The Caitlin Clark effect & the value of winning
01:02:56 - The Big 12 realignment
01:07:43:- The entertainment business within college sports
01:09:50 - Are we moving to super-conferences?
Links:
Jeremiah on X - https://x.com/JDonati_TCU
TCU Athletics - https://gofrogs.com/
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