What attracted you to Hamilton, and what do you think makes the Division III experience distinctive for student-athletes?
There’s a purity to the student-athlete experience in Division III. Looking at this opportunity [at Hamilton], it was like, ‘We’re grounded. We know who we are.’ You’re getting an elite degree and an elite athletic experience, so it was that clarity of purpose and values alignment that attracted me. Student-athletes … can truly pursue their academic interests and, at the same time, co-curricular opportunities. There’s a primacy to the academic pursuit of Division III athletes. [They] want to get great degrees, study, be well-rounded, and continue to do their sport while being well in mind and body.
What are your top priorities for the Athletics Department — and what would you like to accomplish in your first year?
We’re getting ready to launch aspirational design [College-wide strategic planning] for athletics, so I think there will be some priorities revealed through that process. In the interim, the three priorities I’ve had since I arrived are understanding our student-athlete experience, our competitive excellence, and our stewardship and partnership. With competitive excellence, how can we make decisions, make investments, and align resources in a way that contributes to the student-athlete experience? And with stewardship and partnership, are we partnering in all the ways we can across our campus, within our department, and with our alumni?
I try to keep the main thing the main thing. For athletics, that’s keeping student-athletes at the core of the work we do, the same way that the College keeps students at the core of what it’s doing. It’s easy to get bogged down in the bureaucracy or the minutiae of the day-to-day, and all I have to do is head out to practice and watch our student-athletes at their craft, and think, ‘Okay, this is why I do what I do.’
[Student-athletes at Hamilton] get a great education ... and they’re competing against the best Division III teams in the country. It’s a high level of academics and a high level of athletics, but we’re doing it the right way.
How do you balance competitive success with Division III’s emphasis on the student-athlete experience, academics, and the broader College community?
We are so fortunate to be aligned with like-minded institutions as a member of the NESCAC. That’s how we balance it — making sure our students have the experience that they want to have is a part of our collective principles and philosophies. At the same time, they get to come [to Hamilton], get a great education and open curriculum, and week in and week out they’re competing against the best Division III teams in the country. It’s a high level of academics and a high level of athletics, but we’re doing it the right way.
What are you hearing from student-athletes and coaches as you get to know them, and how will their perspectives shape your approach?
Most recently I’m hearing a lot of excitement and enthusiasm as we kick off the year. We were together the night before classes started as an entire body of student-athletes and coaches — about 700 of us — and really galvanized around the idea that we are the Continental Army. The 2,000 students here are a part of the Continental Army, as are all of our faculty and staff. It’s the Hamily, with our sports spin on it. There are always frustrations. You can’t do everything exactly the way you want to, but by and large, we are so lucky and fortunate. I love that you can come right out of a residence hall and watch a game.
I have a saying: ‘If I wanted to go fast, I would go alone. If you want to go far, we go together.’ And we’re going to go together because we’ve got a lot of great experience. We have 21 head coaches with around 334 years of head coaching experience and 240-some years of Hamilton experience. I have six months of Hamilton experience and zero years of head coaching experience — I’ve been an administrator my entire career. So I’m excited that we’re going to do it together. We had some great success this past year to build upon, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we can have a great fall that leads into a great winter that leads into a great spring.
Posted September 16, 2026
