AD in Residence: Indiana Tech AD Jessie Biggs

The Warriors have captured the WHAC All-Sports Trophy/Commissioner Cup every year since 2016-17 and are one year removed from winning the first ever Learfield Directors' Cup. What do you attribute to the success of your department? How have you continued and elevated the level of success during your tenure? How beneficial or challenging was it succeeding a successful AD?

To win the Fred Smith All Sports Cup for the WHAC is a tremendous accomplishment along with the Learfield Directors’ Cup. It is a testament to Indiana Tech’s commitment to every sport in the athletic department. Team and Individual National Championships are always something we will celebrate and be proud of, but these two department awards are special. We are a well-rounded department with plenty of opportunity in a variety of sports.

These accomplishments are the credit of an incredible staff and an administration that can use creative ways of thinking to achieve success. Our coaches are some of the best in the country.

When taking a leadership role in an organization or team there are really three approaches: one blow it up. This is similar to a rebuild of an athletic team. Culture, structure, organization, personnel all must change. This takes years. The second, I call fertilize the garden. It’s all there, it’s built, the soil is good. It’s a leader’s job to identify tweaks and minor adjustments that don’t uproot the plants but help them grow and be more efficient. The third is stay out of the way. The boulders rolling. Let your team do their jobs. I would say when I took over at Indiana Tech it was between a two and a three. Having worked for Tech seven previous years I knew there were some minor more budget friendly and process orientated things to put in place but for the most part this department is soundly built with great people. The history and longevity of Athletics at Tech is there. The University support and communication between the Athletic department and other departments across campus is also there. That communication is nurtured, welcomed and critical for continued success. 

You have been with Indiana Tech for 12 years. You were promoted from within five years ago to the AD chair. For those that aspire to stay at their own institutions, how were you able to prove to campus leaders and the community that you had the skills set to lead in the event the opportunity came along?

Having an administration that was willing to promote and hire within is valuable. A big picture mindset and thinking is key to any leadership role. There must be a “why” for decisions and it has to be for the betterment of the group. For coaches looking to move into administration eventually a willingness to work for the department outside of your sport as a coach is a visual example of being all in for the department. Volunteering for site supervision, committees, working Hall of Fame any of those tasks show you are there for more than just the sport you coach.

Managing budgets. If you can’t manage a one sport five-figure budget as a coach what makes someone think you can manage a 28 sport seven-figure budget as an AD?

Managing people. So much of leadership is how you can meet people where they feel the most comfortable and, in a position to succeed. Proving you can do this in a student-athlete team setting in regard to respect, discipline, gratitude, servant leadership and success is a good indicator on your ability to lead a group of staff. 

Given your department’s success, what are your criteria for hiring head coaches? How do you determine fit when hiring a head coach?

We are looking to hire great humans. Seems easy enough but can take time. Unfortunately, great humans are getting out of college coaching or turned off of ever starting for various reasons. We will take a great human, team player for the department, with a willingness and passion to learn and help mentor them through learning the college coaching world. We are fortunate to have remarkable support staff and seasoned coaches that can mentor individuals through some of the hardships and decisions that come along with coaching.

Indiana Tech has added a number of sports in the last few years. How do you decide what sports to add?

For adding sports there are several factors that come into play and are discussed. The sport must be growing at the youth and high school level. Does it fit within our enrollment strategy? JV opportunities, Title IX compliance, conference affiliations, budget costs (travel, facilities, operating etc.)

Bigger picture, how involved is campus when adding sports or discussing roster sizes given the impact athletics has on enrollment?

Once a new sport is discussed and thrown into the mix our athletics, admissions, student affairs, and finance teams work together to develop an implementation plan and pro forma to ensure that we select new athletics programs that ultimately will be successful and make good business sense.

Where are you and Indiana Tech looking to grow or increase revenue?

Athletics is the main driver of enrollment for our traditional programming. It is something that brings a unique and special feel to our main campus. Athletics is a huge part of our daily campus vibe. A growing population leads to revenue opportunities in on campus food eateries, new dormitories and expanded athletic facilities that can be rented out to the community.


As a university our post-traditional and online programs are an area of focus and an expanded portfolio of online programming has been a focal point.

What are some of the challenges that you are tracking from a national perspective and how do you see that impacting Warriors Athletics?

Obviously, the declining number of high school students entering college is a concern. One recent area that I think will impact NAIA athletics and enrollment in the future is the increase in NCAA scholarships. This is very concerning to me as I think more of those teams will max out roster space which will take away from student-athletes at the NAIA level. Some of our higher enrollment sports, baseball, men’s lacrosse, track and field saw some of the biggest scholarship jumps. Recruiting for enrollment is going to get tougher over the next decade. As many NAIA schools are looking to add JV teams for enrollment and opportunity the numbers must add up. Net tuition revenue, discount rate, ROA the adjustment the NCAA just made will have an impact on all of these. What will we have to offer to get recruits five years from now? What will the quality of play across the NAIA look like; especially in some of the less populated sports? One thing I enjoy about my job is the ever-changing challenges that present themselves. It is something that keeps me on my toes and allows for creative and innovative problem solving.