One on one with Mizzou AD Laird Veatch

On Wednesday afternoon, new Director of Athletics Laird Veatch sat down for his first one-on-one interview with PowerMizzou.com publisher Gabe DeArmond. The conversation covered the looming changes in college athletics and what it means for Mizzou plus talk about future plans and individual Tiger programs.

Here is a transcript of the full conversation.

Veatch: "The easy answer. The easy answer. It is complex certainly. We are all learning a lot and it's been interesting for me jumping in, just really finished my first month. My first week on the job I was at the first round of SEC meetings, which is the ADs and this was the topic of conversation even kind of before it was out publicly and then the last week, SEC meetings, so a lot of learning going on. The revenue sharing model, in many ways, the model itself, how it gets to the players, is going to have to evolve, but some of that's sort of in play already so it's just going to be the difference obviously of direct institutional NIL and how that's divided and how we continue to develop the external NIL opportunities and how is that more structured and monitored going forward. There's a lot of things to kind of pay attention to, learn and understand, but I think in many ways we're going to be building our kind of strategic model as this whole thing progresses, just like every other school out there."

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LV: "Yeah, we met with staff and coaches this morning and I kind of shared essentially what we do know to this point, much of which has been reported. And there's a lot more questions than answers for us and everyone. People want answers, but the reality is nobody has answers yet for a lot of this because the process has to play out. We've just got to continue to stay in touch with the SEC, with attorneys, with the people that are advising us and learn as we go and try to develop strategy and thought in the background. Obviously it's not going to impact this year directly so we do have some time to think this through and really be thoughtful and strategic about how we approach it, but we're gonna be learning with everyone else."

LV: "In the SEC we have to find ways to compete and we know that. The realities of that are going to really require us to be strategic and thoughtful and aggressive, but also do it in a responsible way that fits Missouri. To your point, how all that comes about, we don't know yet, but we're going to be committed to compete at the highest level. That is certainly part of the expectation. If you're going to be at a school of this magnitude in this conference, we're going to compete. Now we gotta figure out how."

LV: "I think that's something that's got to play out. I think that's one we all have to be thoughtful about getting too far ahead of ourselves and the process and let the legal process and everyone work that out. That's gonna be a big, important decision that is going to involve Presidents and attorneys and a lot of advice and a lot of discussion coming up. We let that play out and then speculate further from there."

LV: "I can say with confidence that nobody wants to cut sports. We are very committed to maintaining opportunities and maintaining our sports and really any athletic director will tell you that, but particularly in a conference like this at a school like this. We need to be creative and thoughtful enough to continue to find ways to provide opportunities for our sports. That doesn't mean things won't need to change and we will be going through a time of pretty dramatic transition and we're going to have to be willing to look at things differently. Again, how all that comes about is gonna take time and real thought, but we're committed to providing opportunities for young people across the board. We're very committed, as you've heard me talk about, the importance of football in particular and of course men's basketball, women's basketball, other sports that help drive revenue, help drive support for our programs and one of the reasons we're so committed to that is so we can continue to provide opportunities to others across the board as well."

LV: "That's a good question. It does need to be explained. I think what is not sustainable is the current environment we have where there's really just no consistent structure of consistency, transparency, oversight, those kind of key words, to a process and a system that's understood by everyone. This current environment of operating in, kind of, complete ambiguity about what else is out there, what you can do, what you can't, what's expected, we got to get past that. That is one of the things many of us are excited about with the potential of this settlement is it could give us a foothold to begin to develop a structure that is more transparent and that is more consistent across the board. You don't want to restrict student athletes from having opportunities, but there also needs to be some level of structure to it so that within reason we can all compete in a similar playing field. We all need to be able to be strategic and provide as many opportunities as we and look for opportunities for young people in the right way, but it ought to be something that can see the light of day for everyone."

LV: "There will be changes as this settlement plays out over the years and exactly what the impact of that is and how those changes play out is to be determined. Just in general terms, the biggest thing I see is because of the alignment in state, University, athletic department leadership here and what happened with our state legislation, it really just gave us a chance to operate more openly within our athletic department in so many ways. What has happened at so many other schools is you felt like when you were in an athletic director position or a coach position, you just never really knew where the line was, how do you communicate, how do you communicate with student athletes, how do you communicate with your collective and their role and the interaction? Because of that and the structure that is put in place here with Every True Tiger and that relationship, we can just operate more directly. It really is where I think a lot of this will head for a lot of schools and that kind of infrastructure. In many ways it is going to position us to have that institutional support and that model a little quicker and maybe more efficient than others. It's just a better business model, really, when it comes down to it as a way of doing it. And there is a level of comfort and communication here that I see between administration and the Every True Tiger program and coaches and student athletes. You feel as if you can operate in a much more open way. That's really healthy and that's really good and it allows us to just be more professional in how we operate. That's what it should be. All schools need to get to that point, but it has been a real advantage. It's not just an advantage in the actual total dollars. It's an advantage in how we operate. It's professional. It's buttoned up, it's how I think many schools will aspire to operate in the future.

LV: "Yeah, it is a really encouraging piece of what I see here. For all the reasons I've shared, this is always a job I'd love to do and it's an incredible job. Not just because I was here, but it's in the SEC, where it sits, there's so many positives about it. The timing of alignment with the people involved, the Curators being so committed to and aware of the importance of athletics and the importance of being successful and a President that really gets it and is supportive and engaged. Obviously it goes beyond that too. Legislators that are connected and aware of what's going on. It is really, really encouraging and I think it's more important than ever because of all the things that are going on. I don't think the fact that we're having football success and that that's happening are disconnected. I think there's a correlation there. Certainly the credit goes to coach Drink and the staff and the players and what they're doing on the field, but that success goes hand in hand typically. You need that kind of leadership alignment. So I'm excited that it's there and it's going to be really important that we maintain that and keep that as an ongoing part of our culture and the expectation here."

LV: "It is dramatically different the position being in this conference puts you compared to not. I can tell you from being at other places, not just being here before, but being at other schools and where I come from, the perspective even of just what's happened in the last month is dramatically different when you sit in that room. The foresight of Mike Alden and all the leadership involved at that point to get us to this conference is going to continue to prove out to be hugely important. There's just no question."

LV: "Yeah. Some of that's kind of standard AD 101 stuff. You come in and you meet with all the head coaches. I've done that, I've met with all the senior leadership, I'm meeting individually at some point with everybody in the department so I'm working through meeting with other folks as well, a lot of folks on campus. Really spent more time out meeting with donors than I have here, particularly St. Louis, Kansas City, been back and forth multiple times. Really already in just a month I'm starting to get a real sense of how we're operating and the people and just the climate around things. I am genuinely very encouraged by what I see and just the excitement and optimism around the programs. It's just not always that way. You step into a situation, sometimes you step in and it's much more negative. But it's really fun to see and it's fun to see people this excited about what's going on, this invested in what's going on. For those of us that were here before and have known Mizzou over the years, so many of us look at it as this pretty incredible opportunity of what it could be and the potential and you start to see and sense some of that. Now it's gonna be our obligation to maintain that momentum and help continue to take advantage of the opportunity because with all this change that's coming up it does present opportunities. That's one of the things, as daunting and as challenging as all this is, I look at it as an incredible opportunity to be part of that change and try to use that really strategically and thoughtfully and intentionally to our advantage. How do we use that to sort of gain our position within the conference and competitively overall? Because if you're doing that in this conference then you're doing it nationally and that has huge implications for the University, the city and everybody."

LV: "I'm not going to be too picky about your words, but easy is not the word I would use. I do hear that. You hear, it must be easier because you're winning. Actually in some ways it's harder because you have so much more going on. In a really good way. Just think about it in terms of volume. You're selling a lot more tickets, you're working with a lot more people, the level of engagement that's required. All those things. Now, you 100 percent choose it every time and it's much more positive and it does facilitate more success easier in that way. That's the easier part about it is it puts you in a position where you can take advantage of it and do more and more. Instead of trying to fill a hole and get there, you're there and you're able to kind of build on top of it. It creates in some ways a lot busier schedule for a coach or administration or anybody involved, but that's why we do it."

LV: "It is a lot of money. It's a very aggressive project, but it also is really important. I love the commitment to taking advantage of the opportunity that's in front of us. We have this momentum, we are winning, we are in a position in the college athletics universe to really do some special things, so let's take advantage of that and let's continue to move us forward in a really aggressive way. So I love that. Now obviously there's still a lot to figure out, right? We're making good progress. I think we are close to announcing a construction manager for the project, the North end zone video board is getting underway in construction, but we do need to really refine our funding plan, we need to refine some of our design and the specifics to it. We're getting back things like our market studies that will help advise us on the exact distribution of premium seating in that project and we're going to need people to help more and more and more to get there and make it happen. If we do it and we do it right, not if we do it, when we do it and when we do it right, it will position us long term to do better and better and it's going to send a huge message that we're committed to football at the SEC level."

LV: "Absolutely. I started here when Norm Stewart was coaching so I saw some of those years and know the power of basketball and the passion of the fanbase for it. I've spent some good time with Dennis (Gates). I've really enjoyed that. That's been very helpful for me and hopefully for him as well. Thoroughly impressed. I think he is a talented, smart coach that really understands the world we're in right now and has a really good approach to what he's doing. Seems to have recruited some really good talent, which, it's the name of the game in any sport, but particularly in basketball to have that talent level is critically important. Seems to be more depth and I've got a good understanding of sort of what's happened here over the last couple years now. I feel really optimistic about what can happen there. I think back to the game Memphis played here. I was really impressed with the fanbase, the student section, engagement and I've heard--I didn't get to watch all the games last year, but even in that game--the team didn't give up. They kept battling, kept pushing. So think the right pieces and parts are there. I also think you're going to see more and more up and down in our world now, particularly in that sport because if you think of the impact of the transient nature of athletes now and the portal and NIL and the influence of all of that, you're going to see more up and down. Whether we like it or not, there's going to be times when you get the combination of a couple misses and a couple of injuries, whatever it may be, there's gonna be ups and downs. The key is how do we bounce back, what are we building behind the scenes and are you putting yourself in position so there's a lot more ups than downs."

LV: "Well it kind of is what it is. It will be fun. A lot of friends there and they were really really good to me even going out the door, so to speak. We'll have fun with it. I don't think it will bother me. It'll be interesting and it will be fun to go in there to that building on the other side and want to win."

LV: "Anytime you come into a situation like that in this role, you've got to come in and sort of wipe the slate clean and give yourself a chance to go through time with the coach and the program and your sport administrators that have been with them and been around and in the weeds with them to really understand. I think the world of Robin (Pingeton) as a person. It was funny when we were first reconnecting, we talked about our timing and we knew neither one of us worked together here, but we knew there was an overlap somewhere and we went back and she was at Iowa State when I was at Iowa State for like a year, she was there as an assistant. So I've known Robin, the kind of person she is, the kind of coach she is, what she runs a program. She feels good about what she's brought in, same kind of thing, she feels like she's got an opportunity to turn it. So we need to give everybody a full chance to do that."

LV: "That was awesome. First of all, that's one of the sports, if you've been around, if you've watched it at a high level, that's a great spectator sport. It's fun to watch. That's why their ratings are going up so high, that's why ESPN's so happy with what's going on there. It was also one of those moments for me coming back, of course I saw some familiar faces, but it's really cool to be in a college town where people are so passionate about the Tigers. You get something like that, it becomes the thing to do. It's easy to get to, drive five or ten minutes down the road and everybody sort of meets up. That was a lot of fun."

LV: "First of all, there's not a lot of secrets in what we do. To compete, first of all, you have to have a really good coach and I believe very much in Kerrick. I think he's a special talent, special person, I think he's incredibly well wired for that role and will do very well here in time. But you've also got to invest. You have to invest in programs and that's an area, just candidly speaking, from a facility standpoint, where we haven't here at Mizzou invested to the level of many of our counterparts. We're going to have to find ways to do that in time. We're in a place in time now where we need to focus on this Memorial Stadium improvement project, the North end zone, and we need to invest in football for all the reasons we've talked about and what that does for the overall operation, but we're going to have to find ways to help Kerrick and help and invest in our baseball program to get us up to a level where we can expect to be where many of those SEC schools are. I think he's the type that can draw in players and do things. I know how thinks and he'll be really smart and creative about it too and that can help us find an edge, but there's no question it is unbelievably competitive in baseball. But we've got to support them to get there."

LV: "I'd say it's a combination of both. First of all it's felt great. It's been a lot of fun and really cool. It is full force firehose time. I'm going all the time, meeting with as many people as I can and trying to absorb everything. That's what you do when you start in these roles. While there's many more new people than there are old faces, it does really help when you walk into a room and there's 20 people and you know two or three of them. It helps just knowing your way around, knowing where the offices are or how to drive places. The familiarity and probably more importantly knowing that you fit the culture. I don't have to question whether I fit here or I don't fit here or what the people are like. It's still Midwest Missouri people, it's that same core and those types of things help really accelerate the learning curve a lot. Because you can focus on learning the specifics and where we're at in this moment, what the differences are, what's changes, so you just have such a good base that I think that's really helped."

LV: "First of all, turnover is natural when you have change in leadership there's some of that that just happens. There's also just the natural turnover that happens in our world, whether it's this industry or any other, it seems like we're in a much more transient world, but athletics maybe even more so than some others. Some of that's very natural. I've told our staff that I recognize that it is really important, probably one of the biggest obligations of leadership in my opinion is to provide clarity on reporting, responsibilities, priorities, what's expected of me in my role? If I'm an administrator or coach, whatever it is, we need to lay out what's expected. We being the leadership of the athletic department. But I also shared that that may take a little longer than usual because of all the things that are going on. We've got the settlement, we've got the North end zone project, there's just a lot happening that really is going to require attention and us jumping in. Fortunately we've got a really good team. I've been impressed with the people and what we have here is really good momentum so it's not a situation where I have to just jump in and change everything. But there will be adjustments, there will be tweaks and we'll provide that clarity as we go forward. Whereas it may have taken a couple months, it may take three, four, five or whatever that is. I want to get there as soon as I can, but I also want to be thoughtful because you need to take enough time to understand the landscape and kind of the talent of your team and what you have. There's ways of doing things that I may be used to that is different or needs to be tweaked, but it needs to also fit the situation of the people and the place. There's a balance there that needs to be struck. Over the coming months we'll get there when we're ready and when it's right, but I also feel good about where we are currently so we can keep the ball rolling."

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