Dr. Ryan Hall shares his authentic approach to leadership and fundraising, emphasizing the importance of building genuine relationships, embracing change, and passionately investing in the development of student-athletes at Rice University.
His insights inspire listeners to lead with purpose, adaptability, and a commitment to empowering those around them.
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Show Outline
- 0:01 – Adapting to change in college athletics, including NIL and leadership opportunities.
- 3:53 – Building relationships and authenticity in fundraising.
- 7:33 – Conference realignment and Rice University’s current and future position in the American Athletic Conference.
- 12:43 – Investing in student athletes at Rice University.
- 17:13 – Rice University’s unique approach to athletic scholarships and academic integrity.
- 21:07 – Passion, purpose, and leadership.
Quotes from the Show
“If you’re passionate about what you do, and you get out there and you build those relationships, you’re not selling anything as a fundraiser, right? You’re having people come to be a part of the vision, and you get to know those people, and you, naturally, care about those people.”
“I think being around bright guys, and, you know, learning from them, and really back to what I was kind of saying, not to get a dead horse, but sharing common goals, like, ‘Hey, we could do this.'”
“I would say, don’t ever doubt yourself. And you can do anything you want if you’re passionate about what you do.”
Connect with Dr. Ryan Hall
Episode 69 – Full Transcript
Jay Smack 0:01
Ryan, welcome to the new generation leader podcast. We’re giving you the tools you need to lead in the digital world ready to reach your true potential. This is the new generation leader podcast.
Aaron Lee 0:17
We’ve talked a lot Brian about n i L here lately, with Brian shockner and Kevin deShazo and kitsch on here, even with Coach Taylor from Navy and coach
Bryan Berry 0:30
Reagan the JMU and it’s been a lot, Yep, yeah,
Aaron Lee 0:33
so hearing from the coach perspective about the athletes and the difference in what it takes to develop a program. I want to kind of connect these dots here for a minute between your path and now what we’re hearing. We talk a lot about the athlete experience and how transfers are shifting and changing, how a program gets built, but on the administrative side, there’s a lot of that same transition that isn’t new. It’s been happening all along, professionally. So how has that stair step approach been for you to grow and learn? Obviously, from the way you talk about it, your passion for investing in people, connecting with people, building relationships, is really strong. How have you done that, even when you know you’re moving a step at a time up this ladder? How have those relationships formed and helped you get to where you are today? Yeah,
Dr. Ryan Hall 1:30
well, I think so you touched on a few things there, right? And I’m gonna try to narrow it down for you two fold, right? Like You talk a lot about relationships, and then the N i l space and how that’s got to change things up, right? And sort of change things up for me as well, right? I mean, when I was 80, at Maybell state, I wouldn’t, wasn’t worried about n i L, right? And then even Northwestern State, small, F, C, S. Now maybe they’re, they’re dabbling in it a little bit, but, you know, really woke me up the past two years being at Rice and so, you know, kind of twofold. I guess the first thing I’ll talk about is n i L, and I’ll tell you guys, you know, wherever you’re at on the fence with it, it’s here, and I think it’s here to stay, right? So I think you got to be adaptable to change. But forget about n i L for a second. I think if you want to be a good leader in life, one of the things you have to do is be adaptable for change, right? And so from an N i l standpoint, I look at as opportunity, right? I’ll never forget I was at, think it was back to or cows. I was at an ad symposium. And, you know, it seemed kind of doom and gloom in the room a little bit. People like, well, you know, you got transfer portal and and nio revenue sharing hadn’t come up yet, right? This was, this was last year, so, and I think it was Boo Corrigan ad at NC State, who was like, hey, look, we don’t have the answers, but we have an opportunity to shape the path of college athletics for the next wave and decade, and even more so, and us, as leaders in this industry, are the ones to do that, and that’s a huge calling, and something we should be excited about doing. And that really resonated with me. Because, look, you guys know, there’s things you can’t control, and then there’s things you can, but if you always, if you stay positive and put your best foot forward, like you make it happen, right? So one of the questions, Aaron, I’ll even dive in a little bit more, is, like, you know, when I got hired at Rice, it was initially associate ad leader of the annual fund the owl club. You know, a lot of question I got, like, Man, how can you do that in the n, i l space now, like, are you losing dollars? And to pull it into what you were saying, it’s like, no, our n, i, L, dollars continue to grow, and we just literally finished our best owl club here ever in rice histories. Like, how’s that happen? And it’s to your points, the relationships, right? I think being authentic, if you know, I’m kind of, kind of all over the place, but like, if you’re passionate about what you do, and you get out there and you build those relationships, you’re not selling anything as a fundraiser, right? Like you’re having people come be a part of the vision, and you get to know those people, and you, you know, naturally, you care about those people. It’s not just all business, right, but it’s personal relationships. And so the N i l space, it really all, I think kind of goes hand in hand in the fact of, you know, yeah, there’s, there’s the transfer portal and n i L, and I think every school is unique. Some, you know, n i L and transfer portal help more, or is it more of a challenge? I think it depends on what conference you’re in, where you’re at, but I think putting your best foot forward and really having those real conversations, not backing down from them, being authentic, building those relationships. It’s like, hey, like, Let’s lock arms. We’re in this together. What? What can we do working together? You know, it’s not one person, right? You might, might have a better idea. It’s like, Oh, man. And I didn’t think about that, or, or, Oh, I disagree with that, because, and I think when you’re a part of a team, and that’s one of the things I love most about athletics, is I don’t care if you’re on an actual team or a staff, or whatever, is to be a part of a team when, when you have all those people you know, rowing the boat the same direction, it can get real fast, real quick, and that’s exciting, right? So relationships are key, and to build those relationships authentically, I think is key. I think if you guys talk to anybody, if you guys talk to a Greg Burton, or anybody that knows me, I’m pretty authentic, right? And I think it’s easy to do when you’re doing what you love. So I don’t know if that answers your question, but you know, kind of a lot to unpack there with Nio and relationships, for sure,
Aaron Lee 5:44
you’re about to come up Brian on your two year anniversary at Rice. You’re a relationship guy. You’re authentic. I mean, don’t open up your whole playbook, but what were your first steps that have now led you to this incredible fundraising year at two years now that you’ve had when you’ve only been there a short time. I think
Dr. Ryan Hall 6:06
the people around me got hired by Joe, Karl Gard and Tanner Gardner. Joe retired from the athletic space doing real success when I CEO of a startup. He’s back in Minnesota, but you know he was, I think he was deputy at Stanford. I mean that you want to talk about bright guys. I got hired by that guy, and then my direct boss, our former deputy ad Tanner Gardner, who was a three time d1 all American wrestler at Stanford, and then got his MBA from Harvard, right? I think being around bright guys, and, you know, learning from them, and Tanner is now the idea of Pepperdine Tommy McClellan comes in. Like, you know, that guy was the youngest division one ad in America at one time at, I think, 26 years old. And he was the deputy ad at Vanderbilt before he got the rice shop. Had a few other stops. Ad at McNeese State, Louisiana Tech. So I think the people you surround yourself with, and really back to what I was kind of saying, not to get a dead horse, but sharing common goals. Of, like, you know, hey, we could do this. But the other part of it is, like, you got to roll up the sleeves. I think being at Rice is so unique and so special, right? Like, I’ll tell you a funny joke, uh, Jesse grapes, president of Benedictine, I’ll tell you the story real quick. He says, When I was leaving from Louisiana to go to Rice, he’s like, coach, that’s phenomenal. Rice is a unbelievable school. Academically, I think they’ve had some athletic tradition. And I said, Yes, sir, I’m fired up. He said, make sure you enjoy work in there. I said, Yes, sir, I will. And he said, What about Lindsey and the kids, they excite. Yes, sir. You know, Houston lot option, great. Make sure you enjoy working there. Yes, sir. Well, fundraising, yes, sir, going to be fundraising. Oh, coach, you’re going to do great. I know, I know you love getting to meet people. Make sure you enjoy working there. I said, Sir, with all due respect, why do you keep telling me make sure I enjoy working there? Said, because, Coach, you sure Lee couldn’t have gone there, right? And, you know, but kind of laughing, but all seriousness, my time at Rice like, not only am I fundraising, but I’m fundraising for literally the best and brightest, right? I mean, we’re an Ivy League school, not taking anything away from the Ivy’s, but we compete at a very high level in g5 American Athletic Conference. So I think knowing that I do that every day, trying to make an impact for those types of student athletes, like, man, that better get you up and going, because, if not, you’re in the wrong business. So I think work ethic and surrounding yourself with great people and really wanting to make a difference for the student athletes and the school. And then, personally, I’m like, a lot of you guys, like, I want to be back in that chair at the highest level, right? So there’s a lot of components there that that I put on my shoulders, like, I better bring my best every day. So there’s
Bryan Berry 8:52
a couple things I don’t take up too much of your time, but there’s a couple other areas I’d like to dive into. But in addition to everything else you talked about with fundraising and everything else, I’d like to dive into conference realignment a little bit, and how you guys talk about that, or how you deal with it, but everything going on, and all the shifts big 12, having a couple big teams head over to the SEC, and you’ve got ACC things going on now. And who knows exactly Florida State you know they want to leave. But does anybody want so rice need a great school and a great reputation being in a big city. How does that come up? Is that, is that on your radar for a big 12? Like, is that an option or USA? Like, what is and then you may not be able to talk about it. It’s more
Unknown Speaker 9:37
about, I could talk for
Unknown Speaker 9:39
me to hear about it.
Dr. Ryan Hall 9:40
Yeah, no, I can talk about, I think we love where we’re at right now, right? I think, you know, just doing a little history, I’ve been here two years, as you guys know, but doing a little history, you know, the old Southwest Conference. You know that was, that was the old school, big 12, if you will, right? That had little, little rice. I don’t know if you guys know we’re the second smallest FBS in America right now. Right? I think Tulsa is one. But, you know, it’s funny when I talk to some of those older guys and gals that you know were a part of that, and they talk about, like, you know, some really glory stories, playing the balers and the Texas and that kind of thing. But as you mentioned, Brian, like, it changes, right? There’s so many components that makes that change, right? I mean, did we ever think we’d see, you know, UCLA and USC kind of start this whole thing, right? I mean, it’s crazy. So, being that, and then, you know, most recently, Conference USA, great conference, but we were really like, we didn’t have a lot of, I don’t think, personally, we had a lot of like minded, as far as you know, private, very, very, very high academic, not taking anything away from those schools, great schools and Conference USA, but really wasn’t the same fit. But you know, now we’re in the American Athletic Conference. We just finished our first year. Had had some great success. Women’s Basketball had a heck of a run in the turn. They gave LSU all they could handle. First round football team made it to a bowl game for the second time in a row. So getting some success right that first year in the American but I think it’s a really good spot for us right now. And I say right now, because I’m not saying, Oh, we, we’re going to Java. I don’t know, right? I think you look at and I
Bryan Berry 11:20
apologize. I apologize to coach. I meant the American Athletic Conference USA slipped out. So,
Dr. Ryan Hall 11:26
yep, no, all good, but we got Tulsa in there two lane, right? You think a private high academic schools that care about their athletics as well. So, you know, those are good ones. I would say SMU, obviously, you know, they’re bolting for ACC but North Texas, good local rivalry. UTSA, good local rivalry. So I think we have more alignment as far as academics and athletics in the American you know, Army, Navy for football, right? Like, that’s huge. So I think we’re in a good spot. Will we be in the American forever? I think no one knows that. I think at the end of the day, like any school, any person you want to continue to improve, what does that look like, right? We don’t know. So we’re in a great spot now, but I don’t think you know. And I don’t want to speak for Tommy McClellan our ad, but I’ll say in my shoes, we’re not going to just sit on our hands and say, Okay, this is where we’re going to be the next, you know, decade, two decades. You just don’t know the trajectory of conference realignment, but I do think we’re in a great spot now, in a very competitive conference. You know, I’ve been reading up and listening to our new commissioner, which really excited about some of his ideas and things he’s got going. So it’s a competitive conference. You know, love football. As a football guy, I think there’s a really good chance of, you know, whoever wins the AAC this year getting in that playoff. And I’m a little bit of a Homer, but I like my man, Mike bloom green in the owls, to give everybody’s, you know, everything they can handle and see what shakes out this season.
Bryan Berry 13:00
We’ll do a friendly bet. I’ll take JMU. You take rice. Sorry,
Unknown Speaker 13:05
that’s no that’d
Bryan Berry 13:08
be great. Just, just do me a favor and work on some work on some games to get rice and Jamie scheduled in a couple of sports. Hey,
Dr. Ryan Hall 13:14
man, I’d love to visit, come back and visit Harrison burger. That’d be awesome.
Bryan Berry 13:18
Yeah, good. I think we’re going to switch into two things, Aaron, I’m going to turn it over to you because of noise, background noise here.
Aaron Lee 13:25
Yeah, that’s good, right? You’ve talked about your role and your position in leadership. I want to go back to a statement you made earlier about your focus and dedication to the student athletes walk us through that journey of of how rice is investing in student athletes as individuals beyond the field and in the in the whole person, as as leaders, as ambassadors, as students, and setting them up for what’s ahead in their careers.
Dr. Ryan Hall 13:58
Yeah, I’ll tell you, Aaron, it’s, uh, I could talk about that all day. I mean, I’m, I’m I’m amazed every day. One thing I’ll say, I love being in development. I love, you know, building relationships and getting people invested, or back invested, whatever, with with rice, athletics. One thing I don’t like about being in development is not around the student athletes as much as I was when, you know, smaller place with a few more hats on, right? With that said, obviously, at a lot of games, and I go out of my way to get to know our student athletes. Last year, I was the football administrator, which was absolutely awesome. Really got to know those guys. This year I’m with women’s soccer. So just really, you know, when I think back to myself at that age, like, just so much more, I’ll say focused and I was pretty driven, but they’re just so bright that, yeah, we might have a Luke McCaffrey that gets drafted, or, you know, a baseball couple baseball players, something like that. But all these kids, you know. They’re playing at a high level, and they’re going to be professional outside of a professional sport. And dare I say, pretty dag on, good at it. I won’t get into you know, specific alumni, but some of the alumni that I get to meet and talk to and see how successful they are, whether it’s, you know, whatever their passion is in the business field, or whatever they’re doing following their passion. They’ve been super successful. And rice, you know, for Virginians, right? You’re doing a Virginia segment, I think of a VMI, right? Like that. That network, that rice network, is small, but it’s very mighty, right? So you have a lot of the success of our alums, you know, like, Oh, that’s a rice gal. That’s a rice guy, right? So there’s that connection there that, daresay, gives a little bit of a leg up. And rice is, yeah, obviously in Houston, but you can find rice alums everywhere, right? Again, small but mighty, so, and that thing specifically, what are we doing here? I’d have to give a lot of credit to our assistant ad student athlete development at Brian McDevitt. He runs our SOAR network, and it’s amazing. It’s a great mentorship program to where our student athletes can kind of based off what they want to do, can get paired up and kind of have a mentor, whether they’re local or not in the field that they want to be in, you know? And so, you know, we’ve leaned into Austin dollars right for our student athletes, and instead of just giving it to them, there’s a formula, if you will, that they have to follow. It’s certain amount of community service hours, it’s certain amount of leadership or development symposiums they have to attend. And then it’s certain GPA they have to have as well. So they’re filling those hours in order to get that Austin money. It’s not huge dollars by any means, but it’s something. And then they’ll get half of it, and then when they graduate, walk across that stage, they get the other half that they accrued over four or five years. So you know, our n, i L, we have a collective right now. We have football collective, baseball collective, men’s basketball collective, where we’re about to launch something else that’s going to be overall envisioning that I’m excited about. But you know, we’re not, we’re not just handed we’re not just paying players to play. That’s not the right way, and it’ll never be the academic integrity and truly developing the true student athlete experience will always be important at Rice. So, you know, kid might get some nio money buddies interning with that person in their office or whatever, right in order to get that so it’s almost like a paid internship. So like I said, it’s not going anywhere. We’re leaning into n i L as we need to, but we’re doing it, dare I say, a creative way that encapsulates the rice student athlete experience. Well,
Aaron Lee 17:54
I think that’s such a there’s such ingenuity in how to make the system and the approach of n i l fit, who rice is as an institution, as an athletic department, and put those two worlds together, that it’s not just money, it’s not just the financial side, but there’s a another layer tied into the personal development, the growth of the student athlete.
Dr. Ryan Hall 18:20
Well, and I think you know kids that again, not to, you know, two horn and puff chest about how bright our kids are. I mean, I’m proud to work here, right? And, and so when kids come to Rice, I think they understand, like, yeah, you know, I might be able to get some nio money or whatever, but that rice degree, when they graduate is going to set them up long term to be just fine if they apply themselves, which obviously they’re doing if they’re coming to rice to begin with, right? So you know, you look at our former student athletes way before, the way before, right past, whatever, three, four years before the Nio years of just being scholarship students or walk ons, right? And he look at what they’re doing today and the success that they’re having. Well, that started with their foundation at Rice, right? So when a kid comes here, it’s like, you know, I think the transfer portal is really friendly with us, to be honest with you, because it’s like, Man, I can go and go to a school like rice, whether it’s their amazing MBA program as a, you know, fifth year, or just a undergrad transfer. And it’s like, if I have goals of going to a specifically NFL, say, right, like might happen, but you know, if not, you know, I’m gonna be okay with a rice degree, and the connections I make through that way. So I think we’re very unique in a good way and set up that way. I think, don’t quote me on this, but I think, you know, in the whole world, like the transfer portal, right? And it’s different for every sport, but football is a big one. I think we only had two, maybe three kids total transfer out this year. Year now, Part of that’s the quality program coach Bloomberg and his staff build and man, I’m telling you guys. I’m telling you Brian, they’re coming, buddy. But it also has the fact of like, kids are smart, right? They’re like, yeah, yeah. Might be able to play somewhere else or whatever, maybe a little bigger, but that rice degree is going to carry me far. So not to get in the weeds, but, you know,
Bryan Berry 20:20
it’s important. No, it’s great. It’s a great, good topic to bring up, because clearly it is one of those names on diploma that’s recognizable. It’s recognizable for a reason. Everyone understands the Academic Prowess behind it. So, I mean, it’s like bragging about your child or grandchild. You should brag about it. So
Aaron Lee 20:40
definitely something worth bragging about. All right, Ryan, we’ve covered a lot of ground, but I’m going to wrap this up with this final question that we ask all of our guests, as you’ve been on this leadership journey in your career now, where you’re at at Rice based on what you know now, what’s something you’ve learned in your career picked up along the way that you wish you had known earlier in your career?
Dr. Ryan Hall 21:07
I wish I could give you like a very like, oh my gosh, unbelievable answer, but I would say you can, you know, it sounds so cliched, right? Like you tell this to kids from early I tell my 10 year old little guy, my nine year old little girl who, you know, loves sports, and my little guy, shocking Lee, loves wrestling, right? And we go all over the place to wrestle, but I would say, don’t ever doubt yourself. And you can do anything you want if you’re passionate about what you do. When I was 20 years old, you know, I grew up in rural Louisa County, right? So, like, people like, Oh, you’re such a bandwagon fan of all your favorite teams. I’m like, Well, I didn’t have cable TV, like, whoever was good and playing on my on my dial, those were my favorite teams, right? But, you know, you look at, you know, certain, you know, whether it’s Notre Dame football or UCLA, basketball or whatever, right? It’s like, like, Oh my gosh. Like, you know, I never thought that I’d be able to even be in the space where I’m at today. But, you know, as I got older, it’s like, I can do this, you know what I mean. And so I think believing in yourself and doing whatever you want to do in life, but do what you love and do what you have a passion for. Don’t just chase dollars. You know, I think you got to do what you love and have that sense of purpose. Somebody you guys need to get on this show and tell you right now, Hunter Lehman, he’s the head of sportable. I believe he’s head of sportable at Richmond. And, yeah, we know. Okay, so Hunter is good buddy of mine, and I’ll never forget, we went like this. Was pretty fresh out back, I don’t know, 1012, years ago, but we went back spoke to the master’s program at the CSL. You know, all these very bright and you know that that class continues to get better. I could have never made it today in the CSL, right? But, you know, asking all these questions and stuff and, you know? And I think one of the questions was like, what drives you, like, what? What’s something that you fear? Right? And, like, like, man, it’s pretty deep, right? Hunter. Hunter raises, you know, hunters at the podium. He’s like, Yeah, I still want to have case of the Mondays. Everybody’s like, What are you talking about? Right? He’s like, don’t want to put my head down Sunday night and think to myself, Oh, man, I got to go to work on Monday. I never want to have that feeling. You know, you might not be freaking out because it’s Monday morning, but you’re excited to get to work Monday. So it’s pretty simple advice, but I’m lucky. I’ve never had a case of the Mondays, and that’s because I’ve followed what I love and what what drives me. And I always love
Bryan Berry 23:41
it when somebody tries to tell me what a small town they’re from. Ryan. I grew up in Madison County.
Unknown Speaker 23:46
Yeah, baby mountaineers. Oh,
Bryan Berry 23:48
yeah. So you guys are, you know, twice as high as us.
Dr. Ryan Hall 23:51
But you know, Coach say from Brian Sure did. Yep. Good man, good man. You know, he passed away, and I did not know that when he passed away a few months ago. Oh, man, you can,
Bryan Berry 24:05
you can edit that from the show, yeah, now we he, he grew up maybe 500 yards for me.
Unknown Speaker 24:15
Brian, what? What year did you graduate? Madison,
Bryan Berry 24:18
a few years ahead of him. I graduated in 85 Okay,
Dr. Ryan Hall 24:21
gotcha. I remember a little younger, but when I was wrestling at Louisa, there’s, there’s a kid, he was a stud, and he couldn’t beat this kid from Princeville district, and he beat him like he lost him like five times. They beat him in the state finals. Kid named George Webb. I think his name was, he was, he was a tough kid.
Bryan Berry 24:39
I knew his dad you’re talking about. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 24:43
that’s small world, man,
Aaron Lee 24:44
I was gonna ask Ryan, while we’re in the Do you know, did you grow up around the same time as Kevin Fisher in Louisa now? Kevin,
Dr. Ryan Hall 24:54
yep, I played I know. Mark passed away a while back his younger brother. But I played a little league football with Mark and Randy was my little league football coach. Their dad. Okay,
Aaron Lee 25:05
yeah, man, yeah, Kevin. I forget how they met, but Kevin’s wife has a sister that grew up with my wife in Roanoke.
Dr. Ryan Hall 25:14
Check that out. So Kevin was a stud, but he was a stud basketball player, football and baseball. I mean, he was your old school, a rural, legit, three sport athlete. He was good. He was a little older me, but I remember watching him, you know, elementary school, middle school.
Aaron Lee 25:28
I wasn’t sure exactly how old he was, but Louisa
Dr. Ryan Hall 25:30
County. But if you know anybody, Louise, I’m sure, I’m sure I’ve heard the name at least,
Aaron Lee 25:35
what, and he’s that stereotypical, you know, three sports star turned head coach that, you know, my
Dr. Ryan Hall 25:42
best friend’s another one. He, uh, guy named Will Patrick. He was full back, I think he was a backup fullback on uh coach McMath j mu, national championship football team. But three sport athlete, and he’s been since a different, unrelated Fisher passed away. Had Louisa football really rolling? Will Patrick took over that program. That’s my best friend from childhood. We still talk at least once a week. So yeah, I
Unknown Speaker 26:06
recognize that name. When you said it, I thought I wondered,
Aaron Lee 26:12
Yep, yeah, that’s awesome. Good. All right. Thanks so much for a great conversation. Go Owls unless they’re playing the spiders or the Dukes. Hope you guys have a great season. Congrats on your second anniversary there, and can’t wait to see what this journey holds for you.
Dr. Ryan Hall 26:28
I can’t, can’t. Thank you guys enough. Really appreciate you having me and guys keep doing what you’re doing. Thanks so much. Yeah, thanks for being on the show. All right, see you guys, thank you.
Jay Smack 26:37
Thanks for listening to the new generation leader podcast, Subscribe Today on your podcasting platform, download the show notes and unlock your true leadership potential at New Generation leader.fm thanks for listening today, and we look forward to seeing you next time on the new generation leader podcast. You.