Veatch Shares Vision For Future

** This is a preview of an article on Veatch that will be in an upcoming University of Memphis Magazine.

Veatch's Vision
New University of Memphis Director of Athletics Laird Veatch learned a valuable lesson about the process of building something great while playing linebacker at Kansas State under College Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder.

In Veatch's first three years on campus, the Wildcats failed to make a bowl appearance. They made their breakthrough in 1993, Veatch's first season as a starter, as they went 9-3-1 with a victory in the Copper Bowl. It was the first bowl win in the nearly 100 years of Kansas State football. The Wildcats were 9-3 the following year with Veatch serving as a co-captain in his senior season. Those two years were the foundation of what ultimately led to Snyder being viewed as one of the best coaches in college football history.

"It is not something that happens overnight," Veatch said. "I'm not necessarily patient, we are going to work our tails off. But at the same time, one of the most important things that I've learned, starting with the experience at Kansas State as a player, is the importance of just getting a little bit better every day and finding ways to improve bit by bit by bit. As you do that, that is how those kinds of visions are realized."

Veatch acknowledges he's taking over an athletic department with a lot of positive momentum and opportunity already in motion. But he's also coming to the University with a clear vision for how to take the Tigers to greater heights, just as he experienced as a student-athlete himself.

"The core tenets of what we are going to believe as a department are really important," Veatch said. "We will form those together, and we will all take it on. You will find I like to have a plan, I like to be organized and strategic, and we will have a plan."

Laird Veatch's Plan
Student-Athletes Come First
"I want everybody to know that, first and foremost, we're going to care for our student-athletes. There's nothing more important that we do than the welfare of our student-athletes.

We will have equity, diversity and inclusion as we take the care for our student-athletes extremely, extremely seriously."

Support for Coaches
"I'm going to support our coaches. I will say it once and I'll say it many, many times — there is nothing more impactful than coaches and what they do for not only the young people in our programs but for the department and for all of us overall. In our world, coaches drive success.

"I want to thank Coach Penny [Hardaway]. I'm really, really glad he is here. You can imagine the impact and the opportunity this presents for an athletic director to step into a time like this. Coach [Mike] Norvell, I especially appreciated our [first meeting] together. I've told a few other folks in our business that I've met with and interviewed a lot of head coaches — nobody's impressed me more in a [first meeting] than you. To all our coaches, I'm excited to be with you and work with you."

Enhance the Fan Experience
"I think what really pushed me over the edge that this is the right opportunity at the right time is when I started to get an inkling of what this Athletic Department and this University means to this City.

"I'm going to want us to serve our fans. Fan experience is the biggest buzzword in our industry right now, and for good reason. So, we're going to come at it from every direction. Most importantly, we're going to do it by intentionally building relationships in the community.

"I really look forward to the opportunity to come here, sit down, meet with so many of you, ask you questions, understand what it really means to be a Memphian, what makes this place special and unique and then developing a vision with you."

Win the Right Way
"I'm going to want us to promote the University mission. There's a lot of good that comes from college athletics. It's almost too numerous to mention. But ultimately, we're here to support the greater University mission. If we're doing that right, then even greater things can happen. One of the ways we do that, frankly, is by winning, but we've got to win the right way.

"Now, let me be clear, I'm a pretty competitive guy. Card games and board games at the Veatch house are a pretty serious affair. We like to get after it. But it's got to be done the right way. If it's not done the right way, then, in the end, it just doesn't matter. So, we're going to win, but we're going to win the right way and we're going to enjoy doing it."

University of Memphis Athletics

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