Podcast Summary: AD360

Episode: Building New Athletic Directors

Host: PlayOn Sports | Guests: Greg Vandermade, Scott Rosenberg, John DeColo
Date: December 8, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Greg Vandermade and Scott Rosenberg explore the critical topic of building the next generation of high school athletic directors (ADs). Joined by longtime and now-retired AD John DeColo, the conversation centers on succession planning, identifying leadership potential, mentoring future ADs, and the evolving landscape of athletic administration. The episode provides practical advice, memorable stories, and essential insights for both current and aspiring ADs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of "Building Your Bench" (Succession Planning)

• Greg Vandermeid sets the tone by underscoring the need for every athletic department to develop future leaders and have a strong succession plan.
  ➡️ “Every AD faces and every athletic department is going to face sooner or later... building your bench, succession plan, identifying future leaders.” (00:23)
• John DeColo’s Legacy: Three former coaches now ADs, two principals, two vice principals, and even a former student-athlete who became an AD—demonstrating the impact one mentor can make.
  • Quote: “I’ve had two coaches that have gone on to become principals, two coaches as vice principals, three who are now ADs, and one student athlete who’s now an AD himself.” – John DeColo (04:33)

2. Identifying and Encouraging Potential Leaders

• Early Signs: Athletic background, intrinsic motivation, and willingness to make sacrifices (juggling education, family, career).
  • Quote: “It’s having somebody who encourages you, someone who supports you... and you’re going to hear this word a lot: modeling.” – John DeColo (05:05)
• Family insight: Even DeColo’s own children—coaches and teachers—chose not to pursue administration, highlighting the real challenges and sacrifices involved.
  • Quote: “Maybe it’s because they saw how hard it was.” – John DeColo (07:47)

3. The Role of "Modeling" and Mentoring

• Modeling as Mentorship: Teaching by example is central to preparing future ADs.
  • Quote: “They have modeled some things that I’ve done in our school and brought them to their school.” – John DeColo (05:18)
• Delegating Real Responsibility: Providing opportunities for coaches to serve as site managers, tournament organizers, or crowd control as part of their growth.
  • Quote: “...try to get them jobs in the tournament so that they could understand what it’s like to run a tournament... especially crowd control.” – John DeColo (12:47)

4. Balancing Responsibility and Support

• Support Structure: Being available to read papers, give advice, and help emerging leaders navigate decisions (e.g. home/family balance).
  • Quote: “If you have to write any papers, bring them to me. I’ll help you.” – John DeColo (09:11)
• Managing the Job’s Demands: The most significant downside remains the hours and the toll it takes on family life.
  • Quote: “The rewards are unbelievable, but the hours are horrible. If you do the job the way you’re supposed to...” – John DeColo (10:02)
• Advice from predecessors: Schedule family time on your calendar to maintain balance.
  • Quote: “Put family down at least one day a week, make yourself go home.” – John DeColo recounting advice from a predecessor (11:15)

5. Community and Professional Involvement

• Beyond the Job Description: True ADs expand their influence by taking on leadership positions beyond their school—at the conference, regional, and state level.
  • Quote: “They wanted to be the right kind of AD... not only take care of their job... but also contribute to the conference.” – John DeColo (13:50)
• Supporting Unified Sports & Inclusion: Early adoption and encouragement of inclusive programs.
  • Quote: “I ran a unified track meet... only one school came, but both of us left saying this was the best experience we ever had.” – John DeColo (28:26)

6. Institutional and Cultural Trends

• Increasing Turnover: The demands of the AD job have led to higher turnover, with young ADs often underestimating the pressures.
  • Quote: “Every meeting it seems like there’s a new face... Their school district is just loading more and more responsibility.” – John DeColo (18:19)
• The Need for Exit Strategy: ADs should plan for potential lateral or upward movement to avoid burnout.
  • Quote: “You have to think ahead and plan ahead. Even if you never use it, you’ve got the ability to transition.” – Scott Rosenberg (38:15)

7. The Power of Professional Networking & Resource-Sharing

• Networking: Attending conventions and workshops is lauded for both content and camaraderie—learning from others’ experiences is invaluable.
  • Quote: “Probably more so than the workshops are the camaraderie... sharing experiences, mostly the negative and how you dealt with them.” – John DeColo (30:05)
• Resource Sharing: Offering templates, manuals, and communication guides to new ADs is a tradition, helping avoid the reinvention of the wheel.
  • Quote: “If you bring a thumb drive, I’ll give you my manual. All I need you to do is take Jefferson off and put your school name.” – John DeColo (31:08)
• National/State Certification Programs: Endorsed as valuable, practical, and often delivered by those with lived experience.
  • Quote: “Go to a national, go to a state and bring back one thing that you can do every day that’s going to help you in the department.” – Scott Rosenberg (32:24)

8. The “WWJD” Effect—A Legacy of Leadership

• Memorable Moment: DeColo’s mentees coined “WWJD—What Would John DeColo Do?” as a touchstone for their own leadership decisions.
  • Quote: “They said, ‘we did the WWJD… What would John DeColo do?’ That makes me even more proud.” – John DeColo (20:10)
• Empowerment and Coaching Tree: Like sports coaching trees, a healthy culture develops when leaders aim to “lose” talented people to higher positions—an abundance mindset in mentoring.
  • Quote: “You kind of want to lose them... The varsity coach wants to lose their JV coach to varsity positions... you want your coaches to become ADs.” – Scott Rosenberg (39:31)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Modeling & Mentorship:
  “Somebody’s always watching… You think about that with your own kids, but you don’t always think about that with your coaches.” – Scott Rosenberg (22:05)
• On Handling Difficult Situations:
  “If I had a parent that was maybe a little boisterous… I would just go stand near them, or I'd go sit next to him and say, ‘hey, how you doing?’ ... which worked so much better than being confrontational.” – John DeColo (24:00)
• On Servant Leadership:
  “Be willing to go above and beyond... have a little bit of servant leadership... and the dividends will really pay off extremely quickly.” – Greg Vandermeid (27:32)
• On Adapting to Change:
  “Be a jack of all trades... there’s so many different elements in what that job entails.” – Greg Vandermeid (36:22)
• On Financial Barriers in Professional Growth:
  “Now they’re being more restrictive and don’t even have those clauses... Or the reimbursement just isn’t what it used to be.” – John DeColo (37:31)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Building a "Bench": John’s mentorship story [03:00–04:45]
• Qualities of Future ADs: Intrinsic motivation, modeling [04:33–06:36]
• The reality of sacrifice & work-life balance: [07:27–11:15]
• Delegating, modeling opportunities: [12:15–13:50]
• Conference & community involvement: [13:50–15:20]
• The “WWJD” moment & mentorship legacy: [20:10–22:29]
• Networking, conventions, and resource-sharing: [30:05–33:01]
• Professional trends, training, and turnover: [33:05–37:00]
• Final thoughts on succession, exit strategies, and modeling: [38:15–39:52]

Tone & Style

The conversation is collegial, candid, and rich with real-life experience and humor (e.g., “Now there’s two of you, so you need two cakes!”). The guests speak warmly of the profession, but with a frankness about the sacrifices and realities, always circling back to the critical influence of peer modeling and mentorship in shaping future leaders.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Succession planning and identifying/mentoring future leaders are core responsibilities of every AD.
• Modeling and servant leadership yield generational dividends—those you help will help others.
• The demands of the job are substantial, but so are the rewards; honest mentorship prepares new ADs for both.
• Networking, professional involvement, and resource-sharing amplify your effectiveness and satisfaction.
• Embrace change, keep learning, and encourage others to broaden their qualifications and skills.
• “Somebody’s always watching”—be the leader you want your successors to emulate.