Bearkat Athletics announces restructure prior to FBS move

HUNTSVILLE – With numerous changes on the horizon for Sam Houston Athletics, the department officially has announced a large-scale restructure of administrative job duties immediately effective for the 2022-23 athletic season.

"When we made the announcement to make the move to FBS and Conference USA, we knew that we were going to have to look in the mirror and make some big changes to the way we have operated from an administrative standpoint," Director of Athletics Bobby Williams said. "This is just one of those changes, but it is an important first step to modernizing our department to not only put our staff in the best position to succeed both personally and professionally, but for our department to continue to grow in a positive way and align our department with the University's new Strategic Plan."

The alterations to the structure come with new and added responsibilities for a number of staff members, but also lends for improved focus in key areas such as academics, compliance, marketing, communications, fundraising, licensing, branding, letterwinners and senior administrative support as the department continues to move forward.

Part of the restructure includes the separation of the academics and compliance offices from one combined entity into two separate offices due to the move to CUSA/FBS, requiring more student-athlete supervision in football and sports such as beach volleyball, as well as the separation of communications and broadcasting.

The external communications areas, including branding and marketing focus, is necessary due to new opportunities in linear television and online streaming, and the implementation of a new University-driven marketing strategic plan.

Additionally, the department has instituted the practice of assigning sport administrators to each individual sport. A common practice in intercollegiate athletics, sport administrators will serve day-to-day administrative oversight over his/her assigned sport and serve as a conduit between the coaching staff and upper administration, as well as the conference office.

Greg Hinze
Deputy Athletics Director
Hinze moves to Deputy Athletics Director and will continue to oversee the bulk of the day-to-day operations of the department. He is in his second administrative stint at SHSU, having been back since 2007, and has been one of the go-to pieces in event management and operations of the department since his return. He will also serve as sport administrator for volleyball, track & field and cross country.

Chris Thompson
Senior Associate AD - SWA
Few people are as recognizable around Bearkat Athletics as Thompson who has been a member of SHSU Athletics since 1981. She will continue to be visible in her current role as she moves into a larger role working directly with the Director of Athletics on the transition to Conference USA and rebuilding the Sam Houston Letterwinner's Association and Hall of Honor. In addition to overseeing those areas, Thompson will continue to serve as the department's Senior Women's Administrator and Title IX liaison as well as serving as the sport administrator for women's basketball.

Travis Lies
Senior Associate AD – Chief Operating Officer
Lies rejoined Sam Houston in 2016 as an equipment coordinator, but was elevated into an administrative role in 2019. Since then he has assisted Williams and Hinze with much of the daily department operations and has seen his role expand throughout that time. He, along with Hinze, was instrumental in the building of the new departmental structure and the move toward the FBS. He currently oversees the department budget and will serve as sport administrator for golf and tennis and secondary sport administrator for football.

Russell Martinez
Associate AD – Branding & Licensing
Martinez began a dual role in University Advancement and Athletics in 2014, focusing on major gifts and the annual fund, and in 2018 he added oversight of ticketing and marketing for the department. Due to his leadership in developing the new SHSU Athletics brands and logos, in addition to the move to Conference USA, he will be moving to a more focused role working directly with the Director of Athletics and new Associate AD for External Affairs, Dave Kinard, focusing on the areas of major gifts, licensing, branding and premium seating.

Ryan Carroll
Associate AD – Chief of Staff
Carroll has been on staff with SHSU since 2010 and was elevated to Chief of Staff in 2021. He has served as a jack-of-all-trades during his time with Bearkat Athletics, filling into various roles throughout the department when needed. Under the new structure he will move back into his area of strength: facility projects and event management, where he has spent more than a decade. Carroll also serves as the department's Human Resources liaison and will be the sport administrator for baseball.

Dave Kinard
Associate AD – External Affairs
Kinard is the newest addition to the Bearkat Athletics staff, joining SHSU in July. He has nearly 20 years of experience at the college level, including four years as the Associate AD for External Operations at Abilene Christian. Prior to that he spent time in similar external roles at Boise State, Arizona State, Kentucky and UCLA. At Sam Houston, he will be charged with all departmental fundraising efforts in addition to oversight of all other external affairs such as ticket sales, marketing and communications. He will also serve as the sport administrator for men's basketball and softball.

Jason Barfield
Associate AD – Broadcasting & Digital Media
Barfield has been a part of the department since 2005, and has overseen all communications and broadcasting efforts since moving into an Associate AD role in 2016. Now he moves into a role solely dedicated to furthering the department's broadcasting and digital media, including numerous broadcasts on ESPN platforms throughout the year, audio/visual broadcasts on the Bearkat Sports Network and other in-house and in-game elements. Barfield will also serve as the sport administrator for bowling and women's soccer.

Ragan Henderson
Coordinator of Sport Operations
A former student-athlete who lettered on the gridiron at Sam Houston from 2014-17, Henderson has spent the last two years on the football staff, overseeing equipment football operations but will now make the shift into administration for the 2022-23 athletic year. He will serve under Chief Operating Officer Travis Lies and will oversee operations from football, baseball and men's and women's basketball in addition to other administrative duties throughout the year. He will also serve as the secondary sport administrator for men's and women's basketball.

Josh Reynolds
Assistant AD - Academics
Reynolds is fifth year on staff at SHSU after completing his playing days as a member of the football team. Since joining the academics staff he has been an integral part of Bearkat Athletics and now will be charged with oversight of all academics affairs for the department and the academics staff, which is set to see immediate expansion with the addition of multiple academic advisors and success coaches. Reynolds will also serve as the secondary sport administrator for baseball.

Trevor Thorn
Assistant AD - Compliance
Thorn moved from the admissions office on campus to the compliance office at Bearkat Athletics in 2015. Under the new structure, Thorn will now be fully in charge of all compliance education, instruction and policy interpretation for the department. He will oversee a staff that is currently slated to include a compliance coordinator and a graduate assistant. Thorn will also serve as the secondary sport administrator for soccer.

Ben Rikard
Assistant AD – Strategic Communications
Rikard is entering his seventh athletic season in the communications office at Sam Houston, but now shifts into a leadership role that will continue to include traditional sports information and media relations duties, as well as outbound messaging and social media content. He will serve with direct oversight of the Communications & Media Relations office and will also serve as the secondary sport administrator for softball.

Bearkat Athletics announces restructure prior to FBS move

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