by Colin Rajala
Trove: It seems like fundraising has improved among the recent graduating classes, which appears to be a correlation to the improvements on campus reverberating and resonating with graduates – do you think that is the case?
Pat: Yeah, no question. It is going to keep getting better. The more people that have an affinity to the institution, the more they are going to have the affinity when they leave the institution. We keep doing a better job at it, and we need to keep pushing. We need to continue to make that an absolute priority where we are getting people to engage with the institution and we are telling our story and asking them to help us out to get where we want to be.
Trove: All the improvements have been facilitated through working with Dr. Esteban and Dr. Meehan. What was it like to work with both?
Pat: I can tell you that the job of an AD lives and dies on whether you have the support of the leadership and the board, hands down. I can state unequivocally that the success that we’ve had and the success that we want to have is a direct result of having great support from the board and great support from our leadership whether it was Dr. Esteban or Dr. Meehan.
To be aligned with the board and university leadership makes my job so much easier. If you’re not aligned, then you’re spending a lot of time fighting those battles and trying to do things that really aren’t directly attributing to the student athlete's experience. So the fact that I’ve blessed to have that here is one of the reasons why I love Seton Hall so much. I love it for a lot of reasons and while I didn't attend Seton Hall, I consider myself a Pirate. I think I have the greatest job in the country. Having the alignment of interests makes coming to work the best because it lets you do what you really need to be focused on whether its fundraising, improving the student athlete experience, or figuring out what needs to be done next.
Trove: What has the transition been like working for Dr. Esteban to now working for Dr. Meehan?
Pat: I loved working with Gabe. He hired me and he let me come in with some really crazy ideas at the time and supported them. With Mary it has been more of the same, she’s been fantastic. She might have the interim tag on her name, but she is not that. It is just not in her nature to operate on an intern type of basis, she’s full steam ahead.
Trove: With the 2017-2018 academic and athletic year completed, what are your thoughts on the past year and the progress that’s been made?
Pat: Looking back at the year you have to be happy that we had an all-time high with the GPA for our student athletes, so academically we're getting it done. Fundraising looks like it is going to be on pace for another good year, so that is fantastic. Facility renovation plans continue with baseball and soccer and as far as competitiveness, we are ecstatic.
With men’s basketball it’s been eye opening yet somewhat sad to have this incredible class come in four years ago and accomplish what they wanted to accomplish, and now leave. They came in, they won a Big East championship, went to three straight NCAA tournaments, won a game in the NCAA tournament and they all graduated. I want to say they all graduated with a GPA above 3.0 although I am not positive.
Now the key is to make sure that is not just a glimpse, but more so a place to build from to sustain that success and grow from it. We're confident that we will continue to do that in the future.
Trove: Seems to be a range of emotions across the spectrum as people have reflected on the senior's tenure at the school.
Pat: It is impossible not to root for those guys. They are great students, great athletes, great people. With Khadeen, Ish, Angel, Desi, Mike, who luckily is coming back for another year, and Isaiah who came in with that class – you would be hard pressed to find better kids that represented the school the right way. They are great ambassadors.
Trove: It has been a year of change with Bryan Felt and Shaheen Holloway leaving, but also the hiring of Tony Skinn and Andreas Lindberg. How do you view the transitions and changes that have taken place?
Pat: I look at it like this, I’m a firm believer that the institution is going to be around long after I’m gone and long after other people here now are gone. At the end of the day it’s about the people, organizations live and die with their people. The fact that Bryan and Shaheen wanted to one day be an athletic director and a head coach and the fact that that they are now there is both incredibly gratifying and satisfying for me. They worked hard for it and we’ve helped to create that environment to aid them to get to that point. I love Shaheen, he’s a dear friend of mine and Bryan became a close friend as well as a coworker. We are thrilled that they have these opportunities to quote unquote run their own shop with Bryan in the athletic department and Sha with the basketball program. I’d be shocked if they’re both not incredibly successful because they are driven to succeed and have what it takes.
With the people we’ve brought in to fill the positions we have high hopes for them as well. Jay Judge has done a great job this year with Pirate Blue and the short time Tony has been here he’s also done a fantastic job. And with Andreas we have very high hopes for him as well. We are very opportunistic for the future in those areas.
Trove: You mentioned the exit interviews with seniors earlier, what have you learned from the student athletes during your tenure?
Pat: When I was initially hired one of the first things I did was talk to the student athletes because I wanted information from the source, what was going on and what were their thoughts? Was their time here enjoyable?
What we’ve done with support from the board and leadership is upgrade the facilities now and aligned the department and culture to be solely focused on the student athlete's experience.
What is great is this year every senior said they had a fabulous experience and would do it again and thought they were taken care of and looked after. That is the goal. It is what you want to see, making sure your student athletes come in, have a great experience and leave prepared for the world. As an athletic director it is very satisfying to see.
With that being said, there is still more to do. We can continue to improve facilities, graduate with higher GPAs, we can win more games and win more championships. We want to make sure we are never complacent. Like I said before, I am not one to look back, it is just not my style. Maybe at some point I will do that, but not anytime soon as we want to continue to be successful.
Trove: It seems like fundraising has improved among the recent graduating classes, which appears to be a correlation to the improvements on campus reverberating and resonating with graduates – do you think that is the case?
Pat: Yeah, no question. It is going to keep getting better. The more people that have an affinity to the institution, the more they are going to have the affinity when they leave the institution. We keep doing a better job at it, and we need to keep pushing. We need to continue to make that an absolute priority where we are getting people to engage with the institution and we are telling our story and asking them to help us out to get where we want to be.
Trove: All the improvements have been facilitated through working with Dr. Esteban and Dr. Meehan. What was it like to work with both?
Pat: I can tell you that the job of an AD lives and dies on whether you have the support of the leadership and the board, hands down. I can state unequivocally that the success that we’ve had and the success that we want to have is a direct result of having great support from the board and great support from our leadership whether it was Dr. Esteban or Dr. Meehan.
To be aligned with the board and university leadership makes my job so much easier. If you’re not aligned, then you’re spending a lot of time fighting those battles and trying to do things that really aren’t directly attributing to the student athlete's experience. So the fact that I’ve blessed to have that here is one of the reasons why I love Seton Hall so much. I love it for a lot of reasons and while I didn't attend Seton Hall, I consider myself a Pirate. I think I have the greatest job in the country. Having the alignment of interests makes coming to work the best because it lets you do what you really need to be focused on whether its fundraising, improving the student athlete experience, or figuring out what needs to be done next.
Trove: What has the transition been like working for Dr. Esteban to now working for Dr. Meehan?
Pat: I loved working with Gabe. He hired me and he let me come in with some really crazy ideas at the time and supported them. With Mary it has been more of the same, she’s been fantastic. She might have the interim tag on her name, but she is not that. It is just not in her nature to operate on an intern type of basis, she’s full steam ahead.
Trove: With the 2017-2018 academic and athletic year completed, what are your thoughts on the past year and the progress that’s been made?
Pat: Looking back at the year you have to be happy that we had an all-time high with the GPA for our student athletes, so academically we're getting it done. Fundraising looks like it is going to be on pace for another good year, so that is fantastic. Facility renovation plans continue with baseball and soccer and as far as competitiveness, we are ecstatic.
With men’s basketball it’s been eye opening yet somewhat sad to have this incredible class come in four years ago and accomplish what they wanted to accomplish, and now leave. They came in, they won a Big East championship, went to three straight NCAA tournaments, won a game in the NCAA tournament and they all graduated. I want to say they all graduated with a GPA above 3.0 although I am not positive.
Now the key is to make sure that is not just a glimpse, but more so a place to build from to sustain that success and grow from it. We're confident that we will continue to do that in the future.
Trove: Seems to be a range of emotions across the spectrum as people have reflected on the senior's tenure at the school.
Pat: It is impossible not to root for those guys. They are great students, great athletes, great people. With Khadeen, Ish, Angel, Desi, Mike, who luckily is coming back for another year, and Isaiah who came in with that class – you would be hard pressed to find better kids that represented the school the right way. They are great ambassadors.
Trove: It has been a year of change with Bryan Felt and Shaheen Holloway leaving, but also the hiring of Tony Skinn and Andreas Lindberg. How do you view the transitions and changes that have taken place?
Pat: I look at it like this, I’m a firm believer that the institution is going to be around long after I’m gone and long after other people here now are gone. At the end of the day it’s about the people, organizations live and die with their people. The fact that Bryan and Shaheen wanted to one day be an athletic director and a head coach and the fact that that they are now there is both incredibly gratifying and satisfying for me. They worked hard for it and we’ve helped to create that environment to aid them to get to that point. I love Shaheen, he’s a dear friend of mine and Bryan became a close friend as well as a coworker. We are thrilled that they have these opportunities to quote unquote run their own shop with Bryan in the athletic department and Sha with the basketball program. I’d be shocked if they’re both not incredibly successful because they are driven to succeed and have what it takes.
With the people we’ve brought in to fill the positions we have high hopes for them as well. Jay Judge has done a great job this year with Pirate Blue and the short time Tony has been here he’s also done a fantastic job. And with Andreas we have very high hopes for him as well. We are very opportunistic for the future in those areas.
Trove: You mentioned the exit interviews with seniors earlier, what have you learned from the student athletes during your tenure?
Pat: When I was initially hired one of the first things I did was talk to the student athletes because I wanted information from the source, what was going on and what were their thoughts? Was their time here enjoyable?
What we’ve done with support from the board and leadership is upgrade the facilities now and aligned the department and culture to be solely focused on the student athlete's experience.
What is great is this year every senior said they had a fabulous experience and would do it again and thought they were taken care of and looked after. That is the goal. It is what you want to see, making sure your student athletes come in, have a great experience and leave prepared for the world. As an athletic director it is very satisfying to see.
With that being said, there is still more to do. We can continue to improve facilities, graduate with higher GPAs, we can win more games and win more championships. We want to make sure we are never complacent. Like I said before, I am not one to look back, it is just not my style. Maybe at some point I will do that, but not anytime soon as we want to continue to be successful.
