In Black America; Sports Leadership and Innovation, with Daron Roberts

From the University of Texas at Austin, KUT Radio, this is In Black America. We were the top scholars around the country that are studying character reform and sports leadership, sports management, and we have the highest concentration of experts in that area here at Texas. Between the college of communication, between social work, between education, McCombs, even the law school, we have a critical mass of professors here who are really interested in studying ways that we can leverage sports for social good, and so the certification program that we will enroll this summer will involve many of those professors, though they'll teach models or modules related to how do

you detect when student athletes are having issues with drug abuse or alcohol abuse, and then most importantly, what are the best interventions you can put into place to help them get on the right track? Dan Roberts, founding director for the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation at the University of Texas at Austin. Recognize the need for college and professional athletes to serve as leaders in role models. The University of Texas at Austin has launched a new center that will help young male and female athletes to see on and often field as responsible citizens. The Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation will leverage UT's expertities in academics and success in athletics to change the culture at a time when national headlines remain focused on high-profile athletes, behavior, and responsibilities. The first of its kind program will also build on the university's long-held philosophy of quote, winning with the integrity end of quote. University scholars and experts on character reform from across the nation will work with coaches on

implementing the most effective detection and intervention methods for drug and alcohol abuse, domestic and sexual assault, concussion awareness, and sound decision-making. The goal is to equip high school cojo with the tools to incite the character reform that many athletes need. I'm Johnny Owens in Jr. and welcome to another edition of in Black America. On this week's program the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation with founding director Dan Roberts in Black America. What we found when we looked at other universities is that oftentimes universities have been focused on their student athletes but given our flagship status and our position in the state, we kept asking ourselves, how can we support the men and women who are really on the front lines of this character reform? And if you look at the studies after the age of seven, an overwhelming majority of school age children cite their coaches as their most influential person in their lives. And so we want to help support

them by saying, first of all, we don't have all the answers, but we have research that we think can help. But also we want to highlight the best practices that these coaches are using, whether it's coach from San Antonio or El Paso, and then take that information and then distribute it out to the rest of the coaches around the state. According to Dan Roberts, the Center will serve as an epicentant for the creation of character development correctly in the sports world. The Center will also use end-up disciplinary research, entrepreneurial thinking and strong relationships with outside groups to ensure that young athletes can all become responsible role models. Also, the new Center will work closely with the athletic department, which is already a national model in helping students excel academically. Born and raised in Mount Pleasant, Texas, Roberts holds a BA in plan two honors in government from the University of Texas and MPP from Harvard Kennedy School and a law degree from Harvard Law School. During this tenure at the University of Texas at Austin, he was elected

as student government president. Also, Robert has worked for the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs and was a cornerback cultural West Virginia University. In 2010, Roberts founded fourth and one LLC, a non-profit that provide free SAT prep, football skills training and life skill development to high school students in Texas and Michigan. Recently, Robert stopped by the in-black America studios. There was a real sense of community. We had one high school. There were three elementary schools that fed into the pipeline and so people knew who you were. They were invested in seeing you succeed and you really felt like there was a network of people around you who wanted to see you reach the top. And so, you know, I've always said I've been fortunate not to disparage the Dallas or the Houston kids or say the Tonyo, but I really enjoyed growing up in a town that had 12,000 people. I understand. And what were some of your favorite subjects while you're in school?

I leaned towards the government and English side and literature. So I was, you know, even before I knew there was such things as liberal arts, that's that's what I enjoyed. I enjoyed reading reading in particular about politics and government. And so, and I did debate while I was in high school. What was it about the University of Texas that attracted you to campus? First and foremost was playing too. I knew at the time that I wanted to go to law school and my teachers and my dad and mom were telling me that I needed to hone my my reading and writing skills. And so when I started to research programs around the country, where I could do that at a high level, playing to just kept coming up. And once I got into playing to and visited campus, it was in, you know, it was a somewhat of an easy decision. I also wanted to go to Stanford and I was

fortunate to get in, but I just decided that this was the place for me. I fell in love with the 40 acres when I visited here. Now, African American presence on campus at UT was a little bit better when you came along, but not that much better. How did that transition from East Texas to the capital? It was an interesting time because I entered UT in 97. Right. So I was the first post-hop wood class. And it wasn't the 60s by any account, but you felt like there was a real political fervor on campus. Lino Groglia comments, you know, so that was a time where in terms of political activism, I really, I, it just amazed me at how there was such a concentration of people who were really interested in the in the topic of minority representation. And so, you know, coming here, I think that the percentages were maybe five or six percent African American at time. And I felt it, you know, I left, I lived in the Carothers dormitory, which

is an honors dorm. Right. And there were two of us. And there were two African American males that lived in the dorm. And they used to call us the brothers from Carothers. So that that was, I got a kick out of that. But yeah, it was a very interesting time, you know, kind of in the history of the university. And you were the student government president? I was student government president. The only hand I think in my recollection, too, thus far. There were, yeah, I was the third. And it was, you know, in fact, when I came in the university, Marlon Whitley had just served. Exactly. And he was finishing his term out. And so you just watching him, you know, and seeing how he led the university during that time, it really made an impression on me. From UT, you went to Harvard. From UT, you know, actually in the year between UT and the Kennedy School, I spent a year on the Hill. So I worked for Senator Lieberman in DC. And that was a good experience for me. September 11th, unfortunately, it occurred during that time. And so

just watching the capital transform in terms of the kind of work we were doing, you know, before September 11th, we were working on a myriad of different issues and then everything was national security. You know, and so, you know, I was fortunate to be there during that time. And then I went from there to the Kennedy School. Having worked in the capital and we're seeing the, I would say, dysfunctional atmosphere that is currently going on in Washington. Did you get a sense of that or was it a somewhat of a different atmosphere? There was, I will say this, I've always said that I worked for the last great Texas statesman in Bill Ratliff. Bill Ratliff was from my hometown, I'm out pleasant. And I worked both legislative sessions in my time here from 97 to 2001. And I got a chance to work in his lieutenant governor's office when George Bush went into the presidency. And so at that time, Texas state government was still somewhat

civil. And I would say that the picture in Washington, it was more divided than it was here in Texas, but it wasn't nearly as violent from a political perspective as it is now. And it's, you know, it's really a shame because I think obviously there are a lot of important issues that we need to address, but that's definitely been a reason why we haven't been able to make the progress that we've needed to. If you're just joining us, I'm John L. Hanson, Jr. and you're listening to In Black America from KUT Radio. And we're speaking with Dan Roberts founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation at the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Roberts, I was kind of perplexed. What is a quality control NFL coach? Everyone asked this, you know, a quality control coach in the NFL pretty much does everything that the other coaches don't want to do. So you're setting out cones before practice for drills, you're picking up

people from the airport. But you also, you break down film. And I've always said it really is, it's like getting your PhD in football. So you do all of the pre-game reports on what the tendencies are for your upcoming opponent. So you really do get a sense of, you know, what the trends are around the league. What led you in that direction? The summer between my second and third years of law school, a good friend of mine from Mount Pleasant asked me to go with him to a football camp. And I said, I would, you know, I need to kind of get away from my legal clerkships. And so I went with him. And as you would have it, someone didn't show up. So they needed somebody to fill in. And I figured, hey, I was at 5, 10 strong safety for Mount Pleasant. So I could, I could do this, you know. And so I accepted and had the best 72 hours of my life. Just watching how I think what was really compelling for me was just to watch how young men who would not normally

be friends, you know, whether they're from Westlaco or West Lake, South Dallas, North Dallas, you know, around this game of football, they really became friends. And so I started to rethink really my place in the world. And when I went back to law school, I decided that I would, I would graduate, but that I would write every team in the league and most college teams try to get a job. And you wrote every team. I wrote every team. I said, first of all, I knew that they were going to be coaches. We're going to be skeptical because they didn't have any coaching background. You know, my last time a playing football was in 1996 with the Mount Pleasant Tigers. So they hadn't seen me on a college, you know, game. But I just kept pitching that I knew how to work hard that I tried to show them that spending 10 and 11 hours a day in the low library was akin to spending, you know, 10 or 11 hours watching film at night. And I got a lot of rejection

letters come through my mailbox. But finally, her medwards with the chiefs called me in and offered a training camp internship to me. So as we have deflate gates, so probably one of them quality control coaches deflated some of the football. You know, the quality control coach, something tells me that this is a higher level scandal. We're looking at now, you know, I guess the statement came out today from the NFL, a bunch to see how they respond. This is a it's a tricky one from the NFL. You went to West Virginia went to West Virginia. So I spent my first two years with Kansas City. Then I spent two years with the Detroit Lions and then an opportunity arose Dana Holgerson took over West Virginia team. And he was looking for a defensive minded coach on offense. And so, you know, he convinced me that coaching receivers for a year would make me a better defensive coach, which it did. And so my wife and family packed up and we

moved to Morgan town to spend two years there. Prior to you being named the founding director for the Center for Sports Leadership Innovation, you are also already on campus. Yes. What brought you back to UT? I got fired. Got fired. And I we played with the Cleveland Browns. We play our last game of the 2013 season against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the next day the owner walks in and fires a head coach. The second day wasn't doing that well. Second day wasn't doing that well. You know, we were the Browns. So nobody was doing that well. It was kind of spread wide. And so, fortunately, I was still in the contract and I thought to myself, I'll take a sabbatical and go back to Texas and teach. And I've been working on a syllabus for a class that I taught last semester, which is leadership strategy and sports. So my family, we picked up and moved to Austin and really enjoyed being here and being back in the educational

setting. How long has this center been on the back burner? I started a nonprofit back in 2010. Is that the fourth and one? Fourth and one. Okay. And that concept to me, I watched there's so many kids with sign up for these camps, whether it was Alabama camp or the Texas State camp or Florida State. And I thought there must be a way to combine football training with SAT prep and then also assortment of life skills. So I've always had an interesting kind of building this well-rounded athlete. And then when I returned to Texas, when Commissioner Gidele came into town to visit with Coach Strong, I had an invitation from the Commissioner's office to attend that meeting. And invariably, the discussion kept coming back to how can we make more interventions earlier in the pipeline? You know, by the time you get to the NFL, oftentimes too late. And so that really was the genesis of the idea and president powers start talking about how can we leverage UT's

credibility to make some positive change among high school student athletes? And how are you all going about getting these other expertise from individuals to be a part of this initiative? You know, what we found, and I did, I spent six weeks doing a market study of who were the top scholars around the country that are studying character reform and sports leadership, sports management. And we have the highest concentration of experts in that area here at Texas. Between the College of Communication, between social work, between education, McCombs, even the law school. I mean, we have a critical mass of professors here who are really interested in studying ways that we can leverage sports for social good. And so the certification program that we will enroll this summer will involve many of those professors. They'll teach models or modules related to how do you detect when student athletes are

having issues with drug abuse or alcohol abuse. And then most importantly, what are the best interventions you can put into place to help them get on the right track? Now everyone particularly here in Austin or Central Texas know that some of the UT athletes have been having problems, but the Senate was not initiated to address those particular problems. It's a broader focus. It's a broader focus. And what we found when we looked at other universities is that oftentimes universities have been focused on their student athletes, but given our flagship status and our position in the state, we kept asking ourselves, how can we support the men and women who are really on the front lines of this character reform? And if you look at the studies after the age of seven, an overwhelming majority of school age children cite their coaches as their most influential, most influential person in their lives. And so we want to help support them by saying, first of all, we don't have all the answers, but we

have research that we think can help. But also we want to highlight the best practices that these coaches are using, whether it's coach from San Antonio or El Paso, and then take that information and then distribute it out to the rest of the coaches around the state. Have you all put the curricula together? We have. We have. So it will be a two day, 10 hour curriculum. So 10 separate modules. And it will range from, like I mentioned, drug abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault. It will also, we have a module built around social media branding. And when we started talking to coaches to determine what content they wanted to learn more about, many of them said they want to be able to help their student athletes maintain a presence of integrity online. But they don't know how to do it. Because as you know, these, the social media outlets are growing, get a faster rate than someone like me can keep up with. So, you know, it's, it's really looking at what's out there in the marketplace now. I think that we're

on the cutting edge when it comes to providing this type of service. When you look at the student athletes and I'm, and I'm thinking this is not just male athlete. He's also female athlete. Right. Right. Right. Absolutely. So it crosses both sectors, both men and women and the coaches that we're bringing in. We're unveiling the application process in February. And there will always also be a nomination form where an athletic director, superintendent or principal can nominate one of their men's and women's coaches. And what we're stressing is we really want a cross sector representative pool of coaches. So we want men, we want women, we want diversity in terms of racial group, and then also diversity across sport. I don't know if this was part of the Center's initiative, but I heard during this him in sweat symposium, you all had a group of speakers you'll have had Maurice correct to come in and tell his story, which was poignant. Then you had Dr. Harry Erwin who has been doing this for I don't

know how long he has to be one of the Godfather. Yes, he is. He is. You know, that three days symposium and really that's the brainchild, Dr. Leonard Moore, who's done some extraordinary work here on campus and working with black males. Not just two athletes, but you know, he's helped to graduate more black PhDs, you know, than most of the programs in the country. And so the conference brought together athletic directors, academic advisors, professors from around the country who want to know how can we help our African-American athletes succeed. And although our Center's objective is really race neutral, we feel like, you know, when it comes to character reform, everybody needs it. It was interesting to be able to take part in that conference and learn, you know, what are some of the specific challenges that African-American students face. Now, when you look at the students, are you trying to have the student high school student evolve at the freshman year? Yes. And that's where if you think about the influences and

how much time, for example, students spend on social media and cell phones, we feel like the earlier the better. But we also want to be smart in terms of our approach. And so we're focusing on high school in the early stages of our development as a center. But the three and the five-year outlook in visions making interventions at the middle school level. And the coaches that will eventually bring on, you know, we will have multiple training sessions and certification programs. And we want to scale this out across the state. So perhaps partner with UT Dallas or UT San Antonio to where coaches in a specific region, whether they be middle school or high school coaches, can have access to the certification and training. To me, this sounds like a large endeavor. So how are you marrying this with your other responsibilities on campus? You know, I just don't sleep a lot of coughing. I have more Starbucks points. I

think that anybody else at the country right now. You know, it's really, it's my passion. And when President Powers and I started discussing this center, for me it was, it was, it wasn't a difficult decision for me to not coach next year because I feel like this center has the potential to make some macro level improvements in the way that we coach and lead our young men and women. So it's an ambitious proposal. But you know, if there isn't a better university that's situated to make this kind of interventions in Texas. And thinking back when I was in high school and in college. And I guess something got off track during those these last 30 or 40 years where academics was a given. You know, one had to be one academically eligible to participate. But there was emphasis on academics not putting all your eggs in one box ignoring that. Thinking that

you're going to take it to the next level to become a professional. How will you all going to articulate that to these young men and women knowing that the odds are greatly against them as becoming a professional athlete and really taking your education part of the student athlete. It's a challenge, you know, and you mentioned the point of this diversification. When I speak around the country on this topic, I say that we need to find a way to convert our student athletes from blackjack players, you know, double down type philosophy to hedge fund managers. And they need to understand if they have to diversify their portfolio when it comes to their career. And so stressing the numbers of how it's so improbable that they will ever make it. But also marrying the fact that it's not an either or proposition that you are either a good student or a good athlete. And I think that most most young people feel like they have to make a

decision. One of the other, but you can do both and you look at the Russell Wilson's, you look at my role, the Rhodes scholar from Florida State. You know, we're trying to bring both of those propositions together. And we we're making the argument that actually your academic success will help you on the field because so many of the lessons that you learn in the academic setting from management and coalition building. And those lessons are very valuable in the sports room. How important will the financial literacy portion of this of this project? It's critical. And we partner with UT Athletics in crafting a curriculum for freshman student athletes. So beginning this year, we will offer a class to the entire student body. But over the course of the year, we will have an overwhelming majority of the freshman student athletes at Texas in the class. And that class will be centered on two things. One, financial literacy and then

sound decision making. And we want to talk at a very basic level about savings techniques, credit card management, you know, diversification, just interest rates, the tenets of sound financial management. So that they can have some tools both to help them manage their finances in college, but then also to give them a framework to use once they leave the university. Another tenant of this center and the program is health awareness and questions and what have why is that significant? You know, I think it's important because it's altering and I point to concussions. You know, that conversation is altering participation rates in football. I mean, you're seeing those numbers go down. It's also altering the livelihood of athletes across the game. So you think women's soccer, high rate of concussions there. And it's an issue that we want to bring student athletes into the picture and into the discussion. Most of the time you

have academics or you have physicians talking about this phenomenon without the perspective of the student athlete, but we want to hear their stories like David Ash, like Clint Trickett and West Virginia quarterback who were tired. And so this is the forum. We're going to provide a forum for them to express, you know, their experiences from a health standpoint in the game. How has coach Strong's initiative towards the football program here at UT help assist you all in changing the culture and attitude? You know, coach Strong's his philosophy and it really does tell us with coach Brown's philosophy. If you look at the last 15 years of UT football, one consistent third has been that the man leading the team has been a man of integrity and has stressed that from the top down. And so I think the fact that the commissioner of the league visited one coach when he was really looking for ideas as it related to player discipline,

it does give UT an added credibility on this issue. And you know, we obviously are cheering for his success because we understand that coaches want to win games, right? You know, they'll they'll get fired or hired based on how many games they win. I'm a living example of that. So if he's able to win, which we know that he will be able to do that, then you'll see more coaches take that mentality and that philosophy and say, Hey, I can be I can take a hardline stance when it comes to character and win football game. It's not again, it's not a either or proposition. Dan Roberts, find the director for the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation at the University of Texas at Austin. If you have questions, comments or suggestions ask your future in Black America programs, email us at J Hanson H a N S O N at K U T dot O R G. Also, let us know what radio station you heard us over. The views and opinions expressed

on this program are not necessarily those of this station or the University of Texas at Austin. Remember to like us on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter. You can hear previous programs online at K U T dot O R G. Until we have the opportunity again for technical producer David Alvarez, I'm Johnny Ohan Sin Jr. Thank you for joining us today. Please join us again next week. CD copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in Black America CDs K U T radio 300 West Dean Keaton Boulevard Austin, Texas 78712. That's in Black America CDs K U T radio 300 West Dean Keaton Boulevard Austin Texas 78712. This has been a production of K U T radio.