Husky Roots, Black Excellence: Justin Glenn’s Path from Player to Player Development

In this heartfelt and insightful episode of the African Americans in Sport Podclass, host Dr. Alvin Logan Jr. reconnects with his former teammate and longtime friend, Justin Glenn—Director of the Big W Club & Engagement Programs at the University of Washington. Together, they explore Justin’s full-circle journey from playing safety for the Huskies to shaping the lives of student-athletes as a key leader within UW Athletics.

Justin shares how sports shaped his early life, what it meant to grow up attending Husky games, and how his on-field leadership transitioned into impactful roles behind the scenes—from recruiting to player development. The episode also dives into the realities of life after sport and how Justin found purpose through community engagement and mentorship. Whether you're a current athlete, a former player, or someone passionate about athlete development, this episode is full of wisdom, gratitude, and Black excellence in motion.

Transcript

So welcome, everybody. I want to welcome you again to another great episode of the African-Americans in Sport podcast. I am your host, Dr. Alvin Logan Jr., and I am excited to bring To you all today, to your ears, to your hearts, to your mind, one of my really good friends and colleagues, former teammate, Justin Glenn. Justin here was born in Washington State, Mochitea, Washington, correct? Actually born in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix? And raised in Mochitea, Washington. I moved there when I was like one years old, so yeah. Basically born, but I got some AV roots in me too. Arizona boy. I get it now. I get it. Make more sense now. It makes, I mean it a little bit. You know, we used to, we used to always talk about you coming from Mochiteo, you know, the Mochiteo streets. Yeah, I mean street of Mochiteo. You got it, man. But Justin here, as I explained, is a graduate of the University of Washington. He's got a degree in public relations, advertising, applied communications, as well as, you know, he played football while he was there. He was on scholarship, started in 2008, played safety for the Huskies for four years. Four and a half? Four years? Four years? Yeah, I registered. I was there for five. Yeah, I was there for five, but broke my leg the one year, so. Yeah. Another game. Another damn game. Yeah. Peace. As you can tell, we've got a bit of history. We know each other. I was a dirty boy for a little bit. It's called the DBs back then. Before I moved to linebacker. So Justin and I are pretty familiar with one another. And what I can say about Justin, just about our time in college is that he was a great friend. Also a really great athlete and someone that I looked up to just in terms of his work ethic. The way that he saw the game of football and the way that he lifted up his teammates. It's rare that you find somebody who's a leader like that, particularly somebody younger than you. As I was, it came in a year before Justin, but Understanding the leadership role that he stepped into, particularly on that defense, or the number of defenses that he played on, was nothing short of astonishing. So, wow. Yeah, 100%, man. Like, I always want to give you your flowers while I can because it's important that folks know the impact that they have to the people around them. You know what I mean? It's not always stated, but I definitely want to make sure you had them today. Yeah. As we go into the later parts of Justin's life, it's something called life after sports. And Justin had the amazing opportunity to try out for the Chiefs and to see what that was like while he was there and to see the life of an NFL player. And you know, as, as most folks, you know, we transitioned to something after sports and after sport, JG had a great opportunity to become a recruiting assistant. For the same football team he played for. So he began as an academic recruiting assistant, was promoted to assistant director of player personnel, Then became director of high school relations and later director of player development all with the same football team at UW. And most recently in his new role Which I am happy to report as director of the Big W Club in engagement programs in UW Athletics. Without further ado, I am going to turn this over to the man, myth, and the legend. Appreciate it. It's funny because I do a lot of community engagement and public speaking and all these different, you know, activations just in the greater Seattle area. Community, and this is the first podcast I've ever actually been on. so I'm looking forward to it. I listen to a lot of podcasts. and it's something that, you know, if we can, through our conversation, add value and Perspective to somebody else, you know, that might be able to gain something from that. Then I'm all about it. So, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm happy to be on here. I'm looking forward to it. And, uh, thanks for having me for sure. 100% man, I'm glad you can because I know you're busy, I know you got everything, family man, every kid, you're, you're, you're, Living a full life. so if you take time out of your day to day and to really just get into it with me and the African-Americans in sport pod class is nothing short of a blessing. So, Since we are about sports and African-American athletes, why don't you tell us how you first got involved in sports, whether that be football, basketball, the sports you played, how'd you first get involved? Yeah. Yeah, so I mean, thinking back to my childhood, sports was always a part of our household. Like, I have one brother, uh, one sister, I'm the oldest of three, and from literally my first memory of Like in general, it involves sports. And so whether that was baseball at a young age, soccer at a young age, basketball, flag football, we were always had sports on the TV. So it was really just a part of my upbringing. and. You know, probably could say some of my competitiveness comes from that. but then as I got older, right, as you mature and you, and you grow up. The picture kind of started to become a little more clear in terms of where my future might be and how I could utilize sport, you know, as an avenue, as a way to Provide opportunities for my academics and my career and all that sort of thing. And so when I got to high school, I really, really focused on football and basketball. I also ran track just because I thought maybe that would make me a little bit faster. I only did that for like two years, but football and basketball were really the big two. Um, and I actually grew up Coming to Husky football games. I had a, one of my best friends and throughout middle school and high school, his dad was a long time season ticket holder. and so they always would have an extra ticket and they would bring me, we would, Hop on I-5, cruise down, grab a Dick's cheeseburger and a strawberry steak, right? And they go to the game. And so that's really what planted the seed of what UW football was. Um, and it's something that looking back at that, it was like, wow, that really From a, from a young fan to then progressing, progressing and becoming a recruit, right? Sophomore year is when I received my scholarship offer was after my sophomore year before my junior season. You know, and then to become a player there and then an alum and a staff member, um. I would have never thought that all of that would have come from choosing the University of Washington, but as a, as a young kid coming to those games and growing up, like, that's all I wanted to do was to be At University of Washington, there was really no other colleges that if they were to offer me, I would have considered. So for me, like, the second I got that offer, I was like, I'm in, you know? And granted, looking back at those times, UW wasn't even that good in the mid-2000s, you know? It's, it's the truth of it, you know, but for me, it was something that I knew I wanted that for my future and I knew that in order to get that, I had to get good grades. Right? Like, that is something that people would, you know, constantly say to me, my coaches, my parents, my family. It was like, hey, you have the ability, but If you don't have the grades, then you won't be presented that opportunity. And so it actually just so happened that the game that, so Tyrone Willingham, right, who was When we first got here, he was the coach. He and the defensive back coach and I think the defensive coordinator came to one of my games. My junior year after I had received the offer that previous summer at a camp and I didn't even know they were coming to the game, but it just so happened that I had probably my best game of my high school career. Took back the opening kickoff for a touchdown. That first quarter had a, had a pick six, had four touchdowns in the first half, right? And so like, I didn't even know That they were there, but I'm glad that I had that game as sort of my, you know, marquee one because then from then it was like they were all about trying to get me to be at UW. Little did they know that I was All about trying to be at UW. And so it just, you know, it worked out very well in that regard. Got here in 2008, Obviously that year we went 0-12. So zero wins is rough. That was my redshirt year. I didn't play, but I was, you know, in that locker room as were you. And now that I have the perspective that I do looking back, it wasn't that we didn't have good players on that team. Right. There was plenty of guys that had, you know, multiple year NFL careers, but I would just say That that locker room was very divided. Looking back at it, it didn't seem like we were all coming together no matter where you were from or what you looked like. It was, it looked like a high school lunchroom in the, in the locker room. You had all the Polynesian boys on one corner, then you had all the country white boys, and you had all the inner city LA bruh, you know, so it was just like very divided, and we weren't uniform, we weren't together, and so that was definitely a learning experience, and then, you know, Coach Sarkeesian came in 2009, and Away we went. I was able to go to three bowl games my last three years, which was awesome. But yeah, man, that's kind of just how I, you know, got to UW. It was for me a no brainer, but something that I'm very appreciative of in terms of that scholarship offer and the opportunity. That was presented to me. Yeah. He talked a lot about the allure. Obviously, you know, growing up here, the purple and the gold is really the only thing that people recognize. It's even on the western side of the state, so I completely understand that. You mentioned something I think that's also important to note here. You talked about grades, right? Grades in high school and that you got to keep your grades up. How was your transition from High school and academic and athletic piece in high school, then to moving over into college. And particularly, I mean, you talked about athletic, but the academic part, how was that? Yeah, the academic side. Yeah. The academic side for me was honestly pretty smooth because while the courses and the material, you know, was, was harder in terms of the workload, you know, the depth of reading and annotating things. You know, text and all these different things that maybe I didn't get into that level in high school. The academic support in college for a student athlete sets you up for success. So the way I kind of looked at it was like, hey, if I can just put forth the effort and then some that I was doing in high school, I felt, you know, like my abilities academically... I could succeed. I could reach my goals in terms of my GPA, but the only time that people really failed is when they didn't try or when they didn't give effort, you know, and, and so I would say that The academic support was a big part of it. The effort and the attitude when attacking academics also helped. You know, the Summer Bridge Class Elite program really helped set the expectation for, hey, once you start these classes in the fall, This is what it's going to be like, you know, and, and that was a intense, intensive in terms of just the workload. And, and going back to the dorm, it was like the summer before you really start school and start fall camp. You know, a lot of colleges majority have these summer bridge courses that help prepare all the student athletes, not just football for what they can expect come, you know, the, the, Their first full quarter or term or, you know, semester, whatever it is. So that was helpful living in the dorm, getting to know your peers and that sort of thing, but also understanding like, man, this is not easy. You have to put in the effort. So I was able to get off on a good start, you know, my freshman year in terms of school and also you go from high school having You know, six classes or whatever to now at a quarter school at UW, you're taking half that. And so you're just, you're just hitting those credits. And so you can really Focus in and they had tutoring available for every class, which was, you know, very helpful, but it's only helpful if you utilize those resources. Right. And that's something that I speak now a lot to the student athletes. Just all of these resources that are around you are there for a reason. Right. They're there to help. You succeed in whatever it is that you're trying to do. So if I wouldn't have or if other people don't utilize those resources, then you're doing yourself a disservice because once you move on and you and you graduate and you're in the real world. It's not all tee up for you like that, you know? So yeah, just taking advantage of the resources and giving my best effort set me up for success for sure. Academically speaking. So beyond, you know, the academic piece and utilizing the resources that are, you know, in front of you and. Yeah. Yeah. All the throws and the ups and downs you went through in college career from injury to, like you said, the 0-12 season to making the first bowl game to, you know, the successes, the high points. Yeah. Some of the things looking back on, on your career or really academically, personally, professionally that you carry with you today. Mm. Yeah, that's a great question. And honestly, I could probably write a 20-page essay on that question in terms of my response because there's so many things looking back that I've carried with me throughout my professional journey. In terms of prioritizing those and kind of what's at the top, I would say just having the ability to overcome obstacles and adversity when it strikes. Realizing that, hey, you can't control everything in your life. Stuff will happen to you that you have no control of. And being able to be present in that situation and say, hey, here's what I can control. Right. So controlling what you can just in terms of your response to those situations. Right. Like things will happen. It's not what happens to you. It's how you respond to those that will determine the outcome. Right. And the direction that you will head from that. And so a lot of times, you know, things happen and people just, you know, kind of shut down and maybe it's like, hey, you don't want to have that tough conversation or you don't want to do a certain thing. So for me, like, man. That year, my redshirt freshman year, three major life events happened that really, you know, I haven't even spoke about all of this a lot, but in a span of six months, you know, as a redshirt freshman in college, granted, I was, I Started the first four games of that season, five games really of that season at safety. And in a span of six months, I broke my leg. Right, to all the ligaments in my leg, in my ankle, I should say. My parents got divorced, right, which I was out of the house, but I had my two younger siblings were still in high school. So that was, you know, obviously tough on them, tough on me too, but being the mature one and a little bit older and Off at college, you know, I handled that how I did and then my son Julian was born, right? So, like, that's three major things that happened in a band of six months as a nice 20-year-old, you know, young man. And so obviously I was struggling with things and dealing with things and leaning on my family and my faith to help get me through that. That was a lot, you know, and so now that I've gone through those sort of situations and, you know, things also came up along the road, but Now, when, when stuff shakes down or something happens that people think is a big deal, but I'm just like, look, what are the solutions? How can we handle this? Right? Because again, you can't control everything that happens to you, but Your response to those situations determines your outcome. So that's definitely one thing that I've kept with me. I would say just generally speaking, like teamwork. And ability to be a good team player, right? Like no matter what organization you work for, you want to be a good teammate to whoever it is that you're working with, right? And so with that comes Communication skills and being able to communicate with different types of people, right? Because everybody's different, everybody kind of sees things different, but to be able to have the ability to, like in a locker room, As a coach, right, like, I had, I had two head coaches, I had four, Four defensive coordinators and three different position coaches in five years, right? So you get, so for me, like initially when I, I did want to coach, I thought that's what I wanted to do whenever I was done playing. I was able to see all their different styles and what worked and what didn't work and how they communicated to all these different student athletes, you know, who are all different. If you can find those common threads. And so I would say that's another thing I've kept with me is just the ability to communicate effectively to different types of people. Now, nowadays, I'll go speak to a room full of, you know, donors that are Upwards of fifty years old or speak at a student athlete graduation reception or whatever it is, as long as you understand your target audience and what it is, your message that you're trying to get across. I would say that's another thing is, is teamwork and communication. And then the last thing I'll touch on is just the importance of holding yourself accountable, right? Like as a student athlete, as a, as a young adult. There are people obviously that are gonna hold you accountable. Not everybody has their parents to do that growing up, right? But teachers, coaches, mentors, people who are in your life that are holding you accountable, well, eventually you're gonna get to a point where if you're not holding yourself accountable, Then the progress that you, you know, could be making in terms of reaching your potential is going to be sort of minimized and reduced and you're not going to make the progress, you know, that maybe you would hope for yourself, but if you're letting yourself slip and get away with things, Like, nobody else is going to hold you accountable at a certain point in your life. So it's on you to do that. And when I think back to like how that, you know, speaks to a student athlete, you know, it's like, hey, I want to be the most prepared. Whether that's for a meeting or for a practice or for a game, right? Like being prepared, working hard, understanding like, hey, what you eat matters. Like take care of your body. There's so many different things as a student athlete that you don't only think about because you're young and you're You know, just in the mix. But then as they fast forward and it's like, all right, well now those however many calories that I was eating as a tuna, I can't do that no more. I'm gonna be walking around here at 300 pounds. You know, and so yeah, just holding yourself accountable, I think is another thing that I definitely have kept and kind of carried on with me throughout my journey. You know, you get out what you put in, right? Like there's no shortcut to success. Okay. There's no elevator to success. You got to take the stairs no matter how high you're trying to go. So you got to put the work in if you want the results, no matter what field you're working in or what space you're, you know, trying to, trying to thrive in. Absolutely. I think you're, you're providing. Great examples of what I was saying in the beginning, right? Your mind frame, particularly as a leader, was a lot more solid than all of us in college because of the things you, because of that adversity that you faced, because of Your mental fortitude and your choice to really figure solutions out, particularly at that phase of your life, it, it showed. Right. It was, it was something that folks would come to you and say, JG, I need this. Like, you know, JG, how do you do this? How do you do that? Like, where do I get tutoring from? And, you know, being that kind of person, particularly on the teams that you were on, it was, it was invaluable. It was invaluable. And you could, you could tell by the amount of people that are around you that are doing great things in there like now. So I, yeah, appreciate you for sharing that. I mean, it's interesting too, because having a son in college, right? Like that right there alone is, Made me, in terms of my self-awareness, like, look, I can't be necessarily out doing all the things that everybody else is doing. Like, I gotta, I gotta mature sort of at a different rate and I've got responsibilities now that 95% of the team doesn't have. You know what I mean? So I think that definitely helped me just in terms of Kind of feeding up the process of me making certain decisions that I knew I had to make. But also, like, I've always just been in the business of helping other people. Like, for me, that gives me a sense of fulfillment. Yeah. and so if I am able to, you know, help out somebody, whether it's big or small, like in my eyes, that's a win. So that just kind of speaks to, you know, I think. My time at UW, but also just throughout my, my career, that's always sort of been at the center of what keeps me going. In that, in that similar vein, how was your transition from being on the field, playing the sport, then moving into, as you said, coaching and the administrative level of the sport? How was that transition? So, I know you touched on it, so I did, you know, I had a Cup of copy in the league with the Chiefs. Went out as an undrafted free agent. I did fine with them 2012, but Then it ended up getting hurt again and eventually released. And so when that happened, like my agent was trying to get me to keep playing, you know, he's like, hey, there's these opportunities to go to these different teams and continue, you know, trying out and this and that and go to Canada and I just knew it was my time to commit to the transition, right? And so I think a lot of my sort of career trajectory I can, I can attribute to the fact that I didn't necessarily like live in that gray area of, oh, I think I want to, you know, You know, make the transition, but also I kind of want to play. I was like, no, look, my body's been beat up. I've had all these concussions. I got, you know, a kid. I got family. Like, I knew that it was time. Now, the interesting thing is I had no idea what that would look like because I actually, as I mentioned, thought that I wanted to coach. My senior year, my last year, my redshirt freshman year at UW, I was working with Justin Wilcox, Coach Wilcox, who Is now at Cal, but he was our defensive coordinator that season. And, you know, him in the defensive staff, like I was almost like a graduate assistant as a player. I had already graduated. So that fall, I really only had one class to take. I'm sorry, I had, I, the way that they set it up, I only needed five credits to graduate, so with that being the case, I only had to take one class in my last fall as a student athlete, so that gave me time and the ability to Work on playbook design and coach up the young guys on understanding the terminology of the defense and how things are different, you know, from high school to college. So I kind of like started getting the wheels turning a little bit in terms of coaching with that staff. And so when I got done, I, you know, I reached out to Sarkeesian and I'm like, hey, you know, my, my playing days are coming to an end. I'm looking to make the transition. I would love to, you know, have the opportunity to be a graduate assistant, which for those that don't know, every single school football program has 4G8, two on defense, two on defense, and two on offense. So that's what I wanted to do. That's what I thought I was going to do. And he said, look, if you volunteer, For the rest of the season, this was, this was the 2013 at this point season. He said, if you volunteer with about halfway through the season, maybe a little before that, but we probably had like six to eight games left. He's like, then I'll, I'll slot you into that GA spot for the following season. I'm like, okay, cool. Like, perfect. Well, at the end of that 2013 season, Stark, that's when he took the USB job as the head coach over there. So, I'm sitting here like, man, I just spent However long it was, half a year, longer, almost a full year, volunteering, unpaid, putting in my time, thinking like this is what's going to come from it, and he leaves. So that was pretty wild because that was really my first time not being a student athlete and playing like a coaching transition and sort of how that impacts. So many people and there was a, it was an interesting time because here I am unpaid. I'm still buzzing around the office trying to, you know, do what needs done, help out where I can, but A lot of people's doors were closed because they're, you know, kind of fine jobs and they got families and they might have to move. They don't know if Stark's going to bring them to USC or whatever it was. So just a very kind of. You know, crazy times. And then they hired Coach Peterson. We hired Coach Pete from Boise State, right? Came in. Well, his first year was 2014, but he obviously got here prior to the season starting. And I went to him and I'm like, hey, Look, here's sort of who I am, what I'm about. You know, my experience, I just got done playing a little over a year ago. And at first, he's like, I don't, you know, I don't have a job for you. I appreciate, you know, your passion and this and that. But he did help me get a job at the College of Idaho, which is a small school in Caldwell. It's like thirty minutes outside of Boise. So I interviewed for that, got the DB job and went out there. Like I was out there for a couple of weeks. Peterson had talked to coach Wilcox, who he worked with previously, a couple other people on the staff, and apparently they said some things about me because coach Deke called me and was like, hey, I got a job for you. Right. And I, I was out of that little town so quick and I, oh boy, that was out and came back. And that's when 2014, I started as a program assistant, you know, as you mentioned in the intro and, and really what my job was is. To check the classes of the, of the football student athletes to hold them accountable, make sure they were going to class, which I thought was funny at first. Cause you know, we would get class checked from, from Cisco and we all knew how that whole system went. Right. But it was that and it was to help out with recruiting, right? When kids come on visits, I would give them tours and talk to them about the program and all that sort of thing. And then just, you know, daily off is packed. But One of the things that had really stuck with me is when Coach Pete first hired me and sat me down and explained to me what my job was going to look like. I told him, I said, look, I understand that this is not The most important stuff in the world, but I will, you have my word that I will do this to the best of my ability. And he was like, time out. He said. I want you to look at this role, not just as a job, but like, these are your responsibility. Break them down. These are your responsibilities. If you handle these responsibilities, then you will continue to get more responsibilities. Right. And with that, you will continue to grow within the organization. He said, if I don't show up to work him as the head coach, he's like, I need to know that. You and you and you and you are going to handle your responsibilities to keep this place going. But if you don't show up to work, who's going to hold these kids accountable in the classroom and with academics and who's going to do these recruiting tours and whatever. So hearing that sort of messaging from the head coach Totally change and put things into perspective for me because I wasn't used to that way of organizational structure. The head coach is basically saying that his job is equally as important to me as a program assistant and somebody, you know what I mean? But the way that he shaped that really kind of frames how I view My job then and my job now. It's like, these are my responsibilities. I got to give these everything I have. And with that, if you handle that business, you will continue to get more because all that is, is creating impact. It's not what you say, it's what you do. It's not what if people can hear you, it's if they can feel you. And so just that whole sort of conversation and getting started with Coach Pete really is what Opened my eyes not only to the growth potential within football at UW in terms of the roles, but also just all the different jobs that are available in. A football program at the, at the college level. I didn't know as a, as a student athlete that there was a full. Creative and marketing and video production and operations. And there's just so many different jobs that I didn't know because I wasn't exposed to all of those. But once I was, that's when I really started exploring and understanding, okay, look, I did realize eventually that, you know what, I don't wanna coach. I wasn't into the lifestyle of if a coach gets fired or a coach leaves, everybody's life is uprooted and you gotta go, you know, move your family and this and that. So having the ability to create some job security While still working with the student athletes and impacting their lives and helping them in multiple ways was something that intrigued me. And so that's the path I went. I committed to it. I started out as a program assistant. Like you said, I did go to Recruiting and kind of player personnel route. So roster management and scouting evaluation. I was watching a ton of film. Working with really all the coaches, but was able to progress kind of in that lane, eventually then transitioning over to the director of player development, which we didn't have that position as a staff member when we were in college. And so it's a job that Coach Peterson actually created for me in 2018 when he saw, I was like, man, like, you're doing all this recruiting stuff, but you're also doing all this stuff that's Facing our current student athletes and helping them transition into college and get connected with former, you know, players and people in the business community for Internships and job shadowing and just professional development type stuff. And so that right there is when he created that job and it was, it was Really cool because we were one of the first colleges to have a player development position. Now, pretty much all colleges do the NFL. They have player engagement, which is similar coach up the rookies on. Taxes and buying a house and all the different, you know, things that come outside of football with being in that position. And so I took that as a, as an awesome opportunity and ran with it. So that's kind of the transition and how, and how that played out for me personally. Is it anything about your path? I mean, you talked about a number of different ways that you can be involved in sport around sport, a number of different role ads. Saw when you're on the other side. Is there anything about your path to director of player development as we're talking about now that you would change? You know, when I was, Young in my professional career, I was just grinding, right? I was doing anything and everything to the point where I was getting pulled in a ton of different directions because I had the institutional knowledge. I had the relationships with the academic staff and the people on campus. Had the relationships with the alumni and that network, you know, grew over those years. But getting to know all of them, you know, really is what set me up. To capitalize on the opportunity to be in the job I am now as the big W director, right? But I guess if looking back at it, one of the things that I didn't know then that I, that I do know now is Having the ability to quantify the impact that you're making. Create systems where you can measure the success. Because like I said, I was, I was in the trenches with the player. I'm talking about boots on the ground. Like they would hit me up for anything and everything, which I love that. I was able to establish that level of trust with those guys. I was there with, From the time that they were recruited to the time they got there to the time that they graduated and, you know, got drafted. But I didn't. Truly understand like, okay, down the road, I'm going to need some way to put this on paper in terms of a resume, in terms of just exemplifying the impact that I've had. So I didn't know that. And that would be one thing looking back like, man, I wish I I did have some sort of system that I created for myself to measure that impact where it was objective, like not just, oh, yeah, here's all the cool relationships I've built and stuff like that. But other than that, man, I really don't have any regrets. Just a lot of learning lessons, you know. There's always something to learn. There's always something different you could do. If good isn't good enough, they're going to always be better. I think that was- For sure. For sure. Well, and that's, that honestly is, I will say, Alvin, I didn't really touch on Coach Pete much, but the impact that he had, not only- On the football program, but on the individuals within, it's something that, man, I... That dude is one of the greatest leaders of people that I've ever been around. It doesn't matter if he's coaching a football team or running a Fortune 500 company. It's going to be successful because of the leader that he is. And so he was really able to get that buy-in from everybody, establish a culture where, again, it felt very lateral. Felt like their job was just as important which then you get more of an output from each individual no matter what their job truly is. And to me, that's why we were able to go to the CFP in 2016 after only a couple years of him being there because he got that buy-in and people were, you know, improving at a rapid rate. Not just the players. I'm talking about the academic support staff. I'm talking about the coaches and the coordinators and the recruiting assistants. Everybody was fully bought into the direction that the program was headed. And so something that, you know, he was always talking about just being in a constant state of growth and improvement. You might put on an event that's awesome. Okay, cool. What are we doing next year to make it better? We're removing the needle. I will be creating a space that people are coming to that they know like, man, I'm going to get something out of this. So just that sort of mindset, you know, and just coach Pete, man, I talked to him. That dude is, is a special individual. So I'm very grateful for my time that I had with him. Looking from the outside in, you could tell something was different. Yup. said to the rest of the world that, hey, I'm, I'm, I'm about culture. I'm about people. I'm about relationships. And I think that you took that in very well and, and, and ran. Yeah. Well, and a lot of people talk about that. A lot of coaches, a lot of leaders, they talk about culture. Well, what is culture, right? Like, like that's a question to ponder within any organization, like. And, and the thing that coach Pete would always do is he had a way of Creating his own definitions for things that were so simple and easy to understand and digest. But in all actuality, these were complex. Right? Like, he would say the culture is the oil to any organization. Right? Like, you've got all these Like, you know, wheels that are, that are trying to turn, right? Well, what's going to make those turn? It's the oil that's greasing all those up, right? You can't really see it, but you see the, the, the, the end result. And so. What else would he say? He would say culture is shared beliefs, thoughts that determine your actions. Shared beliefs and thoughts that determine your actions. And so it's just those little things that have stuck with me. I know those have stuck with a lot of other people too. It's players. Staff, all that sort of thing, so. You can tell the relationship that you and him had and his tutelage and the different, you know, are impactful today. I mean, obviously. For sure. You light up when you talk about the lessons and the tidbits that he would give to you. And that's a beautiful thing. And the fact that you get a chance now to turn around and do that and have done it for a number of years, I think is just as impactful. And try to pass a lot of those things I've learned on to the next generation. These lessons, I got a notebook just full of golden nuggets that when I meet with these student athletes, depending on their situation, I'll try to give them advice and insight based upon my experiences that hopefully can help them. On their journey. One of the major things I hear jumping out of everything you're saying is relationships. You know, it, not everybody's good at. And I think that it's a good segue, particularly on the relationship tip to talk about your current role. Can you just describe for us Obviously we, we know, we talked about what the role is. Can you describe what you do? What is your day to day? You know, what is, who's the, the director at a big W club? Yep. For those that don't know, Every college has a letter winner club for all their former student athletes who letter and then go on their way. So really my job is to restore. And strengthen the connection with the former huddy student athlete. Like that's what I'm trying to do. I'm building relationships. I'm. You know, recognizing former players for the impact that they had while they were at UW and beyond. I'm connecting former student-athletes with current student-athletes. Right. Who might be in a field of tech or firefighting or whatever it is for professional development opportunity. And honestly, I'm just an ambassador for the University of Washington Athletics. Like, I mentioned that, you know, I'll, I, I'll go speak at different events. I'll go speak at, you know, I just last week, I spoke at a fraternity Founders Day celebration because they wanted somebody from Utah Athletics. Well, I got a lot of perspective, so I came in there and just provided them because there's been a lot of change since 2008, my freshman year, just in the landscape of college athletics. And so on a day-to-day basis, man, every day looks different. And that's what I love about my job is I knew that I couldn't be somebody that is just stuck behind a computer all day. Now there's obviously you got to have some skills working on a computer and be able to deliver on certain items and things. And you're going to a board meeting. You got to have a briefing document and all the different things. There's that part of it, but. On a day-to-day basis, I could be today, you know, I'm doing this right now. Then I'm interviewing a potential graduate assistant that might be joining RPs. And then after that, I got a call with Chris Smith, who is our rep at Athlete Network, which is the platform that we utilize to streamline all the communication out to the alumni on events and tickets and anything that we need to do. So on that front. And then we have our, this is a Hall of Fame year for us. So every other year we end up six to eight former student athletes into the Husky Hall of Fame. So I've got a Hall of Fame meeting that will be a homecoming weekend that we do that in October. And then I got a, I'm going over to football to meet with Cam Ilifara. Cam filled my previous role as director of player development with football and is doing an amazing job, which is awesome to see sort of how that started and how that role has grown over the years. But I'm going to meet with him on a project that we're working on. So again, like every day looks different, but a lot of it is planning alumni reunions and recognition, you know, pieces, just building relationships. Being intentional with the relationship as well because it's one thing to just have a conversation with somebody and then the next week you forgot what their name was, right? But intentional relationship building I think is key to expanding your network. And so that is something that I try to live by with the relationship that I'm building. I will say one of the coolest things about moving over from working specifically in Football, which I did for ten years and transitioning to my role now is the relationships that I've been able to create, establish relationships. And just capitalize upon when it comes to all the other sports because I wasn't, I didn't have a lot of touch points with women's basketball and softball and soccers and, you know, I mean, all these different sports when I was working in football and so, Even just what part of why I made the transition was, you know, I felt like I wanted a new challenge. I felt like I wanted to try to take what I've learned and the growth that I've had in the football, you know, sort of staff. And then expand that and apply that elsewhere to try to create more impact. And so that has been a really cool part of this new role is getting to know all those different Staff members, the different alumni hearing their stories, understanding like, hey, you haven't been back to an alumni reunion in fifteen years. Why is that? So just the exploration phase, the first year I was in this role, I was really just trying to understand where are we at? Where do we need to go? Where are the holes? Where are the areas of opportunity that we can really move the needle on? But yeah, that's, I mean, that's just kind of a little snapshot at my job now. It's fun, man. I enjoy it. Just connecting the dots. I'll speak to, you know, one of the things this past year that I was able to have a small hand in, but Honestly, it had a huge impact was about, it was last, early last spring, Hank Johnson was a former football student athlete. He played defensive line. Him and I have gotten to know each other pretty well over the years. He hit me up like, hey man, one of our brothers needs help. I'm like, okay, talk to me. And Nate Robinson needed a kidney transplant. Kidney was failing. And Nate knew tank from their time. And I think they've stayed in touch. But Hank reached out to me because he knew that I was in a position to help amplify that. And so we worked with our game day marketing team and last year at the spring game, we actually Had previously connected with Nate's doctors at UW Medicine to figure out what is the blood specific blood type that he needs, you know, in terms of a match that for a potential donor. And all these different things. And so we put up a QR code with a message and tanked it a voiceover at the spring game. So it went, you know, in front of everybody that was there. And sure enough, just. A couple weeks back, Nate got his kidney transplant and come to find out the dude that was his donor scanned that QR code at the spring game. And so like that just goes to speak upon the Husky network. And part of, you know, why I love doing what I'm doing because it's not, like, I'm not trying to take any recognition for that, but deep down it fills my cup knowing that, okay, the position that I'm in able to give back to UW was able to help Nate Robb. In a way that was pretty cool to see, man. So, you know, just little stories like that. Different projects and things that we're working on. It's cool to see when those things come full circle. That is amazing. And I imagine many of our listeners know about what the situation with Nate Robinson in the kidney. Yeah. Yet if they don't, they do now. And they have a bit More understanding of just how strong Husky Network is and how many folks really appreciate and love you go. And that's uh, it's amazing to hear, particularly from somebody that's on the inside that had a hand in Connecting the folks and that's your role. And that's, that's exactly, you know, a lot of folks like there are a lot of folks that are, are playing in the arenas on the fields that are greater relationships. Yet they don't know what it looks like to apply that, particularly outside of sport. Yeah. You know, and, and still having proximity, you know, to sport. And for a lot of those folks, just figuring out a path, particularly one like yours is intriguing. Yeah. You know, it's like they would have never thought of, they didn't know existed. Yeah, it could definitely be something for them. And you know, we see those types of folks. You know, all the time, every single year, at least, at least one freshman is like that. That you get to, okay, you're, you're, you're good at building relationships. You're good at talking to people. Yeah. You're good at connecting people. And that's a skill set that is, is widely usable and not just in athletics, but a lot of places. 100%. How would you, if you were to set up a plan or if you were to, you know, devise or put together some kind of structure, how would you get more folks that look like me and you to obtain roles like yours? Honestly, We just need to, and I say we, but collegiate athletics in general, right, or sports and entertainment in general will Need to do a better job of, of exposure and awareness. I don't think that a lot of people know of all the jobs that are available within a collegiate athletic department. Like there's marketing, there's sales, there's fundraising, there's HR, there's kicketing. There's merchandise, you know what I mean? There's so many different lanes within athletics and there's so few people who are in the know on what those lanes are. And so, you know, more stuff like this. Anybody that's listening, I hope that this sparks some curiosity for you if you are interested in working in sports, right? Because speaking to my career, like, I've tried to stay curious. When I was exploring in football and learning all those different roles, and I found that curiosity has really been a catalyst for growth, right? Trying to understand like, okay, well, what does that look like? What does this look like? And if there's somebody in your network who is in a position that you maybe would want to be in one day. Right? Like, pick their brain if you're able to. Try to get connected with them. The best way to be successful is to learn what other successful people did to get to where they're at. Right? And again, everybody's path is different, but Speaking to your question, yeah, I mean, I think we just got to get the word out more and if people are interested, you know, there needs to be a place For folks to feel comfortable reaching out and inquiring about those jobs and just understanding, not necessarily looking to get hired right away, but it's the same thing for any industry. A lot of student athletes who I talk to think that if you work in tech, you have to be a computer scientist, software engineer. That's not, my brother-in-law been working for Amazon for ten plus years in sales and probably couldn't write any type of code if he wanted to. But there's just a lot, I think, of work to do in terms of the exposure and education around the different types of roles that are available. Again, That's why I'm happy to come on here with you because I hope that this can spark some curiosity in a young man or woman who is interested in working in sports but doesn't necessarily know where to start or Who to talk to. There's a lot to learn, man. And you can, and you can go online too. Like people got to do their own research, go onto the website of the athletic department and look, you can see the full directory and it'll, it's broken down by each team within, you know, the, the greater staff. So, yeah, that's probably, you know, what I would say to that. Those are all things that may be common sense to somebody like you and me, obviously on the other side looking at it, but it's a whole world of possibilities that somebody didn't know it existed. For sure. There's beauty in that. And I would be remiss before we got off here if I didn't mention that you and I had a great chance back last summer to take a trip to Ghana, West Africa. Take a chance to speak on that from your perspective. I'll touch on it because for me personally, that was one of the If not the greatest just learning experiences of my life, you know, being able to go out to West Africa Which my best friend is from there. His parents born and raised and even having the opportunity, I know it was a little bit of a side mission, but to take the student athlete to their home that they just finished building for me was special. Many, many, many takeaways from that trip. I would say the biggest thing is just perspective of what to be grateful for. Gratitude is something that If you aren't cognizant about what you're grateful for, it's easy to be ungrateful for things in your actions and being out there And playing soccer in the rain with these kids and literally we're playing soccer on a basketball court in the pouring rain With a flat ball and no goals, but these kids were having the time of their life. And just seeing that level of joy and seeing the way that folks were interacting with each other, man, that left a lasting imprint on me. My wife, it was funny. I mean, you know, we obviously talked about the trip, but she was like, man, you, you've been like very, very positive since you got back from, from Africa. And like, it wasn't even something I was necessarily thinking about, but it was just that trip and how it impacted me moving forward put a lot of things into perspective. And it was also very, very last thing I'll say is it was super cool to experience that with the student athlete because I think that took all of our relationships and just to another level. In terms of that shared experience that we all had and going to those slave dungeons and going through the river and going to the market and just experiencing what life is like in Ghana and then coming back to the U.S. And, you know, having no chair experiences definitely created a bond. I think that will last a long, long time. So it was, man, it was super cool. I was so grateful for that. To be honest with you, I'm plotting on the next trip back. So, Whatever you got up your sleeve the rest of your weekend. We'll figure it out. The beauty of it is when there's time in between, there's more desire to do it, but then also get different student-athletes, different mindsets, different experiences. That being their first time traveling abroad, let alone to the continent. It was just amazing to see the, like you said, perspective. Yeah. With changes and how, you know, you look at the world there and you only have the lens of the United States and then you come back here and your lens of which you view the United States is completely. For sure. For sure. And it was also cool learning about just the history, right, of that, not only that country, but that region and just, man, it was, it was amazing. So, yeah, that was incredible. We're coming down to the end of our time here, so I do want to ask you, do you have any concluding thoughts for anybody, any of our listeners? For those who are trying to figure it out, Or will be trying to figure it out down the road. Maybe you're a sophomore in college and you know what degree you want to get, but you don't necessarily know what you want to do with that degree. I'm a big proponent of following what you're passionate about your career. Will be a roller coaster, you know, unless you want to be an orthopedic surgeon like our boy Greg, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, he committed to it, he put in the time, the sacrifice, all that, that's great, but I would argue that the majority of folks maybe don't have that particular field that they know they want to pursue. And that can be intimidating. You know, if you, if you, you know, maybe what you like. And maybe what some of your skills are. But it's a lot of jobs. There's a lot of opportunity. There's a lot of different directions you can go. How do you commit to one thing? Follow your heart. There, when it is, when it does come time to get a job and make that transition, in my eyes, like, there's no opportunity that's too small if it's something that you want to do. As long as you can get a foot in that door and the opportunity is there, that's what matters. Then, okay, you got the opportunity. What are you going to do with it? That is sort of my thought process is follow your heart. Once you get that opportunity, you got to make the most of it. So in order to make the most of it, you got to know who you are. What are you bringing to the table? Performer student athlete. I always speak to all these transferable skills that they are developing throughout their, you know, athletic career that they don't even realize those are going to be the same skills that they're utilizing to make a difference in their professional journeys. So having the ability to identify and apply those transferable skills to whatever space that you're in. When I talk about transferable skills, like I'm talking everything from preparation, communication, leadership, teamwork. Time management, these are things that you apply those tools that you've been sharpening over the past, you know, your collegiate Career, you apply those in the working world, you're going to have a competitive advantage and even just the competitive sort of mindset and attitude of a, of a student athlete. I know not everybody's student athletes, but I think people can learn from what Their experiences have been and find what those things are, those transferable skills and apply those to whatever it is that you do. And then just be proactive when you get time to make that transition. Be proactive, not reactive. Like, you are in control of your own life. Not everything that happens to you, but like I mentioned initially, how you respond to those situations. So Just being proactive, building intentional relationships, taking an opportunity and understanding, look, this is what I got. I'm gonna make the most of it. And then sky's the limit from there. It's on you to chase that impact. Don't always chase the money. If you can create impact, the money's gonna come. That's a result of the impact that you're making. So, yeah, that's just kind of a last little wrap-up two cents, you know. Stay true to yourself, too. Golly, like, In this day and age with all the social media and this and that, and I'm guilty of this too, right? Like you just scroll in on the timeline and you naturally are going to compare yourself or what you're doing to other people's situation. Well, That is gonna do you no good. Guess what? I'm not saying don't have social media, but don't be on there comparing other people to your situations because that's not you. So if you can stay true to who you are and what you're about and what you're passionate about and use that as your North Star to kind of Lead your, you know, path in, in your professional career. That'll be a lot more effective than trying to make a carbon copy of what so-and-so is doing because they went viral and now they got all this and that. So yeah, just staying true to who you are. And then, you know, all of the other points I just mentioned would be kind of my last little two cents. Appreciate that, man. Wise word implies man. I appreciate that. I want to thank all the listeners for taking out one of the newest episodes. Appreciate you, Alvin. Appreciate you.