Gary Stokan | CEO and President | Peach Bowl, Inc. - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
Release Date: 01/07/2026
Leon Costello | Director of Athletics | Montana State University - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
Question: How can an athletics director build and sustain a championship‑level athletic department in the Great Plains? Montana State Director of Athletics, Leon Costello, discusses presidential leadership transitions on campus, the strategic growth of the athletic department, and how aligned support for athletics drives institutional success. Costello explains how strategic planning, investment in student‑athlete support staff, and revenue growth have fueled competitive success, culminating in a football national championship and a strong departmental culture. He also reflects on coach...
info_outline
Yogi Roth | Analyst | Big Ten Network - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
Question: What matters most in how we develop student-athletes? College football analyst challenges administrators to see athletes not as transactions or brands, but as **human** stories whose mental skills and identity must be developed as intentionally as their physical talent. He argues that in today’s NIL and transfer-portal era, alignment on “what matters most” from the president to the graduate assistant is the only sustainable way to support coaches, protect athletes' mental health, and keep sport rooted in purpose rather than purely in revenue. - Mental performance is...
info_outline
Ed Kull | VP/Director of Athletics | St. John's University - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
@1QLeadership Question: How are athletic departments incorporating pro sports operating principles while protecting their school’s institutional mission? Ed Kull, VP & Director of Athletics at Saint John’s University, discusses how the athletics department is adapting to a rapidly changing, more professionalized era of college sports, especially men’s basketball. He talks about using a revenue-first, startup-style approach and how that model intersects with mission, academics, and student‑athlete welfare. - Kull describes leading the department like a **startup**, emphasizing...
info_outline
Dr. John R. Porter & Dr. Yancy Freeman | Board of Presidents | Ohio Valley Conference - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
@ Question: How can university presidents creatively lead conference realignment while protecting academic priorities and strengthening institutional and league stability for the long term? Dr. John R. Porter of Lindenwood University, and Dr. Yancy Freeman of University of Tennessee Martin, explore how university presidents balance athletics and academics. The two CEO's discuss leading through conference realignment challenges in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They also cover using creative, business-minded strategy to stabilize and grow their respective institutions. Presidents’ role in...
info_outline
Gary Stokan | CEO and President | Peach Bowl, Inc. - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
@1QLeadership Question: How can leaders in college sports build innovative, business-savvy organizations that still protect and prioritize the long-term wellbeing and development of student-athletes? Gary Stokan, retiring President and CEO of the Peach Bowl, reflects on his 47-year career in sports and how coaching principles shaped his leadership in college football. He shares his core frameworks—TEAM (teamwork, empowerment, accountability, management), CARE (customer, attitude, relationships, excellence), and ROCKS (relationships, opportunities, competitiveness, knowledge,...
info_outline
Sean Frazier | VP of Athletics and Recreation | Northern Illinois University - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
@1QLeadership Question: What exactly is the problem in college athletics? Sean Frazier, VP of Athletics and Recreation at NIU, discusses how and why the Huskies is restructured its conference affiliations, and also explores how new financial models can help sustain athletics without burdening the institution. Frazier explains NIU’s strategy to “decouple” football from its traditional all-sports conference, moving football to the Mountain West, Olympic sports to the Horizon League, and wrestling to the Pac-12 to reduce travel costs, increase media revenue, and better align...
info_outline
Charity Anderson | Assistant Athletics Director | UC San Diego - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
How do you become indispensable to your athletics department and athletics director? , Assistant AD for Scholar-Athlete Success at UC San Diego, joins 1Q’s to offer insight into this question after serving for five years as an Executive Assistant to then-Tritons AD Earl Edwards. Anderson discusses the impact of collaboration and how she remains compassionately curious while staying rooted in her core values. 00:00 - Introduction 01:24 - You’ve been with the Titans for six years, including five years as executive assistant to the great Earl Edwards....
info_outline
Phil Wang | Sr. Associate AD for Externa Affairs | UC Irvine - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
Question: What role do external partnerships, internal collaboration, and campus engagement play in growing the athletics program’s visibility, revenue, and fan base? From the 2024 PacNet Conference, , Sr. Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs at UC Irvine, talks about his almost 20 years at UCI. His transition from finance to external affairs, and how the department is maximizing automation and innovation with Learfield and Paciolan. Wang also covers collaboration with campus, the value of athletics within the university and broader community, and how the department...
info_outline
Dr. Marissa Nichols | Sr. Associate AD - Student-Athlete Experience | Cal - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
Question: How can student-athlete development programs be effectively built and measured within collegiate athletics? Sr. Associate AD for Student-Athlete Experience and Director of the Cameron Institute at Cal, shares her approach to creating measurable student-athlete development initiatives—from conducting needs assessments and aligning with institutional strategic goals to setting clear metrics for measuring program outcomes like career placement, mental well-being, and alumni engagement. She also talks about the three skill sets she brings as a college athletics executive: ...
info_outline
Mimi Hill | Sr. Associate Athletics Director - Advancement | Hampton University - One Question Leadership Podcast
One Question Leadership Podcast with Tai M. Brown
Question: What are some useful elements of cultivation for fundraising in college athletics? Sr. Associate Athletics Director at Hampton University, talks with 1Q guest host about Hill's journey working in college athletics advancement. connect and listen to donors personalize your engagement cultivate each interaction Hill gives a few personal stories involving failure, success, mentorship and much more. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown
info_outline@1QLeadership Question: How can leaders in college sports build innovative, business-savvy organizations that still protect and prioritize the long-term wellbeing and development of student-athletes?
Gary Stokan, retiring President and CEO of the Peach Bowl, reflects on his 47-year career in sports and how coaching principles shaped his leadership in college football. He shares his core frameworks—TEAM (teamwork, empowerment, accountability, management), CARE (customer, attitude, relationships, excellence), and ROCKS (relationships, opportunities, competitiveness, knowledge, strategy)—as simple guides for building people-first, business-smart organizations.
Stokan and 1Q guest host, Steph Garcia Cichosz also unpack his role in growing the Peach Bowl, bringing the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta, and navigating today’s changing landscape of NIL, the transfer portal, and playoff expansion. Throughout the episode, he stresses keeping student-athletes’ long-term wellbeing at the center while maintaining an “attitude of gratitude” and enjoying the journey. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown - Steph Garcia Cichosz