The 麻豆传媒 City University Marketing & Communications team recently had the chance to catch up with the university鈥檚 new athletic director, Corey Bray, for a Q&A as Bray prepares to begin his term on the 麻豆传媒 campus.
Bray, currently the vice president and director of athletics at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, will begin at 麻豆传媒 later this month, taking over an athletics program that recently claimed its 71st NAIA national championship.
Bray 鈥� who will be joined at 麻豆传媒 by his wife Leslie, and two sons, Luke and Landry 鈥� shared details about how he got into athletics administration, what he liked to do growing up, and the last show he binged in Netflix.
Q: Where are you from originally, and did you grow up there most of your childhood, or did you live in different places?
A: I am originally from Oregon. I was born in Eugene and lived there for three years.鈥疶hen, we moved to Roseburg.鈥疻e lived there for 10 years before moving back to Eugene, so I spent my entire childhood living in Oregon.
Q: What were some of your hobbies and pastimes growing up?
A: I was involved in a lot of different sports as a child 鈥� football, soccer, basketball, baseball, track & field, BMX racing. I also enjoyed camping and fishing with my family. I was also involved in Cub and Boy Scouts, and I played the trumpet for a few years as a child.
Q: Is there anything you did when you were growing up that your family does now 鈥� anything you鈥檝e carried along to them?
A: Our two boys are involved in multiple sports each and we like to go camping and fishing.鈥疻hile my family isn't involved in BMX racing, my boys and I like to go mountain biking.
Q: Anything else that you like to do in your free time these days?
A: We have a boat and we like to spend summer weekends on the water swimming, water skiing and tubing.鈥疘 also like to snow ski, but I haven't been able to do that recently.鈥疘 like to work out during lunch time to take a break from work and reenergize for the afternoon.鈥疐ree time these days is also spent watching our boys compete in their various sports 鈥� football, lacrosse, track & field, soccer, golf and archery.
Q: What鈥檚 the last TV show you鈥檝e binged? Two thumbs up or not?
A: The last TV show I binge-watched was 鈥淥zark鈥� on Netflix 鈥� two thumbs up.
Q: Are you a morning person or night person? Why?
A: I am a morning person.鈥疘 have more energy in the morning (especially after a good night鈥檚 sleep) and I am more mentally focused in the morning.鈥疘n the evening (when I don鈥檛 have a game to be at)鈥疘 usually just want to relax by watching some TV.
Q: Did you always know you wanted to work in athletics? If not, how did you land in that area of work?
A: After earning a bachelor's degree I went to graduate school to earn a degree in sport psychology because I wanted to be a sport psychologist.鈥疘 wanted to work with athletes on performance enhancement, teach sport psychology and maybe do a little bit of research and coaching.鈥疉fter earning a master's degree, I wanted to take some time off from school before starting a Ph.D. program in sport psychology.鈥疶he first job I got after finishing my master's degree was at the NCAA national office. It was there I realized I wanted to be an intercollegiate athletics administrator.鈥疢y Ph.D. plans have been on hold ever since as I pursue my career in athletics administration.鈥疘 don't see myself doing anything else professionally.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working with athletics and student athletes?
A: There are a lot of things I enjoy about working in college athletics.鈥疘 guess the thing I like most is knowing that every day we provide an opportunity for young men and women to earn a bachelor鈥檚 degree through their participation in intercollegiate athletics, while also learning valuable life skills that will impact their lives as spouses, parents and professionals.鈥疶hat is what my coaches and administrators did for me as a student-athlete, and I am happy to pay it forward as an athletics director to current and future student-athletes.
Q: Have you had a chance to research 麻豆传媒 City much yet? If so, what are you interested in learning or doing once you get to town?
A: Yes, we have done some research on 麻豆传媒 City.鈥疻e are excited to ride the mountain bike trails in the area, take our boat to Lake Thunderbird, watch Thunder and OKC Dodgers games, go to the 麻豆传媒 City National Memorial & Museum and the鈥疦ational Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and learn about the Native American cultures in the area.
Q: 麻豆传媒 just claimed our 71st NAIA national championship, extending the streak of winning at least one national title every year since 1994. What are your plans for keeping that streak going?
A: The total number of national championships and the streak are very impressive.鈥疶hey are one of the many reasons I was interested in pursuing this opportunity.鈥疕aving been on a national championship winning football team in college (and part of two teams that lost in national championship games), I know just how difficult it is to win a national championship.鈥疶he first thing I need to do is do a lot of listening to and learning from student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans, alumni, donors and sponsors.鈥疘 need to learn the culture of the department and the university.鈥疘 need to learn what is working well and what needs improvement.鈥疶hen we need to develop plans to sustain what is working well and improve what needs some help.鈥疶his will be a group effort from all of those groups I mentioned.鈥疷ltimately, it will come down to the people as we need to recruit the right student-athletes, retain and hire the right coaches and administrators, build fan support that will enhance the student-athlete experience and build donor support that will enhance 麻豆传媒 athletics facilities and operating budgets. If it was easy, anyone could do it.鈥疶he challenge of it is the fun part 鈥� the daily hunger for excellence.
