The position of a college athletic director is one which is pivotal to any school’s athletic success. Despite the importance of this position the role of an athletic director is often overlooked by the public.
This past Summer former University of Utah athletic director Chris Hill announced his retirement after 31 historic years in the position. When Hill assumed the career of athletic director in 1987 Utah was an unremarkable program competing in the lackluster Western Athletic Conference (WAC). After a brief stint in the Mountain West Conference following the U’s departure from the WAC, Hill finally led the Utes to the unimaginable. In June of 2010 the U was announced as an official member of the PAC-12 conference.
Hill knew that after Utah became a member of the PAC-12 it would be a tough transition period. “We could not compete with the PAC-12 teams at first,” said Hill, “Utah had never played to that level of competition before.” However, like any devoted employee, Hill persevered and eventually led Utah to success in the conference. “I’m a crisis manager and a long term planner,” he explained.
To those who haven’t followed much of Hill’s career the move to the PAC-12 may seem like his crowning achievement- yet Hill insists that he is far more proud of his other work.
Utes football has been admired by students, staff and alumni during even their most abysmal seasons while many other sports on campus were left forgotten- predominantly womens sports. This unfortunate truth inspired Hill to work dutifully towards boosting funding and support for womens athletics. Through working with the university, coaches and fans Hill helped womens sports at the U such as gymnastics, track and field and volleyball evolve into bigtime NCAA contenders as well as popular spectator sports.
It is no surprise that these incredible moves which have put Utah on the map leave Hill with a great sense of fulfillment. Yet Hill does not consider them to be his greatest contribution as athletic director. When Hill was asked about his proudest, most lasting impact after 31 years in Utah his response was simple and maybe even underwhelming. “I’m most proud of the culture I’ve created around athletics here,” said Hill.
While many athletic departments sell their schools on being cool and the obvious choice for athletes to commit to, Hill flipped the narrative. “I never told anybody that attending the U would make them ‘cool,’ instead I said they would make us cool,” he explained. Hill believes that the honest and genuine approach which the U’s athletic programs stand by are what makes the athletes, coaches and fans so proud to be a Ute.
