As Mississippi State’s athletic programs continue to rise to the top of the SEC, Bulldog athletic director Scott Stricklin continues to work behind the scenes making the magic possible.
Like a magician, Stricklin is everywhere. Fans, coaches and players spot Stricklin at almost every game or match held on campus, supporting his staff and the student-athletes through both the ups and downs.
Stricklin said while he loves going to games, he often becomes like a fan and second-guesses the program while watching games. For example, if he sees a missed hit-and-run at a baseball game, he wonders if the coaching staff had enough training equipment to teach the skill properly.
“I think everybody gets into this business for the games. The games are fun, but if you’re competitive, there’s a lot of anxiety during games, especially when you’re in an administrative roll,” Stricklin said. “Once the game starts, there’s nothing you can do to affect the outcome, but you feel like you ought to.”
Preseason All-American shortstop Adam Frazier said Stricklin stays active and makes his face shown rather than hiding behind the busyness of the sports realm.
“I don’t know if he’s missed a game, which is pretty neat for an athletic director. I know at some other schools, their guy doesn’t really ever come around, but he (Stricklin) is always out there supporting,” Frazier said. “He’s a real nice guy. He’s there for anybody who ever needs anything, so it’s nice to know that.”
Stricklin said he makes a point to stop by practices daily to be visible to the teams and student-athletes rather than being caught behind his desk all day.
But any good magician must have a wand. For Stricklin, social media has catapulted him to become one of the most active ADs in the conference. Although his age also makes him one of the youngest in the SEC, his youthfulness has benefited his social media use.
Stricklin has the second most Twitter followers – over 21,000 – of SEC ADs (behind Arkansas’ Jeff Long) and holds the top spot with over 2,000 Instragram followers. In addition to this, Stricklin hosts his own monthly radio show called “Hail State with Scott Stricklin.”
Stricklin said social media breaks down walls and forms connections that could not have existed otherwise.
“It’s important that the people who love the university feel like that person (athletic director) is accessible … I think being out there and engaging people allows those conversations and communication to take place a lot easier,” Stricklin said. “Social media is such a powerful tool to communicate and connect. That’s what social media does. It connects people in such a powerful way that you didn’t have 10 years ago or 20 years ago.”
One of the tricks Stricklin has pulled out of his sleeve includes retweeting tweets of Bulldog fans wearing maroon for Maroon Friday. Tweets have come in from places such as the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower along with numerous places around the country and world. Two summers ago, the men’s basketball team requested a retweet from the AD while the guys were playing games in Europe.
While Stricklin makes a priority to interact with MSU fans, assistant media relations director Gregg Ellis said Stricklin also understands the importance of communicating with his staff.
“Scott’s the type that will walk through just to come and say hi. When he says he has an open door policy, he really does,” Ellis said.
But like every famed magician, Stricklin must have an assistant. He understands a team is only as good as its coach, and in the past two years, he has brought four new head coaches to Starkville – men’s basketball coach Rick Ray, women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer, soccer coach Aaron Gordon and softball coach Vann Stuedeman.
In an email with The Reflector, Stuedeman said she was drawn to MSU because of Stricklin’s passion and vision for the athletic department and his work ethic.
“Mr. Stricklin has ignited the Bulldog family. He has his sleeves rolled up, working hard for this athletic department and this university,” Stuedeman said. “He comes to practice, he knows my team by name, he is quick to text or call after big wins and tough losses and he believes in his coaches. He is excellent at his job and that excellence motivates me to constantly grow and improve.”
In addition to days full of meetings, practices and games, Stricklin currently serves as the SEC representative on the NCAA recruiting and personnel issues cabinet. He humbly said there was no rhyme or reason to his selection but having representation on the cabinet was positive for both the league and MSU.
Stricklin said although MSU will never have the biggest budget or largest stadiums, he wants coaches and players who simply work to have the best teams and the best programs.
“There’s no secret to having success. You have to work hard, you have to have good people, you have to do things the right way and treat people the right way and you’ve got to be passionate about what you do,” Stricklin said. “I’m a believer that we can win at a high level consistently across the board at Mississippi State. We all want it to happen tomorrow, and some sports are better off than others right now, but eventually I think we can all get there. We just have to keep grinding away.”