Brad Smith was named UTSA Deputy Athletics Director for External Affairs on July 31, 2023.
A veteran of intercollegiate athletics for nearly two decades, he will oversee UTSA's Broadcasting, Communications, Creative Services, Marketing, Ticket Operations and Ticket Sales units.
Smith comes to UTSA from Southern Miss, where he served as Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations since 2019. During his time in Hattiesburg, he handled the day-to-day operations of the external units including branding and fan experience, communications, video, streaming/broadcasts, digital content and social media. In addition, he provided oversight for the softball team, band, cheer and dance programs along with serving as the primary contact for athletics branding and licensing as well as the department's primary contact for Learfield/IMG College. USM's baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, football and softball programs all achieved increases in ticket sales. Additionally, Smith developed a creative content team and implemented initiatives that created an in-house streaming/broadcast booth that produced over 200 live events on various streaming platforms.
American author B.J. Neblett once wrote, “We are the sum total of our experiences.”
Humble Beginnings in Mississippi
Born in Killeen, Texas, raised in Brookhaven, MS and while completing his undergraduate degree at The University of Southern Mississippi, Brad volunteered in the athletics department while working and going to school full-time. He walked into the office of the then Assistant AD for Marketing, Paul Batchelder and asked how he could help the athletics department as it was a dream of his to work in the field. He was given the sport of women’s soccer and flourished in the unpaid role. Being seen as someone who showed initiative and could take on more responsibility, he later interned with ISP Sports at Southern Miss and began gaining valuable experience in corporate sponsorships.
At the conclusion of his four-year tenure, Brad not only worked day to day continuing to grow in responsibility, but he was also part of a team that envisioned and organized Eagle Village, which was an innovative hospitality area where all corporate sponsors were entertained during football games. None of these experiences prepared him for the next step in his career: selling ice hockey in the deep south.
Hockey In South Mississippi: Selling Ice to Everyone
After graduating, volunteering and interning at The University of Southern Mississippi, Brad picked up the phone and called the offices of the Mississippi Sea Wolves professional hockey organization in Biloxi, MS. He confidently asked if they were hiring account executives to sell season and group ticket packages as well as corporate sponsorships. They were. Unlike his roles at Southern Miss, in this capacity, he realized it would take a different approach to driving immediate success. Brad began by making upwards of 100 phone calls per day selling the brand of hockey to Mississippians. Those efforts led the hockey team to averaging well over 4,000 fans in attendance per home game and building an exciting brand of hockey on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Brad, like many on the coast, fled from Hurricane Katrina as it devastated the area. Without a job and with limited communication due to the infrastructure damaged by the hurricane, Brad set out to continue his career in a profession that he felt so passionate about. This led him back to college athletics and to Middle Tennessee State University.
A Blank Canvas
While working as a student at Southern Miss, Brad met and worked with several key individuals that would come into his life that were unrealized at the time. One of these individuals was Mark Meadows. Mark was now the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing at Middle Tennessee State University, and he was looking for an assistant director of marketing. Without hesitation Brad called Mark. He told Brad to apply, and we’ll see what comes of it. What came from it was not only Brad being selected, but also social media innovation, record attendance in stadiums and arenas and spending time to develop the next generation. In five years, Brad was promoted from assistant director of marketing to replacing Mark as the Assistant AD for Marketing when Mark left to become an Executive Director of the Birmingham Bowl.
Brad began to develop strategies and techniques that could be seen and had a great impact on the bottom line. Two examples of the program’s approach: He created a web-based marketing campaign to drive single game and season tickets sales and to create awareness for the 2009 football season. The campaign reached 47 regions in the United States and 36 countries worldwide. In addition to the web-based campaign, he created the Family Fun Zone which was an award-winning area located inside the football stadium overlooking the field. The Family Fun Zone was a supervised area which included inflatables, face painting, balloon artistry and concessions. In its first year at Floyd Stadium in 2006, the area was completely sold out and remained sold out in 2007, 2008 and 2009 resulting in $480,000 in new revenue. Also, during this time, we connected again and worked together to create a sales and marketing academy for graduate students. As its mission, the academy sought to help MTSU students learn how to compete on unique perspective (how they see what they do), unique education (how they know what they do) and unique experience (how they connect to what they do) so they can add unique value to the people they choose to serve. These students worked in the athletics department and learned the practical skills necessary to be gainfully employed prior to graduation. Today, many of these students are high ranking officials in athletics departments across the country.
Gaining National Attention
After five successful years at MTSU, Brad decided that he wanted to challenge himself professionally. He applied to Texas A&M University as Director of Marketing and Jeff Schmahl, who was the Senior Associate AD at Texas A&M, reached out to him about the position. After an initial phone interview and later an on-campus interview, Jeff hired Brad.
During his time at Texas A&M, Brad was part of a team that set the national student attendance record at football of 31,005 and the Kyle Field attendance record of 90,079 on Nov 20, 2010. Later, Brad developed a marketing plan for the women's basketball program that set the all-time season attendance record averaging over 6100 per game. One of those key initiatives was the “Sell Out Baylor” campaign. It was an initiative created to set the Texas A&M women's basketball single game attendance record which he achieved on Sunday, Jan 30th at 12:00pm. 13,162 attended Reed Arena which was the largest crowd to see a women's basketball game in Texas A&M history.
Journey Closer to Home
After successful stints at MTSU and Texas A&M, Brad and his wife, Melanie, and their four-year-old son, Grayson felt like something was missing in their life. While paralyzing at first, he felt that moving closer to home was the right decision at that time. In 2011, he joined the staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as the Assistant AD for Marketing and Promotions. While there, Brad created and implemented "Hoops on the Haasephalt" which was an outdoor basketball event geared to introduce the new men's basketball coach, Jerod Haase and jump start the basketball season. Over 3000 fans attended the inaugural event, which was the first of its kind at the time. Brad also noticed a lack of attendance in specific sections of the basketball arena, so he created the Friends and Family Zone for men's basketball, and it sold out in its first year with over 300 new season tickets in the new section of Bartow Arena.
Collectively, his efforts at MTSU, Texas A&M, UAB and Morehead State have garnered ten national marketing awards from his peers and board of directors at the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA). These awards provided a platform to move to the next stage of development as a senior level administrator.
Intentional Growth
At some point during his time at UAB, Brad realized that he wanted to lead the external operations of college athletics. He was successful selling tickets, creating events, marketing and promotions for various sports, selling corporate sponsorships and bringing ideas to reality, but felt another move was necessary to achieve his ultimate goal, the goal to be a Director of Athletics. This decision led Brad to apply for an open position at Morehead State University.
Brad worked as the Senior Associate AD for External Affairs and has taken on a several different roles. Through Brad’s efforts at Morehead State, total revenue through fundraising and corporate sponsorships has increased by 220% and he is directly responsible for raising over $2.5M in revenue and trade through corporate sponsorships and fundraising. He has sport oversight for football and has led and been a member of several search committees leading to the successful hiring of a head men's basketball coach, a head softball coach, marketing and media relations staff, and a Vice President of Student Affairs.
Serving the Alma Mater
After a successful stint at Morehead State, Brad was called to his alma mater and reminded of the reasons he decided to pursue a career in the sport industry. With a renewed focus on meaningful relationships, Brad saw an opportunity to tell a story about not only a special place and program, but special people. Highlights during his time back in Hattiesburg as the Senior Associate AD for External Operations included restructuring the external engagement team that strengthened the Golden Eagles brand. The communications, marketing, creative and video production teams were streamlined and now serves as a one-stop shop for media and coaching staff. The restructured team saw growth as a successful unit and with record highs in social media and engagement. Brad was instrumental in creating Southern Made TV which housed the “True Grit” miniseries documenting the 2023 Southern Miss baseball team and “La Familia”, a miniseries documenting the 2022-23 Southern Miss men’s basketball team.
Brad also oversaw licensing where revenue of the Southern Miss brand, in 2023, has increased by 73%
A veteran of intercollegiate athletics for nearly two decades, he will oversee UTSA's Broadcasting, Communications, Creative Services, Marketing, Ticket Operations and Ticket Sales units.
Smith comes to UTSA from Southern Miss, where he served as Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations since 2019. During his time in Hattiesburg, he handled the day-to-day operations of the external units including branding and fan experience, communications, video, streaming/broadcasts, digital content and social media. In addition, he provided oversight for the softball team, band, cheer and dance programs along with serving as the primary contact for athletics branding and licensing as well as the department's primary contact for Learfield/IMG College. USM's baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, football and softball programs all achieved increases in ticket sales. Additionally, Smith developed a creative content team and implemented initiatives that created an in-house streaming/broadcast booth that produced over 200 live events on various streaming platforms.
American author B.J. Neblett once wrote, “We are the sum total of our experiences.”
Humble Beginnings in Mississippi
Born in Killeen, Texas, raised in Brookhaven, MS and while completing his undergraduate degree at The University of Southern Mississippi, Brad volunteered in the athletics department while working and going to school full-time. He walked into the office of the then Assistant AD for Marketing, Paul Batchelder and asked how he could help the athletics department as it was a dream of his to work in the field. He was given the sport of women’s soccer and flourished in the unpaid role. Being seen as someone who showed initiative and could take on more responsibility, he later interned with ISP Sports at Southern Miss and began gaining valuable experience in corporate sponsorships.
At the conclusion of his four-year tenure, Brad not only worked day to day continuing to grow in responsibility, but he was also part of a team that envisioned and organized Eagle Village, which was an innovative hospitality area where all corporate sponsors were entertained during football games. None of these experiences prepared him for the next step in his career: selling ice hockey in the deep south.
Hockey In South Mississippi: Selling Ice to Everyone
After graduating, volunteering and interning at The University of Southern Mississippi, Brad picked up the phone and called the offices of the Mississippi Sea Wolves professional hockey organization in Biloxi, MS. He confidently asked if they were hiring account executives to sell season and group ticket packages as well as corporate sponsorships. They were. Unlike his roles at Southern Miss, in this capacity, he realized it would take a different approach to driving immediate success. Brad began by making upwards of 100 phone calls per day selling the brand of hockey to Mississippians. Those efforts led the hockey team to averaging well over 4,000 fans in attendance per home game and building an exciting brand of hockey on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Brad, like many on the coast, fled from Hurricane Katrina as it devastated the area. Without a job and with limited communication due to the infrastructure damaged by the hurricane, Brad set out to continue his career in a profession that he felt so passionate about. This led him back to college athletics and to Middle Tennessee State University.
A Blank Canvas
While working as a student at Southern Miss, Brad met and worked with several key individuals that would come into his life that were unrealized at the time. One of these individuals was Mark Meadows. Mark was now the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing at Middle Tennessee State University, and he was looking for an assistant director of marketing. Without hesitation Brad called Mark. He told Brad to apply, and we’ll see what comes of it. What came from it was not only Brad being selected, but also social media innovation, record attendance in stadiums and arenas and spending time to develop the next generation. In five years, Brad was promoted from assistant director of marketing to replacing Mark as the Assistant AD for Marketing when Mark left to become an Executive Director of the Birmingham Bowl.
Brad began to develop strategies and techniques that could be seen and had a great impact on the bottom line. Two examples of the program’s approach: He created a web-based marketing campaign to drive single game and season tickets sales and to create awareness for the 2009 football season. The campaign reached 47 regions in the United States and 36 countries worldwide. In addition to the web-based campaign, he created the Family Fun Zone which was an award-winning area located inside the football stadium overlooking the field. The Family Fun Zone was a supervised area which included inflatables, face painting, balloon artistry and concessions. In its first year at Floyd Stadium in 2006, the area was completely sold out and remained sold out in 2007, 2008 and 2009 resulting in $480,000 in new revenue. Also, during this time, we connected again and worked together to create a sales and marketing academy for graduate students. As its mission, the academy sought to help MTSU students learn how to compete on unique perspective (how they see what they do), unique education (how they know what they do) and unique experience (how they connect to what they do) so they can add unique value to the people they choose to serve. These students worked in the athletics department and learned the practical skills necessary to be gainfully employed prior to graduation. Today, many of these students are high ranking officials in athletics departments across the country.
Gaining National Attention
After five successful years at MTSU, Brad decided that he wanted to challenge himself professionally. He applied to Texas A&M University as Director of Marketing and Jeff Schmahl, who was the Senior Associate AD at Texas A&M, reached out to him about the position. After an initial phone interview and later an on-campus interview, Jeff hired Brad.
During his time at Texas A&M, Brad was part of a team that set the national student attendance record at football of 31,005 and the Kyle Field attendance record of 90,079 on Nov 20, 2010. Later, Brad developed a marketing plan for the women's basketball program that set the all-time season attendance record averaging over 6100 per game. One of those key initiatives was the “Sell Out Baylor” campaign. It was an initiative created to set the Texas A&M women's basketball single game attendance record which he achieved on Sunday, Jan 30th at 12:00pm. 13,162 attended Reed Arena which was the largest crowd to see a women's basketball game in Texas A&M history.
Journey Closer to Home
After successful stints at MTSU and Texas A&M, Brad and his wife, Melanie, and their four-year-old son, Grayson felt like something was missing in their life. While paralyzing at first, he felt that moving closer to home was the right decision at that time. In 2011, he joined the staff at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as the Assistant AD for Marketing and Promotions. While there, Brad created and implemented "Hoops on the Haasephalt" which was an outdoor basketball event geared to introduce the new men's basketball coach, Jerod Haase and jump start the basketball season. Over 3000 fans attended the inaugural event, which was the first of its kind at the time. Brad also noticed a lack of attendance in specific sections of the basketball arena, so he created the Friends and Family Zone for men's basketball, and it sold out in its first year with over 300 new season tickets in the new section of Bartow Arena.
Collectively, his efforts at MTSU, Texas A&M, UAB and Morehead State have garnered ten national marketing awards from his peers and board of directors at the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA). These awards provided a platform to move to the next stage of development as a senior level administrator.
Intentional Growth
At some point during his time at UAB, Brad realized that he wanted to lead the external operations of college athletics. He was successful selling tickets, creating events, marketing and promotions for various sports, selling corporate sponsorships and bringing ideas to reality, but felt another move was necessary to achieve his ultimate goal, the goal to be a Director of Athletics. This decision led Brad to apply for an open position at Morehead State University.
Brad worked as the Senior Associate AD for External Affairs and has taken on a several different roles. Through Brad’s efforts at Morehead State, total revenue through fundraising and corporate sponsorships has increased by 220% and he is directly responsible for raising over $2.5M in revenue and trade through corporate sponsorships and fundraising. He has sport oversight for football and has led and been a member of several search committees leading to the successful hiring of a head men's basketball coach, a head softball coach, marketing and media relations staff, and a Vice President of Student Affairs.
Serving the Alma Mater
After a successful stint at Morehead State, Brad was called to his alma mater and reminded of the reasons he decided to pursue a career in the sport industry. With a renewed focus on meaningful relationships, Brad saw an opportunity to tell a story about not only a special place and program, but special people. Highlights during his time back in Hattiesburg as the Senior Associate AD for External Operations included restructuring the external engagement team that strengthened the Golden Eagles brand. The communications, marketing, creative and video production teams were streamlined and now serves as a one-stop shop for media and coaching staff. The restructured team saw growth as a successful unit and with record highs in social media and engagement. Brad was instrumental in creating Southern Made TV which housed the “True Grit” miniseries documenting the 2023 Southern Miss baseball team and “La Familia”, a miniseries documenting the 2022-23 Southern Miss men’s basketball team.
Brad also oversaw licensing where revenue of the Southern Miss brand, in 2023, has increased by 73%
- Launched an exclusive line of apparel in conjunction with Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville
- Launched a new co-branded craft beer for Southern Miss athletics and Southern Prohibition Brewing Company
- Launched a co-branded apparel line with country music singer, Adam Doleac
Brad was also a member of the external team that saw increased attendance and ticket sales in the following areas:
- In 2023, Southern Miss baseball sold out the season for the first time in history
- Southern Miss men’s basketball had the first sell out in fifteen years
- In 2022, surpassed 10,000 football season tickets for the first time in six years
He was also instrumental in spearheading new fan experiences including fan-friendly concessions and the creation of the Family Fun Zone for the 2019 Southern Miss football season. He revamped the tailgating experience surrounding Southern Miss football with the creation of Spirit Park Live. Located outside the stadium, Spirit Park featured a tailgating area for fans, food trucks, videoboards to catch key college football action, axe throwing, Junior Eagle Funland, and live music beginning three hours prior to kick off. Musical acts included: Adam Doleac, Muscadine Bloodline, Drivin ‘N Cryin, the Molly Ringwalds, and many others.
Education
Ed.D. in Higher Education from The University of Southern Mississippi
M.A. in Sport Management from Morehead State University
B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi
Personal
Dr. Smith and his wife Melanie Smith have two sons, Grayson (15) and Garrett (7).
Education
Ed.D. in Higher Education from The University of Southern Mississippi
M.A. in Sport Management from Morehead State University
B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi
Personal
Dr. Smith and his wife Melanie Smith have two sons, Grayson (15) and Garrett (7).