Athletics vs. 'The Other Side' of Campus: A Higher ED Taboo

"It's not about competing with one another but about working together to become more successful as an institution."

When it comes to the success of a college, one often overlooked but essential piece is the team of coaches filling roles most people never think about: mentoring, recruitment, event administration, budget management, travel planning, community service, sports marketing. We carry advanced degrees and certifications in strength and conditioning, nutrition, emergency management, ministry, and still get stereotyped as athletic meatheads half the time (joking, not joking). This piece is about recognizing the real roles coaches play, and making the case for better collaboration and transparency between athletics and the rest of campus.

Athletic success matters to a college's academic success and its reputation in higher ed more broadly. People call athletics the "front porch of the university" for a reason, it's the most visible part of the school by far. Games and competitions bring media coverage that other departments rarely get, and that visibility shapes how prospective students, alumni, and the general public see the whole institution.

Some administrators still treat athletics as secondary to academics, when the truth is athletes are getting an academic and practical education through their sport too. That kind of intellectual elitism kills collaboration and communication, and it slows the whole institution down. It's an especially costly mistake at small schools, where athletic programs often drive a meaningful share of enrollment. Real unity across a campus means departments actually working together, and actually respecting each other's expertise instead of just tolerating it.

To be clear, this isn't an attack on "the other side of campus," and athletic success was never solely on the shoulders of athletic staff. It takes real expertise from across the institution. Most faculty and administrators don't have a background in athletic recruiting, strength and conditioning, or sports marketing, and that's fine, that's not their lane. But plenty of professors bring real expertise in medicine, engineering, communication, culture, psychology, and business that could genuinely shape how athletes and athletic programs develop. Coaches should be honest about their own knowledge gaps and actually use what's sitting right there on campus. Real collaboration is what turns student-athletes into people who succeed on the court and become well-rounded professionals after it.

So let's get practical about solutions.

In a previous article, "Addressing Mental Health in Student-Athletes: Strategies for College Campuses and the NCAA," I started with the problem and used Scripture to point toward a solution. I'm doing the same thing here. The Bible has a lot to say about teamwork and about how each person's specific gifts matter to a shared goal. Real success was never about competing against each other. It's about actually working together to make the whole institution better. A few passages worth sitting with:

- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 makes the case for collaboration between coaches and faculty by laying out exactly why working together beats going it alone. Coaches and faculty who actually understand the specific pressures student-athletes face can offer real support and build a real sense of community around them.

- 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 compares the body of Christ to a human body, different parts, each one necessary, all of them working toward the good of the whole.

- Proverbs 27:17 says it simply: "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Surround yourself with people who have different skills and strengths, and you actually get better.

Beyond the biblical case, here's what real collaboration can actually look like:

- Open communication channels: regular meetings where coaches and faculty can share updates, raise concerns, and actually brainstorm solutions together.

- Cross-departmental training: joint professional development, workshops, or conferences where each side learns something real about the other's world.

- Shared leadership: coaches taking a role in academic enrichment programs, faculty showing up to support athletic events.

- A shared vision: coaches and faculty setting goals together instead of in separate silos.

The hard work coaches and faculty both put in drives institutional success, academically and financially, and it deserves real recognition from administrators, not just lip service. When people from different backgrounds actually come together, the whole community gets more cohesive and more productive. Drop the ego and the turf wars, and the work environment gets better for everyone, coaches and faculty included, and students get a better college experience because of it.