It’s funny what a couple of e-mails and phone calls can do.
While e-mailing our SID Doug Ireland (I don’t even remember why), I realized I needed to get in touch with the man in charge of NSU athletics, Greg Burke. The reply e-mail from Doug was “e-mail him, don’t call, that’s typically the best approach.”
Not that Mr. Burke, our tremendous director of athletics, isn’t accessible. He’s just hyper busy and an e-mail, especially regarding a thought that was important but not extremely urgent, takes a minute where returning a stack of phone calls can take much longer.
Doug’s suggestion made sense to me, especially after I found out the Athletic Association development responsibilities were falling on Greg until he found the right person to take over a very important assistant AD position. Greg was doing a great job. He sent a letter to former student-athletes personally asking for support, which in turn had prompted my wife Jessica and I, both former athletes, to donate for the first time.
My next question, which I see now as one of the most profound questions I have ever asked, was “What about William Broussard?” We all had went to the NSU-Baylor football game a couple of weeks earlier, and just like every year, Will e-mailed all his NSU friends, this time telling us his doctoral studies were nearly done and still, his hopes were to return to Natchitoches.
Every year since Will and I graduated after being football teammates and basically brothers at Northwestern, we discussed this dream of his with people at NSU. I always thought they humored him, but in the back of their mind they were thinking “Yeah, right, Will Broussard back in Natchitoches? That will never happen. He’s in Arizona now and there’s a big world out there.”
But those of us who know Will the best, there wasn’t any doubt. We all knew deep in his heart, he would love to come back home to NSU. When I found out Charlie Vienne had moved to Texas and Greg was taking his time to be sure he found, as he says with every hiring, “the right fit,” a little light bulb went off in my head.
I had to sell Greg on the reality that, yes, William would definitely be interested in coming back to NSU. That little e-mail note led to a 30-minute phone conversation assuring Greg that Will would come, and that was my part in helping get the process started.
Honestly, William was an obvious choice for this position. As much as any player ever could be, he was the face of the program for the 1998-1999 seasons. He loves NSU football, loves Natchitoches, and cares deeply about Northwestern State. His credentials speak for themselves: two-year All-American, Academic All-American, Burger King Scholarship for the general scholarship fund at NSU, Mr. NSU, National College Football Hall of Fame Post Graduate Fellowship, a self-taught guitarist (Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, the difficult, good stuff). He and his wife, Kendra (like my wife, a former NSU volleyball player) fell in love while they were in college.
His credentials are a whole other Demon Dust column. Take a few minutes to click on his bio on the administration button on this site. He’s a modest guy, so you may not know all about him unless you basically lived alongside him for five years like I did. As I said, and if you didn’t understand before, you hopefully do now -- Will’s the perfect person for the job.
I’ll speak to the person behind the auspicious resume chock-filled with accomplishments. One of the most significant facts about William that most people don’t know is the fact that he was never on an athletic scholarship. As a walk-on who ended up lettering four years, William had an academic scholarship, and when he was offered an athletic scholarship, kindly refused and put that scholarship back into the program. I don’t know of many 19-year-olds with that kind of big-picture vision, maybe that’s a foreshadowing of him being hired in his new position. Will is definitely one of the few Southern gentlemen his age, just a very humble, modest, and caring guy.
As far as the joining the tremendous athletic staff at NSU, I can’t think of a more exciting time for our program. William will be an excellent liaison to younger alumni whose careers are getting established, helping them realize they can and should contribute to a place and athletics program that has meant so much to them. William will also have many connections on campus and in the community that will be vital to the health of the NSU athletics program. With the hiring of Ryan Holloway as assistant AD for marketing, these guys will bring fresh new ideas and valuable experience to the athletic program.
So the next time you have an idea, don’t hesitate. It is funny how a couple of e-mails and an alum way out in West Texas with a light bulb going off in his head can bring a great athletics program and one of its’ most successful student-athletes together for a match made in Demon Heaven.
