Following the departure of former Athletic Director Tom Spicer, President Tim Foster made a decision to look inside for the next athletic director. But rather than give it to one individual, the decision was made to split the position into co-athletic directors. From there, Kris Mort and Bryan Rooks took the positions.
“I don’t think it was a master plan that was thought of prior to some conversations, but we thought we could make it work,” Rooks said. “You don’t see it as a normal model very often, but we thought a model of having a co-director was an opportunity for both of us.”
Having been with the Colorado Mesa University athletic department for over two decades, the decision to make Mort and Rooks the co-athletic directors made sense.
“I think what got us interested was really by virtue of years of being here and unfolding of events and turnover of personnel and I think really it’s how we grew into the position,” Mort said. “We have both been on campus for many years and in the athletic department for many years.”
Mort is currently in her 24th year with CMU. Prior to this year, she spent 19 years as the head coach of the CMU softball program, where she holds the record for most wins (542) in program history. Following her coaching tenure, Mort worked in the athletic department and was responsible for budgets and finances.
Rooks considered going into coaching like Mort, but found more joy in an administrative role.
“I was in coaching briefly as an assistant, but it was obvious that that wasn’t my passion and my love,” Rooks said. “My passion and my love was coaching coaches.”
The experience both Rooks and Mort have regarding the program, as well as the experience working with one another, were driving factors in the decision to promote from within rather than hire from outside.
“The familiarity with us I think is beneficial that we were here,” Mort said. “I think it would look a whole lot different if you had opened this up and brought in two new people that have never worked together.”
Another advantage to having been within the department for so many years is that both Rooks and Mort know how it has been running. And as of now, they don’t see any problems that need fixing.
“I don’t think it was broke,” Rooks said. “I think we have some really good coaches in the hallway. […] Instead of looking outside the institution for somebody to help our coaches, I think we have got some really good coaches in the hallway that can help each other.”
Looking forward to the upcoming sports season, it makes sense that the department is set on winning as much as possible, but that is not the only goal that these two have for this program.
“It is not always about winning championships, it is about graduation and student athlete experiences in the classroom and not just on this campus but in the community,” Rooks said. “I think our vision is that we put a good product out to the community as a whole and that there are good students on campus, off campus, […] and show a good product to other communities that we travel to.”
But even more important than that, they want this university to stand out and be the best university it can possibly be.
“In a nut, I think as CMU, as a university, and as an athletic department I think really we want to be second to none in Division II, in our region from an academics standpoint from a campus facilities standpoint from what we have to offer athletically,” Mort said. “[…] We will be second to nobody.”
