I just got done breaking this down from the entire Q&A. Get a beer, a coffee and your reading glasses.
Lot of good stuff in here
QUESTION:
Matt Tait from The Journal World, welcome to town and congratulations. The first thing I wanted to ask you is along your journey, did you think that maybe you would have to take another step at a smaller school, becoming an AD first to get to this level?
Travis Goff:
Matt, nice to meet you. Look forward to getting to know you in the days ahead. I think that's what the narrative tends to be. And I think what I recognized as I left Tulane and the experiences I gained in I think the most of challenging of circumstances and as we continued to build at Northwestern over a significant timeframe, and to be a part of what was achieved there at a place with some inherent disadvantages, it surely came to my realization that I didn't need to do that, that the experiences I was gaining by the day, by the month by the year was literally preparing me for this exact opportunity.
QUESTION:
And just to follow up on that, when this came open, which wasn't that many days ago now, I mean, was it a no brainer in your mind that I'm going to go for this thing? This is, like you said, divine intervention, right?
Travis Goff:
No brainer, no brainer. You can't make it up in terms of how it all came together.
QUESTION:
Hi, I'm Jessica in Kansas City. What, from your experience at Northwestern, just your 16 years overall, do you think will help you guide you through this finding a new football coach and the NCAA investigation?
Travis Goff:
Nice to meet you, Jessica. Thanks. Well, it's a number of things. When you walk into a scenario where there's an immediate need, an immediate need to focus in on some critical factors, if you've lived that and had those experiences, then you're well-suited and well-prepared. And I believe that to be the case in this situation, I think when you have the support and the foundation that the University of Kansas provides and that KU Athletics provides, there has never been the shadow of doubt in my mind that we're going to navigate that successfully and any of the other things that lie ahead, because there'll be more challenges. There's no questioning that. And as Chancellor Girod indicated, the shifting landscape of college athletics, I'm real excited about KU being a leader in that.
QUESTION:
How's it going? Scott Chasen, 24/7 Sports. At Northwestern, you worked in a pretty impressive football facility there. I'm just curious if you could talk through that experience, maybe how that experience helped you, how that may apply here, especially with some of the stuff that may need work with the football stadium.
Travis Goff:
Thanks, Scott. Nice to see you. The kind of capital project effort is incredibly cumulative and it crosses all throughout campus. I think the first thing that matters, maybe most significantly, is to have alignment with university leadership, to make sure that that type of investment, that type of step forward will be something that will enhance the entire university community. And that's what we were able to achieve at Northwestern over that time with the facilities and the way in which we went about it. So partnerships on campus, really important. Understanding the financial implications, not just kind of blindly stating that we'll figure it out, we'll find our way, but being great stewards and having a real strategic plan on how to fund, and then not just fund to completion, but also to figure out how to operate. So I think those are all the experiences I've been able to gain from start to finish through that process.
And the other thing that we should all recognize, I certainly have lived this, is facilities matter. Not because of bells and whistles or what perception might be nationally, but because that's where our student athletes are spending their time enhancing their craft. And at this juncture in time in college athletics, you have to have the right facilities because that's again where the student athletes are spending their time.
QUESTION:
Then do you have a timeline or even just a plan in terms of evaluating the football program, what you want to do, obviously, interim coach, head coach? Do you have a path for what that looks?
Travis Goff:
Yeah. Had a great opportunity yesterday, really wanted to prioritize this to get out to practice, to observe Coach Jones and the staff. Energy was incredible. It's been well-documented for me coming in and then I was able to witness it with my own eyes, just what a great job Coach Jones that staff has done, keeping this group together, keeping them united and having the kind of energy you need to have in spring football. That was really neat. I had a chance to meet then one-on-one with Coach Jones and with his entire staff.
I guess I would say this, Scott. What I said to them is where we're at exactly on day two. I come in open-minded. I come in wanting to listen, learn, absorb, understand where we're at with this football program. There's a plan and it's more about the win and the understanding of how to go forward in that plan.
QUESTION:
Jon Kirby with Rivals.com and JayhawkSlant. Can you talk about what you learned working under somebody like Phillips and also being an administrator for the football program?
Travis Goff
Nice to see you, Jon. Jim is, again, pretty well known to be one of the most student-athlete-centric, if not the most student-athlete-centric athletic directors in the country. Being able to, with a background that can distract you a little bit from understanding that, it was really important for me to be aligned with someone where I could see that live day in and day out, again, keeping student athletes at the forefront. I think that's one of the things that Jim reiterated and reminded me and taught me day in and day out.
He demonstrated to me the importance of being aligned in a university that athletics is just a component in higher education, a component of a broader university. You have to live that. You can't just say that. There's ways in which you demonstrate that consistently. I think that was a critical aspect.
Maybe the last thing to say on many things that Jim taught me would be to have an incredibly high standard for what the institution can be for what the athletics program can be, and most importantly, for what you can provide your student athletes.
QUESTION:
Mr. Goff, Sam Lance, with the University Daily Kansan. I was just wondering what relationship you have with Coach Self, if any, and what you think of this lifetime contract.
Travis Goff:
Coach Self's never met a stranger, as many of you know. I had a chance when I was a young person early in my career to be here at KU when Drue Jennings made that exceptional hire for the University of Kansas. Just being a young guy and observing and watching the athletics program and department with Coach Roy leaving, and then bringing in Coach Self, it was really such great learning. I had a chance to get to know him. He treated me like I mattered, which was really something that will always stick with me.
We have had a chance. We've had multiple phone calls. He's been so warm, engaging, open. We've established a great rapport right off the bat. Then I had a chance to spend some time with him yesterday as well.
QUESTION:
I just have one follow-up. I know you were former KU journalism grad. I'm in the journalism school of course, as well. Is there any favorite class that you had during your time here?
Travis Goff:
Whew, Professor Marsh is a professor that always will jump out to me. I learned a lot. I think his role has shifted a little bit in the J School, but my learnings from him ... and I'll tell you this. This is the real deal. I apply the skills I learned in my time as a student here, in particular, in the journalism school, every day.
QUESTION:
You've touched on it a little bit, I wonder if you could take us through what yesterday was like for you. Did you get any sleep at all? Did you enjoy any of it or was it too much of a whirlwind? Can you just take us through that?
Travis Goff:
No. Truthfully, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to, but I really enjoyed every moment of it. From the second we left Evanston with this crew and landed in Lawrence to an amazing welcoming, had a chance to spend some time with Kurt, go over to the athletics department and met with the head coaches, the senior staff, and then had a chance to visit with the full staff. And to be in person, I think, as everybody can appreciate, to be in person to be in front of people with what everyone's gone through in this past year was really special. So those were the moments, Matt that I just was able to soak up. The fist bumps, the elbow bumps, and having a chance to just be with this Kansas Athletics family.
QUESTION:
Following up on that, what do you view your biggest challenge? Whether it's day one, week one, month one, or just in general big picture, is there one that sticks out?
Travis Goff:
I wouldn't say there's one that sticks out, they're certainly immediate priorities and those are real and really critical and they're on the immediate horizon. But we're going to tackle those, we're going to address those, we're going to use those as really important building blocks because the most important days are not today and next week and the week after, it's going to be what do we do with the momentum we can create? What do we do with those initial building blocks? Because this is going to be something that has to be built for sustained success and that's exactly what I'm here to do.
QUESTION:
The COVID financial situation, I mean, I know it's affecting everyone across the country but how big of a challenge for a first time AD stepping into a new role is that on your budget and just what you want to get accomplished?
Travis Goff:
I think everybody in college athletics and in higher ed is facing that challenge. Northwestern, exceptionally financially comfortable by and large, huge endowment, is facing and living that challenge. And so certainly understand and can relate to the situation here at KU. We have to pull all the levers, we have to look at our expenses that's going to be an important part of this. And we have to maximize our opportunities from a revenue perspective. I said this very honestly, and clearly throughout the interview process, philanthropic support is going to be at the forefront of moving Kansas Athletics forward. We're going to sell tickets, we're going to fill stadiums, we're going to do all those great things and maximize those revenue streams but the Jayhawk community and philanthropic support is what's going to be moves us forward and transforms Kansas Athletics.
QUESTION:
The last one for you. Obviously they identified you as somebody they were interested in and wanted to talk to and all of that. But did you feel like you had to sell yourself, having not been an AD before? And if you did, how did you sell yourself?
Travis Goff:
I think it was more about just the opportunities, the windows that the process provided me for just literally to tell the story of the foundation KU provided, the really unique time at Tulane, that I wouldn't replace for anything. And then of course, the time at Northwestern. So it was really natural, didn't feel like I had to over push, oversell, tell the story, talk about building, talk about sustain. My tenure hasn't been kind of bouncing around it's been about putting roots down, it's been about maximizing the impact I can have. So it was a very natural conversation and Chancellor Girod and the committee were exceptional in just processing and listening and asking real questions around that.
QUESTION:
Hey, Mr. Goff. This is Gus Baylow from The University Daily Kansan. I'm also a student in the J-school, a freshman myself. Is there something that maybe you've learned from the J-school you can maybe take to KU Athletics in particular? I know you touched on it earlier with the classes and the classes you liked. Is there something maybe from the J-school you can take and use in KU Athletics?
Travis Goff:
Gus, nice to see you. Glad you're at KU. I think they're the more nuanced things that you don't even realize you're seeing and picking up on in the classroom. And that's what I dig deep to ask myself the questions, what is that application like? So you won't know it until you're there but the advice would just to be to soak up every moment you have with that incredible faculty in those classes, because you'll apply, and it may not be clear in those moments, but that'll be ahead for you. That'll be really special thing.
QUESTION:
Yeah. Do you also feel like the amount of pride that the J-school has can also translate, obviously, to KU Athletics? They have a good relationship.
Travis Goff:
Yeah. Absolutely.
QUESTION:
Do you feel that that can help out with all different kinds of stuff?
Travis Goff:
No question. No question. I received a nice note from Dean Brill yesterday or the day before, and she's done an incredible job. It's a wonderful focal point for the university. So no question.
QUESTION:
Hey Travis. Vahe Gregorian from The Kansas City Star. Congratulations and welcome home.
Travis Goff:
Thank you, thank you.
QUESTION:
Just a little bit to pick up on the journalism track. I'm curious, when you came here from Dodge City did you have a career path in mind, and did it change with some experiences here? Or how did this come about?
Travis Goff:
It absolutely did. I came here, like many, not knowing what that path might look like. I was raised in a family of teachers, coachers, coaches, entrepreneurs, small business owners. And that was a really neat perspective to bring, but I didn't know what I wanted to do, and certainly in terms of my career. And as a junior at KU, with a little bit of a contact, I walked into that athletic department and I said, "Hey, I want to volunteer. I just want an opportunity as a student to learn and try and understand a little bit about what college athletics is and this idea that there's potential career opportunities there." One of the best decisions I ever made. And that's what gave me the exposure and gave me the support system and that foundation.
QUESTION:
And the other thing just, as the chancellor alluded to a little more directly than I had understood before, your time at Tulane really was right in the aftermath of Katrina and had a very direct impact on the campus and obviously life in New Orleans. I'm curious how that experience is something you've drawn on since in terms of being able to deal with anything.
Travis Goff:
Yeah. Amazing. Amazing experience. And again, one of those that at the time I wasn't fully processing. I don't know how many could in the situation New Orleans and Tulane was in. It really started with this mindset of, what can I do to help lift up this athletics program? So, my particular role shifted right away because it was all hands-on deck. And that was a really small deck of people to try and move forward and lift athletics literally off its back and from underwater. And again, it was a day-by-day learning. It was a regular firestorm of how to navigate, how to support student athletes that were scattered across the South and across the Southeast. And it was really more about, how do you handle yourself and how you lift up over others in adversity?
And as somebody who was being asked to be part of that small team, I knew enough to know I was going to take that exceptionally seriously. And I think that's been one of the great applications from that. When you have that responsibility, when you've been asked to do that, do it consistently, do it regularly, look at how you can lift up others and lift up a program or an institution.
Follow Up:
And just to clarify that that literally was physical at times.
Travis Goff:
Remediation, coming back. We had to leave New Orleans. The university shut down. Students scattered across the country. We worked out of Dallas. Six of us worked out of Dallas. We had teams in I think six different locations. One of the best decisions that was ever made by that athletic director, Rick Dixon, was for the teams to compete that fall. If they hadn't, I don't think Tulane Athletics would exist to the extent they do today. And then coming back after Thanksgiving, the athletics portion of campus had somewhere between six and 10 feet of water on it. And so just remediation and trying to get, literally, the lights on, so to speak. And athletics rightfully couldn't be the top priority for an institution that just was trying to get housing and residence halls and classrooms back up in order to bring students back in that next January.
QUESTION:
Hey, Travis, Dennis Dodd, CBS sports. You don't want to know what journalism school I attended. Could you articulate what the football options are? You said it's still in development, but obviously you could hire a coach in two weeks, it could be a year. Could you articulate that?
Travis Goff:
Thanks, Dennis, for asking that question. Again, coming in, the most important thing to me was do as much work as I could on the front end, get organized, have a plan, have a few different plans, understand the options. You can only do so much of that before you hit the ground. And it'd be insincere, and it would not be doing the right thing for the University of Kansas for me to have arrived yesterday with putting the head down, and this is our direction, and this is how we're moving forward. Without the chance to spend time with Coach Jones, his staff, observe, and then listen. I've got to listen to the individuals who know a lot more than I do today, about where Kansas football is at, the state of that roster, the mindset of the student athletes. And so that's, again, what I've kind of said, I want to dig deeper with you on that, Dennis.
The second part is we do have a plan and it's about when will I have enough information? When will I have had enough engagement and what would be the right approach to launching that forward? So that's about as, you can follow up with a question, that's about where we're at here on day two.
QUESTION:
Did you lean on Fitz about the whole concept of the football and will you?
Travis Goff:
Well, I think Fitz was awesome through this process and so incredibly supportive. He knows a guy who's lived this, this idea of how do you build something that's going to be sustained, because that's taken years at Northwestern, as you know. It's been more about what have I been able to witness and soak up in that building process. So I've been learning from him for eight and a half plus years. And so I'll take some of that and he'll be a great sounding board through the process for sure.
QUESTION:
Hey, Travis, Nick Schwerdt with KLWN radio. You kind of just spoke to this a little bit, but you're inheriting an athletic department that's seen four full-time football coaches come and go over the last 11 years. I'm just curious as you sort of begin to assess the direction you'd like to see the program go. What gives you confidence that whoever is the next person to leave the program can have more success than his predecessors?
Travis Goff:
Thanks, Nick. I think we've, at the University of Kansas, learned a lot over the years and building football programs is incredibly difficult. It's certainly difficult in the Big 12 conference, one of the best in the country, and it's certainly different, even more so, without any kind of continuity. So I think those learnings that I have kind of witnessed from afar, the things that I've been able to see at the places I've been. And then what I know to be, incredibly clearly, the commitment from Chancellor Girod, from the leadership, from the staff and the group that's here, to build this thing in the right way. That's all the confidence I need coming in. And that confidence is incredibly high.
QUESTION:
And regardless of which direction you do decide to go, are there any unique characteristics or qualifications that stand out to you in terms of something that you feel like would make a successful head coach at Kansas?
Travis Goff:
There certainly are assumptions around that, with things I've observed and I think are applicable anywhere. So there's what's applicable anywhere in terms of building a program and then what's important and what I'm trying to really be focused on in these days ahead is what's going to be applicable here at the University of Kansas. And that's where I knew we need to listen, absorb. Before charting that path forward.
QUESTION:
Hey, Travis, Jesse Newell, Kansas City Star. You talked about your relationship with Bill Self earlier. I just wondered your thoughts on his new contract extension.
Travis Goff:
I think it's awesome. I'm glad it was done on Friday and I didn't need to be the guy doing that, not because I wouldn't have wanted to, but because it was such a clear demonstration from chancellor Girod and the entire Kansas community that Bill's our head basketball coach and exactly who we need at the helm there.
Lot of good stuff in here
QUESTION:
Matt Tait from The Journal World, welcome to town and congratulations. The first thing I wanted to ask you is along your journey, did you think that maybe you would have to take another step at a smaller school, becoming an AD first to get to this level?
Travis Goff:
Matt, nice to meet you. Look forward to getting to know you in the days ahead. I think that's what the narrative tends to be. And I think what I recognized as I left Tulane and the experiences I gained in I think the most of challenging of circumstances and as we continued to build at Northwestern over a significant timeframe, and to be a part of what was achieved there at a place with some inherent disadvantages, it surely came to my realization that I didn't need to do that, that the experiences I was gaining by the day, by the month by the year was literally preparing me for this exact opportunity.
QUESTION:
And just to follow up on that, when this came open, which wasn't that many days ago now, I mean, was it a no brainer in your mind that I'm going to go for this thing? This is, like you said, divine intervention, right?
Travis Goff:
No brainer, no brainer. You can't make it up in terms of how it all came together.
QUESTION:
Hi, I'm Jessica in Kansas City. What, from your experience at Northwestern, just your 16 years overall, do you think will help you guide you through this finding a new football coach and the NCAA investigation?
Travis Goff:
Nice to meet you, Jessica. Thanks. Well, it's a number of things. When you walk into a scenario where there's an immediate need, an immediate need to focus in on some critical factors, if you've lived that and had those experiences, then you're well-suited and well-prepared. And I believe that to be the case in this situation, I think when you have the support and the foundation that the University of Kansas provides and that KU Athletics provides, there has never been the shadow of doubt in my mind that we're going to navigate that successfully and any of the other things that lie ahead, because there'll be more challenges. There's no questioning that. And as Chancellor Girod indicated, the shifting landscape of college athletics, I'm real excited about KU being a leader in that.
QUESTION:
How's it going? Scott Chasen, 24/7 Sports. At Northwestern, you worked in a pretty impressive football facility there. I'm just curious if you could talk through that experience, maybe how that experience helped you, how that may apply here, especially with some of the stuff that may need work with the football stadium.
Travis Goff:
Thanks, Scott. Nice to see you. The kind of capital project effort is incredibly cumulative and it crosses all throughout campus. I think the first thing that matters, maybe most significantly, is to have alignment with university leadership, to make sure that that type of investment, that type of step forward will be something that will enhance the entire university community. And that's what we were able to achieve at Northwestern over that time with the facilities and the way in which we went about it. So partnerships on campus, really important. Understanding the financial implications, not just kind of blindly stating that we'll figure it out, we'll find our way, but being great stewards and having a real strategic plan on how to fund, and then not just fund to completion, but also to figure out how to operate. So I think those are all the experiences I've been able to gain from start to finish through that process.
And the other thing that we should all recognize, I certainly have lived this, is facilities matter. Not because of bells and whistles or what perception might be nationally, but because that's where our student athletes are spending their time enhancing their craft. And at this juncture in time in college athletics, you have to have the right facilities because that's again where the student athletes are spending their time.
QUESTION:
Then do you have a timeline or even just a plan in terms of evaluating the football program, what you want to do, obviously, interim coach, head coach? Do you have a path for what that looks?
Travis Goff:
Yeah. Had a great opportunity yesterday, really wanted to prioritize this to get out to practice, to observe Coach Jones and the staff. Energy was incredible. It's been well-documented for me coming in and then I was able to witness it with my own eyes, just what a great job Coach Jones that staff has done, keeping this group together, keeping them united and having the kind of energy you need to have in spring football. That was really neat. I had a chance to meet then one-on-one with Coach Jones and with his entire staff.
I guess I would say this, Scott. What I said to them is where we're at exactly on day two. I come in open-minded. I come in wanting to listen, learn, absorb, understand where we're at with this football program. There's a plan and it's more about the win and the understanding of how to go forward in that plan.
QUESTION:
Jon Kirby with Rivals.com and JayhawkSlant. Can you talk about what you learned working under somebody like Phillips and also being an administrator for the football program?
Travis Goff
Nice to see you, Jon. Jim is, again, pretty well known to be one of the most student-athlete-centric, if not the most student-athlete-centric athletic directors in the country. Being able to, with a background that can distract you a little bit from understanding that, it was really important for me to be aligned with someone where I could see that live day in and day out, again, keeping student athletes at the forefront. I think that's one of the things that Jim reiterated and reminded me and taught me day in and day out.
He demonstrated to me the importance of being aligned in a university that athletics is just a component in higher education, a component of a broader university. You have to live that. You can't just say that. There's ways in which you demonstrate that consistently. I think that was a critical aspect.
Maybe the last thing to say on many things that Jim taught me would be to have an incredibly high standard for what the institution can be for what the athletics program can be, and most importantly, for what you can provide your student athletes.
QUESTION:
Mr. Goff, Sam Lance, with the University Daily Kansan. I was just wondering what relationship you have with Coach Self, if any, and what you think of this lifetime contract.
Travis Goff:
Coach Self's never met a stranger, as many of you know. I had a chance when I was a young person early in my career to be here at KU when Drue Jennings made that exceptional hire for the University of Kansas. Just being a young guy and observing and watching the athletics program and department with Coach Roy leaving, and then bringing in Coach Self, it was really such great learning. I had a chance to get to know him. He treated me like I mattered, which was really something that will always stick with me.
We have had a chance. We've had multiple phone calls. He's been so warm, engaging, open. We've established a great rapport right off the bat. Then I had a chance to spend some time with him yesterday as well.
QUESTION:
I just have one follow-up. I know you were former KU journalism grad. I'm in the journalism school of course, as well. Is there any favorite class that you had during your time here?
Travis Goff:
Whew, Professor Marsh is a professor that always will jump out to me. I learned a lot. I think his role has shifted a little bit in the J School, but my learnings from him ... and I'll tell you this. This is the real deal. I apply the skills I learned in my time as a student here, in particular, in the journalism school, every day.
QUESTION:
You've touched on it a little bit, I wonder if you could take us through what yesterday was like for you. Did you get any sleep at all? Did you enjoy any of it or was it too much of a whirlwind? Can you just take us through that?
Travis Goff:
No. Truthfully, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to, but I really enjoyed every moment of it. From the second we left Evanston with this crew and landed in Lawrence to an amazing welcoming, had a chance to spend some time with Kurt, go over to the athletics department and met with the head coaches, the senior staff, and then had a chance to visit with the full staff. And to be in person, I think, as everybody can appreciate, to be in person to be in front of people with what everyone's gone through in this past year was really special. So those were the moments, Matt that I just was able to soak up. The fist bumps, the elbow bumps, and having a chance to just be with this Kansas Athletics family.
QUESTION:
Following up on that, what do you view your biggest challenge? Whether it's day one, week one, month one, or just in general big picture, is there one that sticks out?
Travis Goff:
I wouldn't say there's one that sticks out, they're certainly immediate priorities and those are real and really critical and they're on the immediate horizon. But we're going to tackle those, we're going to address those, we're going to use those as really important building blocks because the most important days are not today and next week and the week after, it's going to be what do we do with the momentum we can create? What do we do with those initial building blocks? Because this is going to be something that has to be built for sustained success and that's exactly what I'm here to do.
QUESTION:
The COVID financial situation, I mean, I know it's affecting everyone across the country but how big of a challenge for a first time AD stepping into a new role is that on your budget and just what you want to get accomplished?
Travis Goff:
I think everybody in college athletics and in higher ed is facing that challenge. Northwestern, exceptionally financially comfortable by and large, huge endowment, is facing and living that challenge. And so certainly understand and can relate to the situation here at KU. We have to pull all the levers, we have to look at our expenses that's going to be an important part of this. And we have to maximize our opportunities from a revenue perspective. I said this very honestly, and clearly throughout the interview process, philanthropic support is going to be at the forefront of moving Kansas Athletics forward. We're going to sell tickets, we're going to fill stadiums, we're going to do all those great things and maximize those revenue streams but the Jayhawk community and philanthropic support is what's going to be moves us forward and transforms Kansas Athletics.
QUESTION:
The last one for you. Obviously they identified you as somebody they were interested in and wanted to talk to and all of that. But did you feel like you had to sell yourself, having not been an AD before? And if you did, how did you sell yourself?
Travis Goff:
I think it was more about just the opportunities, the windows that the process provided me for just literally to tell the story of the foundation KU provided, the really unique time at Tulane, that I wouldn't replace for anything. And then of course, the time at Northwestern. So it was really natural, didn't feel like I had to over push, oversell, tell the story, talk about building, talk about sustain. My tenure hasn't been kind of bouncing around it's been about putting roots down, it's been about maximizing the impact I can have. So it was a very natural conversation and Chancellor Girod and the committee were exceptional in just processing and listening and asking real questions around that.
QUESTION:
Hey, Mr. Goff. This is Gus Baylow from The University Daily Kansan. I'm also a student in the J-school, a freshman myself. Is there something that maybe you've learned from the J-school you can maybe take to KU Athletics in particular? I know you touched on it earlier with the classes and the classes you liked. Is there something maybe from the J-school you can take and use in KU Athletics?
Travis Goff:
Gus, nice to see you. Glad you're at KU. I think they're the more nuanced things that you don't even realize you're seeing and picking up on in the classroom. And that's what I dig deep to ask myself the questions, what is that application like? So you won't know it until you're there but the advice would just to be to soak up every moment you have with that incredible faculty in those classes, because you'll apply, and it may not be clear in those moments, but that'll be ahead for you. That'll be really special thing.
QUESTION:
Yeah. Do you also feel like the amount of pride that the J-school has can also translate, obviously, to KU Athletics? They have a good relationship.
Travis Goff:
Yeah. Absolutely.
QUESTION:
Do you feel that that can help out with all different kinds of stuff?
Travis Goff:
No question. No question. I received a nice note from Dean Brill yesterday or the day before, and she's done an incredible job. It's a wonderful focal point for the university. So no question.
QUESTION:
Hey Travis. Vahe Gregorian from The Kansas City Star. Congratulations and welcome home.
Travis Goff:
Thank you, thank you.
QUESTION:
Just a little bit to pick up on the journalism track. I'm curious, when you came here from Dodge City did you have a career path in mind, and did it change with some experiences here? Or how did this come about?
Travis Goff:
It absolutely did. I came here, like many, not knowing what that path might look like. I was raised in a family of teachers, coachers, coaches, entrepreneurs, small business owners. And that was a really neat perspective to bring, but I didn't know what I wanted to do, and certainly in terms of my career. And as a junior at KU, with a little bit of a contact, I walked into that athletic department and I said, "Hey, I want to volunteer. I just want an opportunity as a student to learn and try and understand a little bit about what college athletics is and this idea that there's potential career opportunities there." One of the best decisions I ever made. And that's what gave me the exposure and gave me the support system and that foundation.
QUESTION:
And the other thing just, as the chancellor alluded to a little more directly than I had understood before, your time at Tulane really was right in the aftermath of Katrina and had a very direct impact on the campus and obviously life in New Orleans. I'm curious how that experience is something you've drawn on since in terms of being able to deal with anything.
Travis Goff:
Yeah. Amazing. Amazing experience. And again, one of those that at the time I wasn't fully processing. I don't know how many could in the situation New Orleans and Tulane was in. It really started with this mindset of, what can I do to help lift up this athletics program? So, my particular role shifted right away because it was all hands-on deck. And that was a really small deck of people to try and move forward and lift athletics literally off its back and from underwater. And again, it was a day-by-day learning. It was a regular firestorm of how to navigate, how to support student athletes that were scattered across the South and across the Southeast. And it was really more about, how do you handle yourself and how you lift up over others in adversity?
And as somebody who was being asked to be part of that small team, I knew enough to know I was going to take that exceptionally seriously. And I think that's been one of the great applications from that. When you have that responsibility, when you've been asked to do that, do it consistently, do it regularly, look at how you can lift up others and lift up a program or an institution.
Follow Up:
And just to clarify that that literally was physical at times.
Travis Goff:
Remediation, coming back. We had to leave New Orleans. The university shut down. Students scattered across the country. We worked out of Dallas. Six of us worked out of Dallas. We had teams in I think six different locations. One of the best decisions that was ever made by that athletic director, Rick Dixon, was for the teams to compete that fall. If they hadn't, I don't think Tulane Athletics would exist to the extent they do today. And then coming back after Thanksgiving, the athletics portion of campus had somewhere between six and 10 feet of water on it. And so just remediation and trying to get, literally, the lights on, so to speak. And athletics rightfully couldn't be the top priority for an institution that just was trying to get housing and residence halls and classrooms back up in order to bring students back in that next January.
QUESTION:
Hey, Travis, Dennis Dodd, CBS sports. You don't want to know what journalism school I attended. Could you articulate what the football options are? You said it's still in development, but obviously you could hire a coach in two weeks, it could be a year. Could you articulate that?
Travis Goff:
Thanks, Dennis, for asking that question. Again, coming in, the most important thing to me was do as much work as I could on the front end, get organized, have a plan, have a few different plans, understand the options. You can only do so much of that before you hit the ground. And it'd be insincere, and it would not be doing the right thing for the University of Kansas for me to have arrived yesterday with putting the head down, and this is our direction, and this is how we're moving forward. Without the chance to spend time with Coach Jones, his staff, observe, and then listen. I've got to listen to the individuals who know a lot more than I do today, about where Kansas football is at, the state of that roster, the mindset of the student athletes. And so that's, again, what I've kind of said, I want to dig deeper with you on that, Dennis.
The second part is we do have a plan and it's about when will I have enough information? When will I have had enough engagement and what would be the right approach to launching that forward? So that's about as, you can follow up with a question, that's about where we're at here on day two.
QUESTION:
Did you lean on Fitz about the whole concept of the football and will you?
Travis Goff:
Well, I think Fitz was awesome through this process and so incredibly supportive. He knows a guy who's lived this, this idea of how do you build something that's going to be sustained, because that's taken years at Northwestern, as you know. It's been more about what have I been able to witness and soak up in that building process. So I've been learning from him for eight and a half plus years. And so I'll take some of that and he'll be a great sounding board through the process for sure.
QUESTION:
Hey, Travis, Nick Schwerdt with KLWN radio. You kind of just spoke to this a little bit, but you're inheriting an athletic department that's seen four full-time football coaches come and go over the last 11 years. I'm just curious as you sort of begin to assess the direction you'd like to see the program go. What gives you confidence that whoever is the next person to leave the program can have more success than his predecessors?
Travis Goff:
Thanks, Nick. I think we've, at the University of Kansas, learned a lot over the years and building football programs is incredibly difficult. It's certainly difficult in the Big 12 conference, one of the best in the country, and it's certainly different, even more so, without any kind of continuity. So I think those learnings that I have kind of witnessed from afar, the things that I've been able to see at the places I've been. And then what I know to be, incredibly clearly, the commitment from Chancellor Girod, from the leadership, from the staff and the group that's here, to build this thing in the right way. That's all the confidence I need coming in. And that confidence is incredibly high.
QUESTION:
And regardless of which direction you do decide to go, are there any unique characteristics or qualifications that stand out to you in terms of something that you feel like would make a successful head coach at Kansas?
Travis Goff:
There certainly are assumptions around that, with things I've observed and I think are applicable anywhere. So there's what's applicable anywhere in terms of building a program and then what's important and what I'm trying to really be focused on in these days ahead is what's going to be applicable here at the University of Kansas. And that's where I knew we need to listen, absorb. Before charting that path forward.
QUESTION:
Hey, Travis, Jesse Newell, Kansas City Star. You talked about your relationship with Bill Self earlier. I just wondered your thoughts on his new contract extension.
Travis Goff:
I think it's awesome. I'm glad it was done on Friday and I didn't need to be the guy doing that, not because I wouldn't have wanted to, but because it was such a clear demonstration from chancellor Girod and the entire Kansas community that Bill's our head basketball coach and exactly who we need at the helm there.
