UNLV Rebels AD Erick Harper Is Constantly Adapting To A Rapidly Evolving College Sports Landscape

UNLV Rebels athletic director Erick Harper has done an unbelievable job since taking over the role and is in the midst of his best year yet. Somehow, he lured both Dan Mullen and Josh Pastner to take over the football and basketball programs, and has the football, basketball, and women's basketball programs trending towards elite levels that they hadn't been at in decades or in some cases ever.

He's dug the school out of both a financial and competitive rut and has to be in consideration for one of the best executives in all of college athletics. Recently, he spoke about taking the job, and he's had to adapt to the rapidly changing industry.

UNLV Rebels AD Erick Harper On The Constant Changes In The College Sports Landscape

“For years in our industry, we worried about change once — maybe twice — a year. Now change is constant,” Harper said. “That’s the biggest difference from when I first started in the industry to now. So you just have to be more fluid, more on your toes, and try to anticipate. That last part is difficult, though. Because just when you think something is this way, it goes that way.”

Harper On Being Fluid In Today's College Sports

"When I got in this business, my mentors encouraged me to be diverse in your thoughts and be diverse in your skill set. So I take that to mean having the ability to adapt to change.

Now, are you always going to be able to change, to adapt at the same speed that the industry changes? In some cases, no, because there’s usually [bureaucratic] red tape that you have to go through. Not that red tape is a bad thing. It’s just that sometimes it delays how and when you adjust on your end.

The speed at which business is being done definitely has changed over time. So it can be difficult to adapt and keep pace with the speed of business, especially with regard to frequent rules changes. Sometimes, the speed limit might be 55 mph but you’re only able to go 35 mph."

Harper On the Increasing Difficulty Of His Job

"Well, first of all, there’s a lot of false information out there. For instance, coaches always hear what the other school is doing but don’t necessarily know — none of us know — how true the information they’re hearing really is due to inaccuracies on social media.

Take this world of NIL: A mid-major school says their budget for paying student-athletes is $10 million. Where is that $10 million coming from? When you look at their financial reports from previous years, the numbers don’t match up — unless there’s some wealthy donor who comes out of nowhere. And even then, is that money sustainable?

That’s the part we all consistently forget: We might have $10 million today, but will that $10 million be there five years from now? Is it perpetual? It’s hard to say that it is, unless there’s an endowment.

As an athletic director, I have to rely on the passion, love, and generosity of our fan base. Because the majority of our budget’s revenue is through self-supporting revenues."

More UNLV Rebels On SI News