USF Athletics CEO Rob Higgins shares plan, passion to succeed

As a University of South Florida alumnus, Ron Higgins is all too aware of the school’s sports reputation over the years, with a focus always on the future, on potential and often on letdowns.

“I see so many die-hard Bulls in the room who have been so patient, who have waited years upon years … hoping, wanting, believing and persevering,” he said Monday during his introductory “celebration” as USF’s first CEO of Athletics.

Then, Higgins, introduced as a doer and not a dreamer, set the tone: Potential will no longer be tolerated “as a crutch.”

“Screw one day and screw potential,” he said. “I don't officially start until Oct. 1, so I can say ‘screw’ for eight more days … We have arrived.”

As he set the high bar before a full house in the Muma Basketball Center on the Tampa campus, the energy in the room was unmistakable.

ALSO READ: Tampa Bay Sports Commission head Rob Higgins is USF's new CEO of athletics

“The negativity that we've seen from time to time around our program is officially over as well,” he continued. “We have the resources, including revenue share, facilities and coaches to win right now in the American (Conference).”

Higgins didn’t have to move far to take over at his old school. After two decades leading the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, he brings a resume of attracting large-scale events to the region. He will also be the first alum to lead the department.

The hire comes after a national search to replace athletic director Michael Kelly, who moved on to the same role at the U.S. Naval Academy over the summer.

USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford says Higgins was the obvious choice after a rigorous national search. He said Higgins was the first person the search committee spoke to and the last, “and we spoke to a lot in between, but we had to get this right.”

“The search process was an incredible thing to be part of,” said Jay Stroman, the CEO of the USF Foundation, who temporarily filled the AD role for three months. “I'm sure Rob probably thought it was excruciating at some points, but clearly his passion, his energy and his enthusiasm shined."

“And lucky for us, I really think if you cut his arm, he bleeds green and gold," Stroman added.

Outgoing USF president Rhea Law said Higgins, with his USF ties, local sports background and college sports connections, was the perfect fit.

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“He’s not only a passionate Bull. He is a tireless fundraiser, so get ready,” Law said. “He is an accomplished marketer. And he is a veteran revenue generator.

“His leadership has brought some of the biggest events to this region … But behind each of these events is a story of strategic partnerships, of ticket sales, of deep-rooted relationships, and that goes across local, regional and national landscape. And it includes college athletics, this very space that he will be a part of," Law said.

USF Athletics

USF’s decision to hire a CEO of Athletics rather than a traditional athletic director signals the evolving demands of modern college sports. Unlike a conventional AD, who primarily manages day-to-day operations, coaching staff and compliance, a CEO will take a corporate-style approach to revenue strategy, media rights and athlete compensation.

In the wake of the NCAA’s recent antitrust settlement allowing schools to pay athletes, Higgins will navigate complex financial modeling, ensure Title IX compliance, manage name, image and likeness programs, and position the Bulls to compete on the field and in the expanding marketplace.

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The quick basic plan from Higgins is to build a “high-powered nine-figure business” with an elite and skilled staff of the country’s “top sports business talent.”

The steps: “Win the building, then win campus, then win the community, then win the country ― in that order.”

“You can't expect to win the hearts and minds of campus until we know we have our very own people 100% bought in and obsessed with what we get a chance to do every day,” he said. “… We are not taking shortcuts.”

The goal, Higgins said, is to “take this place to levels others would find unimaginable.”

“It’s going to take all of us. From the chair and vice chair of the trustees to the president to the ball kids,” he said, before putting a little skin in the game.

“Don’t you think a new title, a new role deserves a new commitment,” he said before announcing his family was making an annual $25,000 donation to USF Athletics.

"I've dreamed of this day and this role, but I've also always dreamed of this moment of being able to give back financially to the place that I love,” Higgins said. “And there's no better time to do that than right now."

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In a suit and white sneakers, the nation’s first college athletics CEO worked the stage commanding the room, emphasizing that the school’s athletic program will prioritize process and performance over vague promises for the future.

“I can tell you what we don't and won't have, though, and that's excuses and regrets. We're going to be proactive, prepared, and please know we have a very, very detailed plan for perspective.”

WUSF’s Mark Schriner contributed to this report.