New Athletic Director Christian Spears has been described as a rock star, and that’s exactly what’s needed to fine-tune the school’s sports programs.
Even from an early age, Marshall’s new Athletic Director Christian Spears knew he wanted a career in the sports world. He and his father were both avid fans of football, basketball, baseball, soccer, golf — you name it. It also didn’t hurt that his father was a graduate of UCLA and moved the family to Pasadena, California, when Christian was young.
“As a kid I got to go to all the UCLA games in the Rose Bowl,” Spears recalled fondly. “I remember going to a couple of games there when Warren Moon (the future NFL Hall of Famer) was the quarterback at the University of Washington. Because my dad was such an avid Bruins fan, I started to root for the Huskies. At a young age I started to understand that I could tease my dad and my dad could tease me. We had a playful banter.”
Spears’ love for Washington only grew. He not only picked Washington as his favorite school but also eventually played football there, as a self-professed “sixth-string tight end.” It was there that Spears met his wife, Julia; his mom told him it was a sign that he made the right call to root for the Huskies back in the day. The couple would go on to have three children: Rainer, Kai and Skyla. Spears graduated from the University of Washington in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, then earned a master’s degree in public administration from California State University Long Beach in 1998 and his juris doctor from Ohio State in 2002.
Spears’ career in athletics administration began at Long Beach State in 1996. From there he went on to serve in a variety of roles at such schools as Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Harvard and Eastern Michigan. He was instrumental in helping Eastern Michigan produce record-breaking fundraising results, including the highest number of donors and most cash received in program history. For the last five years Spears was the deputy athletic director at the University of Pittsburgh, where he focused on marketing and branding, media relations, fundraising, ticket operations, licensing, merchandising, game presentation, broadcast services and multimedia rights. He took over the Thundering Herd’s 16-sport, $30 million athletics program on March 14.
“Christian Spears is a transformational leader who exhibits a deep respect for tradition, combined with an ability to architect a vision to unleash potential,” said Marshall President Brad D. Smith. “I look forward to working with him to usher in the next chapter of greatness for athletics at our university.”
Spears said his reason for making the move to Marshall was simple: the people.
“I said no to opportunities over the last eight years, and then this job opened up,” Spears said. “The reason I jumped on it was because I felt like the people here were different — every single person I’ve met is authentic and genuine. They tell you exactly what they think. They’re not afraid to say it out loud.”
Spears has been in perpetual motion mode since his first trip to Marshall’s Huntington campus. It’s not as if he arrived at the dinner party with the meals already prepared and the table set in perfect order. There are many challenges to confront.
Marshall is changing conferences in July from Conference USA to the Sun Belt. There’s that decades-long promise of a baseball stadium that’s not yet been built. That stadium is at, or near the top of, his to-do list. He met with stadium architects his first week on the job.
“There’s an opportunity to only miss two baseball seasons if we do this the right way,” Spears said. “I don’t want to miss more than three. I told President Smith, ‘Let’s not have another groundbreaking, let’s have a ribbon-cutting.’”
His enthusiasm is infectious. He can command a room and engage a crowd in the same moment. He answers questions in a firm, frank manner. He has high expectations for the various sports at Marshall and for the coaches who run them.
“I’m not afraid or shy of telling Coach Huff, ‘Hey, let’s be the first team out of the Sun Belt to get into an expanded college football playoff. Let’s make that our goal, Coach.’”
To reach such lofty goals, Spears knows that he and the administration must provide the necessary tools to help all Marshall coaches upgrade their respective programs.
“I think the guy’s a rock star, I really do,” said Head Football Coach Charles Huff about his new boss. “I think he is where college athletics is going with his vision. I told him about some of the things we need for the football program, and he already had them on his to-do list. It’s a good feeling when the higher-ups recognize some of the same issues that are needed to make huge steps in the program.”
Spears had other pressing matters facing him his first few weeks on the job. Marshall’s basketball team finished 12-21 in the 2021-22 season. He and Head Coach Dan D’Antoni met to discuss and agree upon a series of one-year contracts beginning this upcoming season.
“I want to develop a relationship with Coach D’Antoni,” Spears said. “I will challenge the status quo, and I think he wants that to happen as well.”
Spears said he also wants to visit and take a critical look at all of Marshall’s athletic facilities. He’s already broached the idea of replacing the seats in the south end zone of Edwards Stadium with a party deck. At Pitt last year he quickly learned that in these days of 60-inch televisions, YouTube and cell phones, you better put on a good show to get fans in the stands.
“The football team at Pitt won 11 games last year; and even though we sold 55,000 tickets per game, there were times when 20,000 people didn’t show up,” Spears said. “That concerns me. There’s something going on with the game-day atmosphere that needs to improve. We need to make our fans feel like they are missing out on a great experience if they’re not in the stadium.”
In chasing his dream of becoming an athletic director, Spears has come all the way from Puget Sound to the Ohio River. Huntington is not Seattle, and Joan C. Edwards Stadium isn’t Husky Stadium — but that’s why he is where he is. A change of scenery has served him well.
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About the Author: Keith Morehouse is a freelance writer and the sports director at WSAZ.