Matt Harmon: On this episode of Monmouth weekly fall sports season is in full swing, winter sports, right around the corner. We catch up with Monmouth university athletic director, Jeff Stapleton with university president Patrick Lehe. This is faculty member, Matt Harmon, time for episode number 35 of Monmouth weekly. Thanks is always for listening. Matt Harmon: Still feels like summer around the area as we hit the midpoint of October local summer, as they say here at the Jersey shore. Good to be back with you on another episode of Monmouth weekly and good to be able to welcome in Monmouth university athletic director, Jeff Stapleton, who has been with the university for so long, starting all the way back in 1990 with university president Patrick Lehe, I'm faculty member, Matt Harmon. Uh, this is our 35th episode of mammoth weekly and president Lehe. Before we bring Jeff on, I say a very good morning to you. Hope all is well. And, um, man, these are, these are the days that you want to hang onto. As we record here on a Thursday morning, just an absolutely perfect day. Um, and, and it just, it feels like I don't know, sports weather on so many levels. So this episode seems to be right on track with what we should be doing. Patrick Leahy: Actually I think most days are good sports days, uh, irrespective of the weather, but, uh, yeah, the weather's been fantastic this local summer that, uh, that, uh, you mentioned, I can't believe that this weekend and, and the first couple days of next week is the fall break. So we are already halfway through more or less halfway through the fall semester and, um, really, really pleased at, uh, how things are progressing, uh, this fall of 2021. Matt Harmon: Yeah, you, you know, you look at it and, and you and I have spoken about this on earlier episodes this semester. Um, the campus has a nice feel to it students kind of out and around much more so than they've been over the course of the last 18 months. And from, from a COVID perspective, um, things still in a pretty good place overall, when you look at it from a campus perspective. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. Overall good, good shape. We are, um, you know, still monitoring cases, uh, daily, and we have a few on campus, but, um, the best part about it is because of our high vaccination rates. Those few cases remain pretty much isolated cases and it doesn't emerge into, uh, you know, a bunch of residual cases. And that is why we wanted a high vaccination rate. And, uh, uh, we're managing, I think COVID very well, I'm so grateful to everybody in the campus community, our faculty staff, and our students for, you know, sticking to the COVID protocols that are in place, but they seem to be working knock on wood to this point. And it is allowing us to restore, uh, the energy to campus. I mean, maybe we'll be able, we will have a chance to talk about it, but, uh, the football game last weekend had more energy and enthusiasm than I can remember at this, uh, university in the last couple years. So really, really great sign that things are returning to normal, Matt Harmon: Clearly a fantastic atmosphere, president Lehe, referring to the Monmouth, uh, Princeton football game, which was a matchup of two teams, not only from the garden state, but in the top 25 at that point, great lead to our guest today. He is the new athletic director at Monmouth university. He is Jeff Stapleton. Um, Jeff you've seen, I guess probably every single football game from 1993, up until now of 2021 to president lay he's point, the program has taken on so many different levels along the way, but it was really fun to be able to welcome a team like Princeton in albeit in what turned out to be a tough loss, but just such a fantastic atmosphere overall. Jeff Stapleton: Yeah. Good morning, Matt and president LA. Thanks. Thank so much for having me on. I really appreciate the time. Um, yeah, it was a, it was a great game. Uh, it went right down to the wire, as we all know. And, uh, it was a hard fought game. Very evenly played match up between two teams in the top 20. And, uh, it just, it just shows how far Monmouth football has come since, uh, 1993 when we , as funny as this is, we started football in 1993 at Stonehill college was our first game. And, uh, now my daughter, Maureen, uh, is a freshman at Stonehill college. So I drive by that field the other day. And now it's a soccer field. I'm like, Hey, this is where we played football, our first football game. And my daughter, like, you know, she, she's gotten sick of hearing that every time we drive into campus, but, uh, it's, uh, we have come such a long ways and it's a real Testament to, uh, to coach Cohan and his staff, how he has built this program over the years, Matt Harmon: You know, Jeff one, one of many things in terms of a program perspective that have changed. And I mentioned when you came to Monmouth in, in 1990, number one, there was no football, it was still Monmouth college. Um, and over the course of your time, which is seen many different roles most recently before taking over as athletic director, kind of, you know, the senior deputy director, internal affairs, but so much more in terms of facilities and hiring and, and coaches and getting things up to snuff like the ocean first bank center, like the new Kessler stadium. It it's such a different campus than when you started in 1990. When I became a student in 1992 to what it is right now. And, and you see, you mentioned a, a Testament to just how good things are mammoth in and of itself from an athletic perspective. I is really a fantastic example of a division one mid-major that's on the cusp of so many good things. Jeff Stapleton: Yeah. We, we, you know what I think when it goes back to it, Monmouth was dedicated to build all their programs the right way. And maybe that means taking a little bit longer, but doing it the right way and, and taking the proper steps and not trying to, to, uh, have any shortcuts. And, uh, I think that's, what's happened, you know, we've had two football, you know, two Kessler stadiums since we started football, but the second, uh, the second stadium is just beautiful. And we took our time and we built the right ocean first bank center. That is the envy of, of our league and really the east at our level, people come in and they all say, this is the right size for mid-majors 4,000, you know, 4,200 seats. And everybody wishes. That was the size that they had, that, that you can fill it, but it's, it's not too big. And, uh, it's just a great atmosphere because the fans are right on top of the court. And that's what everybody wants to be Matt Harmon: President Lehe. I, I know that for you, when you took over as the university president, certainly one of the things among the many, uh, that attracted you was the, was the athletic department, the athletic facilities here at Monmouth. Um, and, and, and to that point of Jeff talking about being the envy of so many different schools in the area, it it's a high mark that has been set that I know you love the fact that Monmouth continues on the field and off the field to live up to that high bar. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. I love, I love the, the fact that, uh, other places, uh, are envious of our facilities, especially as Jeff said, the way in which the university financed those facilities over the years in such a responsible way. Um, no debt outstanding on either of those two facilities. And, um, that's a Testament to our donors over the years and the, you know, the really shrewd financial management of the university to get the best facilities, you know, of our, of our level, uh, in the east and to do it, uh, you know, without, without any outstanding debt. But, you know, I'll just reiterate something, Matt, you know, Jeff Stapleton has been here as you point out since 1990. And the reason that he finds himself here in 2021 as our athletic director is because it's not, not lost on me. That every decision pretty much that this university has made from an athletics perspective over the last 30, 31 years, Jeff has been involved in. Now, he might say, maybe not at the early years, but you get , you get my point. He's been involved in helping to build the athletic program that we have today. And when it came time to find a successor for, uh, Dr. McNeil, it was pretty clear to me. I mean, that, uh, that Jeff would be a great candidate. We, we did do, uh, uh, an internal search. I wanted to first see if we had talent internally, that could step up and take over for Dr. McNeil. And, um, we did that search and, and no surprise Jeff emerged as the sort of consensus favorite, um, of so many people including me to, uh, to take over. So, um, you know, why upset something that is moving along on, on such a positive trajectory? Matt Harmon: Jeff, if you can, if you can pick up on that statement and, and talk about from a perspective of, of being on campus for as long as, as you've been, and unless I'm missing someone only working for two athletic directors, right. It would've been Wayne Oak who hired you, who was the former men's basketball coach, and then Dr. McNeil who took over, um, in 1994, what you learned maybe from, from either or both of them, um, that you feel like you've also developed your own style because you're your own person and different from either one. Um, but, but the things that you've picked up that make you who you are today within the athletic department. Jeff Stapleton: Well, um, yeah, that's a, it's a great question. You know, I mean, I, I worked with Wayne Oak. He did bring me in here, uh, back in 1990, this mammoth college at that point where a far different program and a much smaller program in scale. Uh, and then Marilyn took over in 19, really. I think it was 1993, Marilyn took over and right away, uh, you know, fresh eyes on our, on our school. She, she saw some, uh, inequities, uh, on the women's side and started to talk about and building and, and coming up, uh, with a plan for our, our title IX and, uh, our gender equity. And, uh, since that time, since Maryland's time, we were lucky enough to start five new women's programs. Uh, at the time we started field hockey, women's lacrosse, golf, bowling, swimming, and now we just began, uh, we just hired our first, uh, women's rowing coach in Scott Belford, uh, in September. And we're real excited for our next, uh, our next opportunity here, our 24 sport, uh, and having Scott on board with us, who's been a long time rowing coach in the area at CBA. He built that program, uh, over the 18 years that he was, uh, there at their helm and did a great job. And, uh, we're just excited to have him on board and for him to educate us about the sport of rowing Matt Harmon: President Lehe. I, you know, we have not had an opportunity to talk about the addition of women's rowing as a 24th sport, uh, here on campus. But, you know, when you think of it, the Jersey shore has so many different waterways. And from, from the idea of finding another sport, um, that Monmouth can be number one, competitive in, have the infrastructure for, and have a conference. I mean, I, I, I spent a couple minutes this morning looking up the Mac in terms of winning women's rowing there's 10, 11 teams. So it, it seems to be tailor made for a school like mama to add women's rowing. Patrick Leahy: Yeah, I, I, well, I arrived here looking at, uh, again, ways that we might offer more athletic opportunities to, uh, to our female students. And, uh, rowing was a natural for all the reasons that you mentioned. I mean, we, we have access to, to good water. Um, you know, let's, let's be honest, uh, and I'm not saying this because I was myself, a rower , maybe I was the exception, but rowers are typically very good students, very self-motivated, you know, type a personalities that, uh, perform at a high level athletically and academically, we often source rowers from really, really fine high schools, um, around the, the Northeast. So it's, it's as much a it's as much sort of an academic play in some respects as it is an athletic play, just because, uh, you know, stereotypically the type of students who choose to row, um, and then to be able to recruit Scott Belford here, uh, he, he started the program at Christian brothers academy, as I understand it 18 years ago. And, and for years now they've been a nationally competitive high school crew, I mean, nationally competitive. So we just felt that, you know, if he brings that same energy and enthusiasm, and as Jeff mentioned earlier builds in the right fashion, a program, we too will be, uh, at least, uh, competitive in the Mac conference, if not nationally competitive. Sometimes soon, I, I, I was joking though, that I was at back to school night, uh, at CBA for my sons. And it made for a little bit of an awkward exchange with their head of school, because it was a day after we announced that Scott would be leaving CBA and coming here to Monmouth, but they , they understood, they thought it was a great move for Scott and, um, you know, of course wished him, well, my hope is, um, like I said, that he he'll do here, uh, what he did at CBA. And we have no reason to believe that he won't. Matt Harmon: Yeah. I, I guess the unfortunate part now is that since Monmouth hired somebody from CBA, now your two sons have to find another place to go to school. Right. They're not welcome at the, at, at Christian brothers. Patrick Leahy: Exactly. Well, it's a, it's a, it's a supportive, forgiving place, so they'll, they'll, they'll keep them there. Matt Harmon: Jeff, you know, you mentioned a, um, a term that is so important in the scope of college athletics, athletics overall, and probably even on a, a much bigger picture. And that is gender equity. Um, you know, you worked for Dr. McNeil or worked with Dr. McNeil for as long as you did. She was one of the, the champions, I would say of the cause for so long being, um, you know, one of the rare division, one female athletic directors. And I think for you, probably a lot of lessons learned working with her, but also the fact, and I think this is so unique about you is that you have four daughters. You mentioned one of 'em at Stonehill, but you've got four overall and four athletic daughters who are involved in, um, the sport of basketball and some other stuff as well. So it's a, cause that from a personal standpoint is also very near and dear to your heart as well. Jeff Stapleton: Yeah, it, it really is. And, and to touch on that, Maryland has taught us all so much about gender equity and , and when Maryland was hired, I I've had my children later in life. And, uh, when, when I started working with Marilyn, I did not have any children and ever since then, and now I have four children. So I think Marilyn had her wand on me somehow, but I have four healthy children. And, uh, she said, you're gonna understand this from, from, from home all the way to the office about how important gender equity is, but it is so important. And my daughters have been lucky enough to be able to play high school basketball and then move on. I have two in college, so, and they're both right now, uh, lucky enough to be on their teams and, and, and competing. Um, and I still have two, one at Trinity hall and one at St. Catherine's school. So, uh, they are also still in the, uh, in the, uh, basketball world. And, um, so this is so important. I mean, when Marilyn first came to campus, she, um, you know, one of her first duties was to get us, uh, to, to understand our picture and, and where we needed to go with opportunities for women. And she had a plan and that plan continues today with the, the adding of rowing. But we, you know, we started, uh, with field hockey and, uh, added that program and, and did it the right way. And, uh, we started on a grass field up at Kessler St where where's so sweet of cat is now. And since then we've put in two turf fields. So the growth has always been done and done the right way. And, um, we're just excited about that and being able to hire also another feather in Maryland's cap, we've, we've hired so many quality women head coaches so that our, our female student athletes see somebody like themselves, uh, in that role. Patrick Leahy: Let me just jump in Matt, too, that, um, on that topic, when I interviewed Jeff for the position, um, I asked him, um, about title IX and his commitment to title IX, the, the letter of it and the spirit of it. And, uh, without embarrassing, you, Jeff Jeff's answer was more or less. Well, I believe of course, that we will offer, uh, the same quality experiences to all of our female athletes that we offer to our male athletes. What else do you wanna know about about it? And I just felt like that was so embraced the spirit of, of, uh, that title IX, uh, legislation, which is we are gonna make sure that we have enough, uh, athletic offerings to serve our female students and that they are receiving the same first class experience that we want all of our student athletes to, um, to experience. So, um, that does come, I think, as you pointed out from a great professional and personal, uh, perspective in Jeff's case, Matt Harmon: When, when you think of it on, on, on a lot of levels, the, um, whole athletic department and the individual sports off to Jeff, a great start this fall, we just mentioned football, but clearly that's, that's not it. And now October kind of becomes that time where you're looking ahead to some crossover sports like men's and women swimming, which has their first meet, uh, coming up this weekend. You've got basketball about three to four weeks away, but let's spend a minute on, on the fall sports. And just talk about the success rate. You look football first place right now in the big south men's, and women's soccer off to amazing starts, uh, within the Mac field hockey right there for another potential championship in the America, east and cross country, uh, continues to be a, you know, a very successful sport for Monmouth. Um, it's been a great fall, much, like it was a, an amazing spring last year in a crazy time, but the fall specifically, um, and those sports just off to great, great starts. Jeff Stapleton: Yeah. They really, uh, the teams talking about momentum, they have taken their momentum from the spring and the, and the success that all these fall sports had in the spring and have, have jumped right head first jumped right into, uh, this fall, this fall semester, you know, we're, we're halfway through the, our league play basically. And as you said, football's in first place. Men's and women's soccer are in first place in their leagues. Field. Hockey is right in the mix. Uh, they're not in first, but right now mains and first in the field hockey, but we're, we're right in we're right in line to be in the, uh, in the, in the conference tournament. And, uh, our cross country's teams are, are gearing up and getting ready for their championship, which is an on, on October 30th, down in Orlando, at, uh, at Disney world. So, uh, they are preparing themselves and have had some great races. Patrick Leahy: One, one thing I wanna point out too, Matt, regarding our fall, uh, sports activity, really interesting thing happened at Monmouth just last weekend in one weekend. Uh, we hosted USC, Princeton and Stanford in the same weekend. And, uh, you can tell that is such a source of pride for me, that our athletics program allows us to bring, uh, really high quality institutions like that to, to campus, to introduce them to Monmouth. And, uh, uh, that's why in part, uh, we support athletics is so that, uh, we can give our student athletes a chance to compete against other really first rate institutions and, and hopefully, you know, get people thinking of us, uh, a little bit more like those institutions. I, I don't wanna overstate the case here, but, um, to have USC Princeton and Stanford hosted in west long branch on the same weekend is just an incredible thing for us. And I think in the in the end, we were one, one and one against those three teams, which is, you know, pretty good and including, uh, a significant win by our women's field hockey program over Stanford. Who's beaten us, uh, the last couple, uh, last couple seasons, but, um, you know, we almost won that Princeton game and we basically, as I understand it tied in women's lacrosse with USC. So, um, I hope that's just a small measure of the way this program has developed and, and what it might do to help shine a spotlight on Monmouth university in general, Matt Harmon: With university president Patrick Lehe, I'm faculty member, Matt Harmon, we're joined here on Monmouth weekly on the 35th episode of our podcast series with the university athletic director, Jeff Stapleton, um, Jeff, you know, to that point, thinking of the direction of Mammouth. And I mentioned kind of the, the crossover from one season to the next, I, you you've always been a huge basketball fan number one, and a former coach at the collegiate level, which got you into this, um, you know, college athletic scene. Um, I scanned this morning, the schedules for both the men's and women's basketball teams, because the non-conference starts. I know the men open up on November 9th down in Charlotte. I mean, to, to say you're challenging yourself as basketball programs, I think most would almost be understated when you look at the non-conference slate for both teams. Jeff Stapleton: Yeah. We, our coaches have always tried to, they use the non-conference season to prepare themselves for the, for the conference play, and they do not worry about who they play. They will take on all comers and to their, to their, uh, to their credit. I mean, you look at the men's schedule. Let me just run down and, and well who we're playing in a nonconference from a league standpoint, we're playing a, we're playing a conference USA, we're playing one conference USA team, two CAA teams, one, a 10 team, two Ivys, two Patriots, one American, one big east, and one ACC school. I mean, king rice is, is challenging his team to compete at the highest level before we even get into league play. So it is a it's, it's a tremendous Testament that he backs down to no one, and it really embraces playing at the highest level and our kids embrace. That's why they want to come to Monmouth. They wanna play at the highest level. Matt Harmon: And then Jeff, on the, on the flip side, I, you were probably gonna head in this direction, mention the, the men's schedule on the women's side with Jenny boas now taking over and kind of renewed energy and enthusiasm for that program. I mentioned the men open up on November 9th, the women start November 10th. They play at Syracuse and I'm scanning their schedule right now as well. I see Oregon state, I see Dartmouth sacred heart Providence St Joe's and Navy, same thing, another challenging non-conference slate with a brand new coach. Um, and, and, and a program that on a lot of levels needed a little bit of a shot in the arm. And I think has it right now with a new coaching staff and, and clearly a new direction, but you, you and I have talked about this on several trips that we've been on together. The, the women's basketball program is the one that you're waiting from a Monmouth perspective to just take off and emerge as like that next up and coming program. Jeff Stapleton: Yeah. Jenny has done a tremendous job since stepping on campus back in. I think it was April when she stepped on campus and, uh, she has, she has put together a tremendous schedule. Like you said, we, you know, right off the bat, she's got ACC schools, big E schools, PAC 12 schools, Ivy Patriot eight, 10 American east and Northeast conference teams to compete against. She has been so visible in our area and Monmouth county in the high schools already being at almost every high school open gym that they've had during this live period. She has gone out, met the local coaches and knows the strong history of women's basketball at the shore. And she has been in all these gyms, talking with coaches, seeing their players and developing a strategy for the future recruiters. You know, she's looking at the next four years of, of high school players and trying to build her team. And she is not going to miss one athlete in the shore area. I can guarantee you that. Patrick Leahy: Let me just jump into Matt on, I, I love hearing about those, uh, sort of high, high mid-major and, and, and, uh, the major conferences that we're playing. I look at this slightly, slightly differently. Okay. I love this non-conference schedule on both the men's and the women's side, because listen to the institutions we get to play Towson, Lehigh St. Joe's, Princeton St. John's, Yale Colgate Hofstra, and then on the women's side, Dartmouth, Providence, Syracuse, this is all before we get into league play and associate ourselves with those fine schools. So it's again, not just providing an incredible athletic opportunity for our student athletes, but the way in which athletics at Monmouth helps to burnish the academic reputation of our institution by playing and competing against other really, really fine academic institutions. So I'm always so proud of the, of the, uh, non-conference scheduling that we do because not only are they really good athletic programs, but they're incredible institutions, uh, and that helps even before we get in to, uh, to league play with, with, uh, you know, Marist and Fairfield and so many other great, uh, great schools, Matt Harmon: Couple more minutes with, uh, university athletic director, Jeff Stapleton, Jeff, I, I said, when you started at Monmouth up until this point, you had worked for only two athletic directors, Wayne Oak, Marilyn McNeil. Um, if I'm counting correctly off the top of my head, I think president Lehe would be the sixth president that you'd served under. Um, and, and, and my, my question here not to put you on the spot is that in a lot of ways you've seen probably the, the good and the bad with all of the university presidents, but as, as you've had, I'm sure several conversations more than several, but several conversations. And you hear it now in his voice, how exciting is it to have a, a university president that is kind of fully vested in what goes on with the athletic side of things? Jeff Stapleton: Oh, it's, it's tremendous. You can't, you can't even put into words how, how the student athletes feel because president Lehe gets out and talks to all our student athletes on the field during, during their practice time, he asks for a few minutes from our head coaches, he goes out and, and, and talks with our student athletes. And I'm telling you, they really appreciate that. They know they have support from the top down. And that speaks volumes of, of, of the, of the, our community that we are in. Uh, Monmouth has a strong community, and we care about each other. And our president Lehe shows that every day, by being out, not only in athletics, but the whole community and, and the arts and supporting all our students, uh, across the board. And it just, it's so important. The kids speak about it. They know they've met the president. There's not a lot of schools in the country that every student on this campus probably has run into to president Lehe somewhere. Uh, and that is just a tremendous Testament to this, to him and to our community here at Monmouth Matt Harmon: President Lehe. I'll, I'll let you kind of comment, but I'll lead you in with this and it, and it's something I know the answer because it's been spoken about on, on earlier episodes. Um, you know, just how important the fabric of the athletic department is to the overall university community university feel. Um, and, and, and just kind of shining a, a, a spotlight on, on what takes place on campus. It's not the only way let's make that very clear. It's not the only way, but it is a way that Monmouth kind of can make, you know, national headlines news and, and people pay attention to what's going on. Patrick Leahy: Yeah. First of all, thank you for those nice comments, Jeff. I mean, I, I, I'm always a little embarrassed to hear those because, you know, there's, there's so many things I wanna get around to that I can't just because of other, um, personal and professional commitments, but, um, I, I just want our student athletes to know of the support, um, from me and from all the senior administration. I mean, one of the things we didn't talk about is how our, uh, 600 student athletes are killing it in the classroom. I mean, the, the student athletes at Monmouth retain and graduate at significantly higher rates than the student body at large, um, they're constantly receiving academic awards, you know, either team awards or individuals on, on, on, uh, uh, various teams or receiving academic awards. So, um, you know, we, we, we embrace so fully the idea of student athlete, um, here at Monmouth, and that's a source of pride for me, but as you said, Matt, it's just an opportunity not only to offer this incredible life transforming experience to those 600 student athletes, but it is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on our academic institution. And that's what colleges and universities hunger for is more exposure. Like how come more people don't know about the great work that happens, you know, on this college campus and on other college campuses. Well, we need to find ways to shine a spotlight on that incredible work. One way of many, as you point out is through athletics and play in really fine schools and associating with those schools and getting that broadcast time, uh, through the various, uh, platforms. It's just an, an opportunity for us to burnish the image of Monmouth university, not, not just Monmouth athletics, I'm talking about Monmouth university. I mean, you, you can look at the top institutions ranked, you know, nationwide, and you have two, you, you have really old established, wealthy institutions. Of course, they're really well ranked. And you have a lot of institutions on there who have become very well known through athletics. And, um, I think that that's still, uh, a really important way in America in the 21st century to get that spotlight shown on you is to try to use athletics as a way as a way to do that. So for all those reasons, uh, it's a really important part of our university. Um, it's a, it's a, and, and I, let me reiterate, it's a part of our university. I'm, you know, I wanna make sure that it, that we are, you know, spending on athletics and focused on athletics in an appropriate way, because we have, as Jeff himself said, our athletic director himself set incredible, uh, arts, um, offerings here at, at Monmouth, which is another way to she to shine a spotlight on, on our university. I had a great privilege yesterday of, of, um, participating in a, in an event where our us Senator Corey Booker was on campus, talking about spirituality and politics. That's another great way to shine a, a spotlight on the university. So we'll, uh, we'll continue to make sure that athletics is an important part of the university and keep it, you know, in, in its, you know, rightful place as one of many, uh, things that make up our university. Matt Harmon: Two, two more things to cover before we wrap up, uh, this last episode of Monmouth weekly, Jeff, this one directly to you because of your long standing tenure within the athletic department. Um, some of the most important people from a staff perspective would be the coaches. And I think it's such a Testament to the university as a whole. Now, at this point, when you look at some of the sports, and I'm not gonna mention all of them, but some baseball Dean E hall been with the program for a long time, Kevin Callahan in his almost 30th year of football king rice now double digit years, Rob McCort, Chrissy Turner on, on the side of things you've got, um, just, just coaches that have been with the programs for so long. And from a continuity standpoint, that's so important because I mean, listen, I, I have the relationship I do as a faculty member with athletics. It's been a big part of my employment at Monmouth and my connection to Monmouth, but you see it all trickle down. It doesn't matter if you've been there for 30 years or on the case of women's basketball, you're in your first year. It's one big family that all work together, but to have those long standing senior type coaches there. So very important, Jeff Stapleton: So important. And, and, you know, coach Callahans really, our are is the, is the, is the godfather of our department right now. And I can't speak about how often I see coaches and in his office, younger coaches picking his brain and his door open to everyone in this department to talk about their sport and what they may be going through. I mean, as we all know, coach Callan started football here from scratch. We didn't have a, we didn't have a goal post. We didn't have a football, we didn't have anything on campus. So he knows what it's like to start a program from scratch. And basically him and Jenny, uh, share a wall. Jenny boas is right next door to him and Jenny and, and Kevin talk all the time about what she's trying to accomplish being a first year coach and picking his brain for his 29, 30 years of being on campus. So from the top down, the consistency that we have had with our programs have shown the message that our programs are able to, to have. It's been so consistent. We are just, we have such a consistent message coming out of here and coming out onto the field, into our student athletes, that they know where they are, the program. We know what we know who we are as a program like co like president LA says, we are just part of the fabric of this institution. We are no better or no worse than any other part. We are just part of it that makes this such a great university. And that really has a lot to be said about our coaching staff. And they understand that we are a part of this, of this school. Matt Harmon: Let's finish with this. Um, Jeff I'll, I'll start with you. And then president Lehi, I'll give you the, the final word on it. If I say to both of you, what's next for Monmouth athletics, that is a very open ended question. I know it's part of the, the strategic plan on campus, but, but Jeff, let me, let me go to you first in terms of how Monmouth stays. I won't even say with the curve, stay ahead of the curve and be the dominant force in, in conferences, from facilities to, um, coaches to recruiting. How does Monmouth continue to stay ahead of everybody in the, in the different leagues and continue to increase their scope in the east coast and from a national level? Jeff Stapleton: Yeah, I mean, a lot of it comes down to probably facilities, keeping, keeping up with your facilities, keeping up with what you are, offering your student athletes. Um, you know, a big, a big piece here is, uh, our sports medicine department. We have grown. So our, our department is just growing constantly a as we add our 24 sport. And that has, and that puts a strain on, let's just say our sports medicine department and our strength and conditioning rooms. So right now we are focused on, uh, upgrading our sports medicine department and finding a, maybe a, a new space or, uh, adding on to that space so that we can take care of our student athletes, uh, in the manner they, they deserve. So that's one piece. So we would love to get the sports medicine up and going. Um, you know, the, as pat said earlier, we were talking about a covered field house that everyone on campus can use. And again, the, our facilities are open to our club teams. We have a healthy club programs, and the more that we can put down artificial turf, the more we can use these fields. And that's what we're trying to do that allows, I mean, if you come on campus on any night during the week, Monday through Thursday, there's lights out on Hess field. Those lights are not for the athletic teams. That's for the intermural programs, they're playing flag football, soccer, and they're having other types of student activity events, student activity has used throughout COVID, they've moved a lot of their programs outside. We put the lights on and now the kids can, can have a program that goes to nine o'clock, nine 30 at night. So like we said, we, you know, we would love to see our facilities continue to grow and, and, uh, and give the offerings that we need to our, our student athletes and, and the whole campus as a whole. Patrick Leahy: That's an important, uh, consideration. And, you know, in our five year strategic plan, there are a couple additional capital investments articulated that at first blush might look like they're, uh, investments simply in athletics, this field house that, that, uh, that Jeff mentioned, which is really mad, just another, you know, full size artificial turf field that has a permanent cover on it. I don't, I don't wanna overstate when we say field house, what that means just a covered field. And then another one is we do want to get the baseball field turfed. Uh, but, but neither of those are investments just in athletics. You know, both of them would be investments in the student body at large. And it's a lot easier for me to justify, you know, the, the little bit of spending that goes into those two capital projects, both of which I hope will be donor supported incidentally, but it's a little bit easier for me to justify those investments. Patrick Leahy: Um, if I can make the case, I think quite legitimately that these are enhanced facilities for the entire university and not just for the baseball team, for example, you know, that field house would've come in very handy last weekend when we had open house here on campus. And, uh, it rained , you know, we could have set up our, our fairs in a huge open, you know, open air field, and would've been able to pull off that event. And so many other events in, in just a, a much better way if we had access to a facility like that. So, um, yes, our athletic programs would benefit from those investments, but, uh, so would everyone else around campus and that's to Jeff's point about, we wanna make sure that investments in athletics are really signal that, you know, we are part of the university, not a part from it, Matt Harmon: Just a fantastic, uh, interview that I feel like we could go on and just scratching the surface of things. But, um, uh, Jeff, thanks for coming on here today, giving us your time and, and insight. Um, it, it, it's number one. It's nice to see you get that next step, which is becoming the athletic director for as long as you've been in Monmouth. Um, so well deserved, you know, that I have a, uh, a, a spot in my heart for you because of your work and our long relationship. And this was a lot of fun to be able to get you in a long form type interview, because you have flown under the radar dare I say, for so long on campus. Um, and, and I think, think this has been a great move for you and for the university. Jeff Stapleton: Well, thank you, Matt. I really appreciate, and I appreciate all the support president Lehe and the, and the board of trustees has put into me and, and our program here. And I, it goes unspoken. I get a little teary eyed, but it's, uh, real important. So thank you, Matt Harmon: President Lehe. Quick, quick, final word, before we wrap for the day. Patrick Leahy: No, I mean, you, you said it, Matt, I mean, this is, uh, this is a great situation for, uh, mammoth to have someone of Jeff's, uh, talent and passion and commitment to Monmouth. Uh, now in this top job, we have jokes though, that there, there is a big difference. What do they say? Like, you know, that there's three feet on the bench on a, on, like, on a basketball bench, the difference between the head assistant and the head coach. Well, Jeff's learning that there is a difference between being the deputy ad and the ad, but, uh, he's certainly up for it. And, uh, he's got a ton of support around campus. Matt Harmon: Look forward as always, Jeff Stapleton: You definitely take a lot more home with you at night. Matt Harmon: Look forward as always to, uh, continuing our podcast series in the coming weeks. If you need to reach out to myself for president Lehi, feel free to do so. Uh, we'll continue to get this up and going, probably talk to you in a couple weeks, episode 35, a great one here. As we wrap up, going into a beautiful weekend. Good luck to all the Monmouth athletic teams. We'll talk to you soon for university president Patrick Lehi, our guest today, athletic director, Jeff Stapleton. This is Matt Horman. Thanks as always for listening to us here on mom with weekly.