Murray State University Athletics
Kevin Saal Leading Racer Athletics Through Pandemic
10/1/2020 1:53:00 PM | Newsletter
Being the athletic director during a pandemic can be a stressful job, but Kevin Saal knows that to lead Murray State Athletics through these difficult times, we need to keep building relationships.
"We're 400-425 individuals trying to collectively work our way through a really difficult spot and I think the way to do it is through relationships and really good communication," said Saal.
Always wanting to work in athletics, Saal recognized jobs opportunities in the field of sports psychology were sparse coming out of undergrad at Texas Christian University. So he applied and got accepted into the sports administrations master's degree program at the University of Kansas.
A former swim-and-dive student-athlete, Saal understands the universal elements of being a student-athlete. From the time-management aspect to making personal sacrifices, he identifies many of the attributes from athletics translate to the professional world.
As a founding member of the Ohio Valley Conference, Murray State is deep with tradition and Saal recognizes this. He knows that to be a comprehensively successful athletics program, the Racers need to be in the top third of the OVC from a budget and resources standpoint and that we need to elevate areas that are not.
"I really want to look at every one of our programs from a needs assessment standpoint. I'd like to get everything that we do into at a minimum, the middle third," said Saal.
Looking to the future, there are many goals on the docket for Saal. First and foremost, establishing Murray State Athletics core values to use as a lens to which we talk about and see the world.
"The core values are three things. The student-athlete experience. Maximizing the way we use our resources. Our human resources, our financial resources, our time. And ultimately the competitive excellence is really the third piece," states Saal.
Secondary goals for Saal include the facilities master plan and also being able to fully fund our coaching staffs and scholarships for various sports.
When asked what he is most looking forward to for the winter and spring seasons, one word said it all:
"Competing!"
"We're 400-425 individuals trying to collectively work our way through a really difficult spot and I think the way to do it is through relationships and really good communication," said Saal.
Always wanting to work in athletics, Saal recognized jobs opportunities in the field of sports psychology were sparse coming out of undergrad at Texas Christian University. So he applied and got accepted into the sports administrations master's degree program at the University of Kansas.
A former swim-and-dive student-athlete, Saal understands the universal elements of being a student-athlete. From the time-management aspect to making personal sacrifices, he identifies many of the attributes from athletics translate to the professional world.
As a founding member of the Ohio Valley Conference, Murray State is deep with tradition and Saal recognizes this. He knows that to be a comprehensively successful athletics program, the Racers need to be in the top third of the OVC from a budget and resources standpoint and that we need to elevate areas that are not.
"I really want to look at every one of our programs from a needs assessment standpoint. I'd like to get everything that we do into at a minimum, the middle third," said Saal.
Looking to the future, there are many goals on the docket for Saal. First and foremost, establishing Murray State Athletics core values to use as a lens to which we talk about and see the world.
"The core values are three things. The student-athlete experience. Maximizing the way we use our resources. Our human resources, our financial resources, our time. And ultimately the competitive excellence is really the third piece," states Saal.
Secondary goals for Saal include the facilities master plan and also being able to fully fund our coaching staffs and scholarships for various sports.
When asked what he is most looking forward to for the winter and spring seasons, one word said it all:
"Competing!"
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