For the first time in 20 years, BYU introduced a new Athletic Director.
Brian Santiago took center stage at the BYU Broadcasting building on Wednesday morning, sitting to the left of BYU President C. Shane Reese.
Many individuals connected to BYU’s athletic department, both past and present, were in attendance.
Notables included former AD Tom Holmoe, former BYU basketball coach Steve Cleveland, and current coaches Kalani Sitake, Kevin Young, Lee Cummard, Diljeet Taylor, and others.
Wednesday, May 14, was Santiago’s first official day as BYU’s AD.
Here are some key items and comments from Santiago’s introductory news conference.
Brian Santiago lays out his vision as the BYU Athletic Director
“All of Cougar Nation got a glimpse of what the vision is for BYU athletics this past season,” Santiago said.
The new athletic director pointed to the successful 11-2 season by the BYU football program and the Sweet 16 run in the NCAA Tournament by BYU men’s basketball under first-year coach Kevin Young.
He added that football and basketball programs will “lead the charge” in his athletic department. But then pointed to cross country and other moments in BYU’s Olympic sports profile that garnered national attention.
“The vision is for us to be great, to win at the highest level, and do it in a way that’s going to bring positive light to this university and to this Church. This is way bigger than sport. But if we’re not relevant, nobody cares who we are,” said Santiago.
“Our vision is all of us together. Every person in the athletic department, every coach, every person, every day, is going to come with one goal in mind: to help these student athletes fly. That’s what we’re going to do.
“Not only on the field, on the court, in the pool, on the track, but in life, that’s what we’re going to do.”
National relevance for BYU Athletics will be a focus of his strategy as AD
The goal of having BYU nationally relevant was a key takeaway from Santiago’s introductory news conference. He shared a story of a message from President Henry B. Eyring of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is inspiring his desire for national relevance at BYU.
“I’m just going to refer to something that Tom (Holmoe) and I have always felt super strong about. A little over 20 years ago, even before Tom got here, we were privileged to sit in a room with President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency at the time. Elder Eyring came and spoke to us and answered questions.
“One of our coaches at the time asked him a very direct question, ‘What’s the expectation?’ And he responded with the word’ excellence.’ This coach, wanting to press more, said, ‘What does that mean?’ And he said, ‘to be nationally relevant.’ Then he said this, and this is the key, and this is what the charge that we feel, and this is the charge going forward.
“He said, ‘To be nationally relevant and do it the right way. Because if we are nationally relevant and we do it the right way. The world will want to know who we are, and we can tell the story through these remarkable student-athletes.’”
Santiago went on to say that BYU’s athletic department under his watch is “going to be passionate about being nationally relevant.” He added, “It’s imperative that we chase greatness.”
Passionate
BYU President C. Shane Reese wanted an athletic director who “bleeds blue.” Santiago, a Provo native who has been involved with BYU athletics since 1997, loves the Cougars.
Reese noted that Santiago has probably been to more BYU sporting events in the past 27 years than anyone who was gathered inside the news conference room on Wednesday, and that includes Tom Holmoe.
Santiago highlighted his love for BYU athletics and his overall passion as a person.
“I’m passionate. People know that I’m passionate about continuing the excellence and protecting the integrity of this great university.”
He later added, “I’m obviously a super passionate person. It’s something that is just in my blood, and I feel deeply for this place. So at times, people see that passion and intensity. The part of me that they don’t see is the deep love I have for people, the compassion I have for people, and that everything I do, I just want to help everybody around me be better.”
Moving away from being Tom Holmoe’s “wingman”
“Tom and I have a lot of similarities, but we’re also unique in our own approach. It’s one of the things that I always loved about Tom is that I always felt empowered. I always felt like I had a voice. We both are passionate about a lot of the same things. We’re passionate about other things as well.
Santiago pointed out that his work with Holmoe in recent years, he was able to dive deep into the world of NIL and revenue sharing, working alongside “important stakeholders” to gain context before entering the new era of college athletics.
