New athletic director Doug Lipinski shares his vision for WTAMU

On Tuesday, WTAMU held its grand opening for the new Bain Athletic Complex and on Wednesday, the university introduced Doug Lipinski as the new vice president of athletics in front of over 200 faithful fans at Bain-Schaeffer Buffaloes Stadium on Wednesday.

Lipinski replaces Michael McBroom who took the same position at Stephen F. Austin State in April after 19 years in Canyon. Lipinski spent 22 years at Grand Valley State, his alma mater and a 16-time Learfield Director’s Cup champion.

Lipinski will begin his WTAMU duties Aug. 28.

Lipinski earned a bachelor’s in advertising and public relations and a Master of Public Administration at GVSU. He was a four-year member of the varsity baseball team and spent the subsequent four years as an assistant to coach Steve Lyon before moving into administrative roles.

Currently, he serves as GVSU’s deputy athletic director for external relations, overseeing all marketing and promotions, communications, ticketing, digital marketing, multimedia, corporate sponsorships, annual giving, merchandise and licensing. He and his team have won more than 100 National Association of College Marketing Administrators awards, and he has led the university in finalizing the largest sponsorship deals in its history.

Lipinski took time out of his schedule to talk with Press Pass Sports about the move to Canyon and his vision for WTAMU athletics.

What made you want to leave Grand Valley State and become the athletic director at West Texas A&M? 

“People always talk about the fit, and WTAMU was truly a fit. The programs here are all successful and the academics are top notch, and the school has great facilities. It was a great interview process and having an impact on the institution as well as athletics was a big selling point to me.”

How does West Texas A&M compare to where you came from at Grand Valley State?

“It compares really well. The facilities here at WTAMU are outstanding. We just opened the Bain Athletic complex Tuesday. That will elevate what we do here at West Texas A&M, so that’s very exciting.”

What are some of your goals in your first year as the athletic director at West Texas A&M?

“I don’t have a 100-day plan or anything like that. We’re going to focus on student-athletes and how they can make a difference. I always have the philosophy of getting better every day and the coaches with the student-athletes will be the same way.”

When evaluating the coaching staffs on campus what are you looking for in them? 

“I think we have the best coaches in the country in all sports. We’ll be evaluating everything and the way we go about evaluating from A-Z is the student-athlete experience. We want the best for our student-athletes. It’s about teaching and if we are good teachers. It’s not always about wins or losses. At the end of the day, it’s about the student-athletes.”

What is something that you want to implement from Grand Valley State that you feel will be beneficial for WTAMU? 

“I don’t know if it is anything in particular. Michael McBroom had been here over 20 years and people were used how he has operated. I do know I’m going to be myself and I’m going to be extremely transparent. WTAMU already has a great championship culture. They’ll be an elevation of details that we look at.”

The WTAMU football team has struggled for some time. What is your plan at working with head coach Josh Lynn to bring the program back to an elite level? 

“I let coaches coach, but we will be hand in hand, and we will win in football. We’ll evaluate the things we need to get better at. Coach Josh Lynn has done a great job and I can’t wait to work with him and see where we take this program, but I want it to be known we will win in football.”

What did you think of the big crowd of Buff faithful that showed up for you at this introduction? 

“It’s unbelievable. There is that spirit of the Texas Panhandle, you could clearly feel it here. I just can’t wait to get here full-time and get to work. We need the fans support and the community support. I just want everyone to know we’re going to have fun and the events will be fun.”