This was on the USA Wrestling National talk forum -
Very impressive!
Wonder if Rice University could ever add wrestling one of their AD's is a former 3x Division I All American
Tanner Gardner joined the Rice Athletics Department on August 1, 2014 in the newly created position of Senior Associate Athletic Director/Chief Revenue Officer for Rice Athletics and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in September of 2017
In his initial role, Gardner managed the Owls' external operations including marketing, ticket sales, fan engagement, business strategy and communications while also developing strategies and initiatives to create new transactional revenue resources for the department. He added oversight of finance, human resources, and contracts after assuming the tile of COO.
In his first four years on South Main, Gardner’s external team has been responsible for a growth of over 60% in transactional revenue, including near record highs in season tickets across all sports and record high sponsorship revenues. His team was responsible for the 2016 refresh of Rice’s branding which has spurred an all-time high in licensing revenue and the revamp of the Owls ticket sales efforts by in-sourcing the ticket sales staff.
This past year, he led the team that negotiated a greatly enhanced renewal agreement with adidas on an apparel partnership through the 2023-24 academic year that will provide the Owls with all their apparel, footwear, headwear and accessory needs for all of Rice’s student-athletes as well as coaching staffs and support personnel. The new apparel line, showcasing the refreshed Rice branding introduced in 2017, is a featured component of the Owls’ retail initiatives at their outlets on the Rice campus in addition to Shop Rice Owls, the department’s new store in Rice Village, another initiative that was spearheaded by Gardner’s team.
With the opening of the new video production room at the Brian Patterson Sports Performance Center in 2016, Gardner’s external unit has been at the forefront of new opportunities for self-produced video event coverage, allowing the Owls to become one of the first universities to partner with Flo Sports to deliver additional football and basketball games to Rice fans.
Gardner joined the Owls from the Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy. While with BCG, he consulted on a diverse set of projects spanning industries from higher education to consumer healthcare, and functions from strategy to technology.
He earned both his Bachelor of Arts (Public Policy) and Master of Arts (Sociology) at Stanford where he was also a three-time, All-American in wrestling, a two-time Academic All-American and a winner of the Pac-10 Medal, which is awarded annually to each member institution's outstanding male and female student-athlete based on the exhibition of the greatest combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership. In 2016 he was named to the Pac-12 Conference All-Century wrestling team.
He worked at Stanford in 2010 as a Senior Staff Project Manager, where he managed strategic projects for Athletic Director and Senior Staff across Development and Alumni Affairs, Finance, and Operations departments.
He attended Harvard Business School and received his MBA in 2012. While at Harvard, he spent the summer of 2011 at Nike as a Corporate Strategy Senior Analyst. Gardner also remained active in wrestling while at Harvard, serving as an assistant coach for the Crimson.
He and his wife, Emily who is a Houston native, enjoy running, golf, travel and other outdoor activities in addition to parenting their son John Henry.
"Tanner Gardner is a game-changer for us. He's analytical, curious, fearless and personable, and he has a passion for college athletics. Tanner is also a great teammate and he will play a key role in our efforts to improve in everything we do."
"Wonder if Rice University could ever add wrestling one of their AD's is a former 3x Division I All American"
I wonder why none of the Kansas Universities affiliated with the NCAA Division I status has not offered educational/athletic opportunities for mens and womens wrestling - invest in our own Kansas student athletes and others from around the USA.
Not sure how many multiple multiple multiple millions of dollars have been spent on coaches and assistant coaches passing through the state - even after they were fired. Administrators need to stop the nonsense for this 2 to 3 year revolving door for fired coaches stop the 5-7 year contracts for poor results (graduation rates in degrees that will make productive citizens - need to be a priority). Pay out or by outs several years after being fired - really - if these Administrators really gave a rats _____ about the STUDENT athletes - every DI college would carry more than the minimum 7 men's and 7 women's NCAA programs. The NCAA is part of the problem - it is a monster with their own golden parachutes.
What Kansas University makes the most sense offering a men's and women's wrestling program?
KSU, KU, WSU???