Coming off the heels of Mississippi State women’s soccer’s 3-2 win over then-ranked No. 1 Tennessee and the Bulldogs’ 24-20 win over then-ranked Arizona State in football, MSU athletic director Zac Selmon walked up to the podium at Monday’s Starkville Rotary Club meeting and opened his talk as the guest speaker with a big smile.
“Isn’t it a great day to be a Bulldog?” Selmon said, prompting the dozens of people in attendance to cheer and clap.
Along with some personal anecdotes, MSU’s leader of athletics since 2023 spoke passionately about the ever-changing landscape of college sports in the NIL era and how the university has adapted to meet the new standards while also improving the opportunities student athletes receive from an educational standpoint with the creation of many programs designed to help athletes find success after sports.
But first, he wanted to explain just how much he appreciates where his feet are.
“Our family has been here going on three years now, and we couldn’t be more thankful and grateful to live in Starkville, Mississippi,” Selmon said.
He then dove into what drives him to lead MSU charge into a new era of athletics.
“Some people call it a ‘mission’, some people call it a ‘purpose’, we call it a ‘just cause’ because we believe there’s magic that happens at the intersection of higher education and sports,” he said.
Selmon got to experience that “magic” himself firsthand as a football player at Wake Forest, and comes from a family of collegiate athletes who are all appreciative of their time in school.
“What great things happen when you mix higher education and sports,” he said. “It truly changes the trajectory of people’s lives.”
That’s why the main target of the athletic department is to graduate all their athletes, Selmon said. Not everyone is going to go pro in their prospective sport, but they can all get a degree that will remain with them forever.
“We have record-breaking graduation success rates, and we have to understand that the way kids learn now is different. The majority of our (male) student athletes are in online education right now, and that’s OK,” he explained. … “I think we are on our 14th straight semester of setting a cumulative GPA record. Our student athletes know that when they come to Mississippi State, first and foremost we want them to graduate.”
Part of that is helping student-athletes figure out what they want to do after their college careers end, and that’s where the new Bulldog Athlete Services unit – which was created in the fall 2023 – comes into play. A team sits with each of MSU’s 350 student athletes annually and creates a plan to help them stay on track in school and even find internships and other means of getting a head start in preparing for a future career. Another is the DAWG program, which is an acronym for “Developing A Winning Gameplan.” That system started in the football office and gives athletes opportunities to work with people in the community. This summer was the beginning of the Bulldog Literacy Tour, where some players went to libraries in Starkville and other cities and read books to children.
“Our student athletes have to know, ‘You have to give back. You have to be plugged in and you have to keep working on yourself,’” Selmon said. “We have everything from dinner etiquette to how to change a flat tire. … It’s not anything that athletics is doing, it has everything to do with each of you in this room, it has everything to do with the momentum that we have on campus, that you can leave (MSU) and be equipped for life.”
Selmon also addressed how MSU is handling revenue sharing with its players. Universities can now pay athletes directly under the recent House v. NCAA settlement approved in July, and Selmon said since then, MSU has “been able to share $20.5 million directly with student athletes.” He said that number will increase by 4% each year and the school is working with a third-party group called Paycom to handle their payroll. Only four MSU sports are involved in the revenue sharing so far: Football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball. The settlement led to the creation of a new entity called the College Sports Commission, which has to approve every NIL deal valued at or above $600.
“We’ll continue to elevate the revenue sharing that we do,” he said. “We know for us to be competitive in the Southeastern Conference and nationally, we are going to continue doing everything we possibly can from a recruiting standpoint, from a retention standpoint to make sure we maximize the rosters that we have.”
He also said that players can receive sponsorships from individual companies for NIL deals, like receiver Brenen Thompson, who not only hauled in the game-winning catch over Arizona State, but a deal with a local boat manufacturer soon after.
“It’s a fishing boat. It’s really cool and it has ‘Hail State’ all over it,” he said. “It just shows the commitment that so many in our community have, and it truly makes a difference. We couldn’t do what we do without great partners and great community members.”
Selmon said he knows there will be challenges and new issues to conquer along the way as the ship of college sports continues its sail into uncharted waters, but it’s an undertaking he’s excited to make. When speaking with new baseball coach Brian O’Connor about the complexities of the new era, O’Connor gave him a bit of wisdom in how to tackle them.
“Just plow through it.”
“What a great way to look at it,” Selmon said. “We’re just going to plow through it.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
