Building Life Champions

Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich Named VP and Director of Athletics

“I have great confidence that Andrew Goodrich will lead Gardner-Webb athletics into a new and highly successful era,” said GWU President William Downs. “He has vision, tenacity, experience, and an appetite for building championship programs. The passion is palpable, and everyone who meets Andrew will quickly learn that he simply won’t be outworked. The future for Runnin’ Bulldogs sports is incredibly bright!”

Gardner-Webb University has named Dr. Andrew T. Goodrich as Vice President and Director of Athletics. He steps into the role following Chuck Burch’s retirement after serving more than two decades in the position.

Goodrich comes to Gardner-Webb by way of Syracuse University, where he has worked as Deputy Director of Athletics & Chief Marketing Officer since 2018. The Owego, N.Y., native is an honors graduate of the University of Notre Dame, with an MBA in Marketing. He also earned a Ph.D in Higher Education Administration from the University of South Florida, as well as a graduate certificate in Administrative Leadership from Cornell University.

Previously working at International Business Machines (IBM) in the early 2000s, Goodrich recalls an important realization he had during that period in his life. “While working as a financial analyst and accountant at IBM, I was coaching youth football and baseball in our community. I enjoyed my job at IBM, but I loved working with kids and especially using sports to help teach them how to be a champion in life and on the field. During this time, I knew that I needed to pursue a career as an athletics administrator,” Goodrich said. The experience he gained VOLUME 57, 2022 | 33 in crafting entrepreneurial strategies at IBM would prove to be crucial to his professional path in the years to come.

Shortly thereafter, he began his MBA studies at Notre Dame, also working as a graduate assistant with the marketing department. “As a student in the graduate school program, I was able to take an athletics administration course from Dr. Kevin White, who was the director of athletics at the time. It was during this class that I knew for absolute certain that I was going to become a Division One athletics director someday,” Goodrich said.

His extensive background in higher education and various leadership positions throughout the collegiate athletics industry have instilled a strong sense of confidence in Goodrich as he approaches this role with Gardner-Webb. “I have a very unique background as a professor with a Ph.D in Higher Education Administration, that helps me develop trust and collaboration with faculty and campus leaders,” Goodrich said. “I have worked in both the internal and external operations within high performing athletics departments all across the nation, which allows me to work efficiently and effectively with the academic and compliance departments, as well as the revenue generation, fan experience, and strategic communications departments.”

During his tenure at Syracuse, Goodrich assisted in the generation of approximately $80 million annually in revenue for the program. A particularly significant project at Syracuse for Goodrich involved the negotiation of a 10-year naming rights agreement for the JMA Wireless Dome. A member of the Syracuse Executive Cabinet and University Leadership Team, Goodrich worked to manage 19 NCAA Division I athletic programs, including 600 student athletes from 32 countries. Multiple attendance records for football and men’s basketball at Syracuse were set under his watch, and he also assisted in the search and hiring process of six head coaches and one Senior Women’s Administrator at the school.

With the landscape of the NCAA continuing to evolve in the Name, Image, and Likeness era, Goodrich guided Syracuse into this new environment with co-licensing agreements for student-athletes. Jim Cavale, founder and CEO of the athlete brand-building app INFLCR, speaks highly of Goodrich’s contributions in this field. “Andrew Goodrich is always thinking outside the box. I’m excited to see him get the opportunity to lead Gardner-Webb into the new era of college sports,” Cavale said.

“I have worked in both the internal and external operations within high performing athletics departments all across the nation, which allows me to work efficiently and effectively with the academic and compliance departments, as well as the revenue generation, fan experience, and strategic communications departments.”

Andrew T. Goodrich, Vice President and Director of Athletics

Additionally, Goodrich negotiated Syracuse’s largest e-commerce deal, and developed the second-largest corporate sponsorship agreement in school history, with a value of $4.48 million. Syracuse was granted the 2022 Clyde Award as the top Learfield Corporate Partnerships Property of the Year.

Prior to this stretch at Syracuse, Goodrich worked at the University of South Florida as Senior Associate AD, External Relations from 2014-2018. This was preceded by two years at the University of Miami, Florida as the Associate AD, Marketing and Sales from 2012-2014.

Goodrich joins Gardner-Webb with an eager ambition to build on his career of notable successes. “This is a university that is not only going to survive the changes to NCAA governance, it is going to thrive and be stronger than it has ever been,” Goodrich said. “I’m confident that 10 years from now, GWU will be the standard by which other schools like us are evaluated.” He is also enthusiastic about the leadership exhibited on campus. “I’m so inspired by Dr. Downs and his vision for competitive excellence at Gardner Webb,” Goodrich continued. “His attitude is contagious, and I believe he will help GWU grow in all facets of the university system. The coaches I’ve met are passionate and driven to serve these students and the community by helping these teams perform their best.”

ACC Commissioner Dr. Jim Phillips praised Goodrich as a deserving selection for this position at Gardner-Webb. “Andrew is an outstanding leader that brings a wealth of experience to the role as Vice-President and Athletics Director at Gardner-Webb University. He has made significant impacts during his career and will serve as a tireless ambassador for the Runnin’ Bulldogs and the more than 600 student-athletes that compete across 22 sponsored sports,” Phillips said.

A devout Christ-follower, Goodrich is drawn to Gardner-Webb’s foundations as a Christian institution. “I’m so excited to work at Gardner Webb, a University that puts its Christian faith at the top of their set of values. God and His providence has provided me with every great thing in my life, and I couldn’t think of a better way to honor God than to use my talents and my life experiences to help these young men and women develop their mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual strengths,” Goodrich said.

Citing the Gospel of Matthew as a source of spiritual guidance throughout this process, Goodrich pointed to the Parable of Talents in Chapter 25. “Some are given five talents, some two, others just one. We are all called to be good and faithful servants. To put our faith in the Lord and honor Him by multiplying our talents,” Goodrich said. “I call this having a Five Talent Mentality. You will see in the years to come that we, the Runnin’ Bulldogs, are not going to bury our talents, we are going to honor God and take the talents we have and multiply them, and in doing so inspire others to join us, put their faith in God, and do the same in their lives.”

Written by Thomas Manning ‘22