Sports
Slade Larscheid made his debut as the new Ohio University Director of Athletics
By: Andrew Bowlby
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Slade Larscheid, a long-time collegiate athletics administrator, was introduced to the Ohio University community on Thursday afternoon as the school’s new Director of Athletics.
“Today is a great day to be a Bobcat,” Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez said. “I think that Slade is the person for the job. He values the student athlete experience; that is a hallmark of Ohio University.”
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Larscheid said. “There’s going to be challenges, there’s going to be opportunities, and we’re going to take them head on. For us, it’s about creativity, it’s about driving revenue while being fiscally responsible.”
Both Larscheid and Gonzalez thanked former Director of Athletics Julie Cromer for her six years in Athens and her devotion to the department. It was announced Cromer was departing Ohio back in August for a job at Louisiana State University.
Following the announcement of her exit, the university began a national search for its new AD. And on Monday that search was officially ended with the reveal of Larscheid being hired.
“What I wanted to see in an AD is somebody who believes in the championship culture we have here,” Gonzalez said. “Someone who would thrive in a university where the alumni have more passion than any school, I’ve ever worked in. So, we saw that early on with Slade just in the answers to our questions.”
Larscheid comes from South Dakota State University where he served as the Deputy AD since 2020. There, he helped set records in fundraising and ticket sales and was part of the SDSU Football team that won back-to-back FCS National Championships in 2022 and 2023.
For his early priorities at Ohio, Larscheid says he’ll be doing a lot of listening.
“I think the top priorities is a lot of listening, learning then leading by example,” Larscheid said.
He also added that in his first few months he will meet with each head coach and learn about the strengths of each program and where the opportunities for growth lie.
Larscheid also spoke on a number of topics facing college athletics at a Group of 5 school, one being scheduling. With Ohio Football set to face Ohio State this weekend for a $1.9 million dollar paycheck, according to the game contract obtained by cleveland.com, Larscheid talked about his mindset when scheduling opponents.
“I think there’s a fine balance to scheduling. There is a financial component to it, but you also have to work with in collaboration with the coaches,” Larscheid said. “It’s easy to schedule games, but who’s actually coaching in them and playing in them, you have to set the programs up for success.”
He also noted that the 15-year gap between meetings for Ohio and Ohio State is far too long and hopes the schools won’t wait as long before playing again.
Larscheid touched on Name, Image and Likeness at a smaller school saying the athletic department has to be creative in how they make new opportunities for students.
“Opening doors that maybe we haven’t had those conversations yet,” Larscheid said suggesting new options to generate NIL money for student athletes.
If there was one thing the numerous student athletes and coaches took away from Thursday’s press conference, it’s likely that Larscheid is student-focused and wants to continue developing opportunities for the athletes at Ohio.