The Strategic Power Hire You Can’t Afford to Miss

In today’s college athletics landscape, standing still means falling behind. Programs are evolving into high-performance enterprises—and the right General Manager is no longer optional. It’s the most strategic hire you can make.

With game-changing appointments like Shag, Curry, and now Michelle Marciniak at Arizona, the message is loud and clear: the GM role is the engine room of your program’s future.

Today’s GM is not just a behind-the-scenes operator. They are a strategic and trusted partner to the head coach, a business-minded leader with financial and operational acumen, a brand-builder, navigating NIL, the transfer portal, and emerging revenue models and a culture architect, aligning talent, values, and results.

It’s a hybrid role—part Chief Operating Officer (COO), part Chief of Staff, and part Startup GM. And it's transforming what elite programs look like from the inside out. Just like the modern-day COO in business, the GM in athletics is now the architect of alignment, growth, and culture. Miss this hire, and you jeopardize everything: your brand, your performance, your future.

Marciniak’s hire signals what’s next: championship DNA, entrepreneurial grit, and leadership depth. These are the attributes shaping elite programs and elite businesses alike.

If you’re in charge of making this hire…this is one you can’t get wrong. The GM defines the trajectory of your program. This role will determine how you build, scale, and win consistently.

This isn’t just about athletics. It’s about modern leadership and results.And the future is already here.