Jonathan Terrell, better known as “Everyone’s favorite athletic director,” or just “JT,” is today’s guest.

I say this early in the episode and I mean it: “If you don’t like me—you’ve probably got a good reason. If you don’t like JT— something’s wrong with you.”

JT was hired as Nicholls State University’s Director of Athletics in June 2020, following 20 years of coaching and medical sales success. In fact, you may have never met a better salesperson than Nicholls’ current athletic director.

Here are fun facts to backup my claim. In 2015, JT was hired at Zoll Medical Lifevest as a senior territory manager. The next three years (2015-2017), he was named Regional Manager of the Year. Not to mention the #1 territory manager out of 550 reps at Zoll Medical Lifevest in 2017.

Prior to producing a stellar professional resumé, Terrell played quarterback and wide receiver at Nicholls (1993-1996). His deep pride in the Thibodaux area comes through in this episode.

He gets involved. And he’s constantly thinking of ways to get you involved too.

I’ll mention just a few of the ways JT serves our community. He’s on the Board of Directors at Hi-5—an after-school development program. He’s on several committees for First United Methodist Church in Thibodaux. And many more.

We begin the episode talking about when JT’s football-playing days ended. The year was 1997. He worked as a student assistant with current Head Football Coach Tim Rebowe, who at that time was the defensive backs’ coach, while JT was the wide receivers’ coach.

I ask JT if it’s weird that he’s now Coach Rebowe’s boss—which leads to a discussion about respect and intellectual honesty.

Using JT’s example, he says a previous boss [of his]—with whom he had a close personal relationship—told him regardless of how close they were, there needs to be an understanding that business is a separate realm. Therefore, do not get your feelings hurt if / when you’re told what you just did was no good.

We talk about how JT’s transferrable skills from the business world enable him to bring a different perspective to collegiate athletics.

We also discuss the importance of developing a strong work ethic and finding creative ways to get things done. For example, much of the work to improve the aesthetics of Nicholls’ athletic facilities was done by “criminals”—a word put in quotes for a reason.

Not all men now living behind bars in Lafourche Parish are bad people. Some of them simply made a mistake years ago. Their days are now spent developing good work habits that’ll make them productive members of society the day they’re released.

Arguably the most interesting part of this episode was talking through the hiring process inside Nicholls’ athletic department. We asked JT to share how he’s able to discern whether someone is authentic or not.

His answers were unique and insightful. Firstly, JT says, “Fluent conversation—are they having to think too much about their answer?

Next is eye-contact” [which we know is on the downswing, thanks in no-small part to 18 months of mask-wearing and reduced social interaction].

Perhaps unsurprisingly, JT says looking professional during an interview is imperative. He believes how well you take care of yourself is indicative of how well you’re going to take care of the office.

This leads to a discussion of the recent hire of Head Baseball Coach Mike Silva. I asked, specifically, what he was looking for in a Head Baseball Coach, and what he liked about Mike.

If you like fun & candid conversation, this is an episode you don’t want to miss. I’m already looking forward to having JT on again!

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by Matthew D. Ory, JD

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