TCU AD Donati opens up on his day as a color analyst to the pending NCAA changes
Seismic shifts have become the norm in college athletics these days.
Just this month brought about national news stories such as College Football Playoff expansion talks stalling out and NCAA members voting to significantly ratify the association’s constitution.
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati monitors it all, of course, as well as running his own athletic department. To say Donati’s plate is full would be an understatement.
But Donati wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity of a lifetime when asked to fill in as the color analyst on TCU’s radio broadcast for the men’s basketball game at Iowa State on Saturday.
“It’s something I have always wanted to do since I was a kid,” Donati said. “I’ve always marveled at on-air talent on TV and radio and it gave me an even greater appreciation for calling a live sporting event and the preparation that goes into it. It was an experience I will never forget.”
Donati found himself as the “next man up” with the voice of the Horned Frogs, Brian Estridge, out and former TCU basketball player and regular fill-in analyst Colin Boddicker unable to make the trip to Ames. So John Denton asked Donati to step in.
Donati, who played college basketball at the University of Puget Sound, gladly accepted. And he loved being on a winning call as TCU upset No. 15 Iowa State. He’s expected to retire from his broadcasting duties with a perfect 1-0 record.
“We are so lucky to have guys like John Denton and Brian Estridge on the calls here at TCU,” Donati said. “We have the absolute best in the country in my opinion.”
Donati went on to address a number of other pressing issues as TCU’s spring semester is underway.
How’s the Sonny Dykes era going so far? “It’s going really well. It’s going better than anticipated, frankly. We’ve made up a lot of ground in the transfer portal and in recruiting. He and his team have done a great job assimilating themselves. I think we’re off to a great start.”
Are there early signs that there’s more buzz around the program? “Absolutely. The standing ovation he received at halftime of the basketball game against Oklahoma shows that. We’ve seen quite a bit of interest in season tickets for next year. We thought there would be a two-year COVID recovery program, but we exceeded our numbers last year. We’ll get back to a normal pre-pandemic sales number for 2022. We’ve seen an uptick there.”
How is this staff embracing the new era of college football? “This is the first recruiting cycle where the transfer portal is having an impact and it’s something we look at every day. What’s interesting about the transfer portal is you’ve essentially created another recruiting cycle, which will be in May after spring ball. In the past, February would come and go and you’d essentially have your roster. Now, I’d expect us to sign five or six more players before the May deadline to be eligible for the fall. It’s going to be a year-round deal right now.”
Switching sports, baseball season is almost here. What’s your outlook with Kirk Saarloos entering Year 1? “There’s a lot of energy coming out of the program right now. Everybody is champing at the bit to get started, Kirk especially. I’m really excited about this season. You’ve got some really cool early-season matchups being out in Arizona and the Globe Life series against Nebraska. He’s fired up. Like any first-year coach, things sometimes take time but I think Kirk is not your typical first-year coach.”
Shifting gears again, how would you assess the state of the Big 12? “I’m really excited about our conference. I think we’re adding four great institutions that perform at a high level athletically and are going to be welcomed additions. It’s still unclear when they’ll join the conference, but we’re excited. We’ve done a lot of work scheduling and preparing for them. If you go back to August and the uncertainty that was there, we’ve really stabilized the ship. I think (Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby) has done a great job of getting us to this point.”
Do you feel when the Big 12 splits into divisions that the Texas-based schools will be together? “It’s hard to know at this point. What’s most important for me is that we do our best to preserve our natural rivalries. For us, that’s Texas Tech and Baylor. They would tell you the same. For Kansas, they’d tell you Kansas State and Iowa State. I haven’t spent a lot of time worrying about too many of the other schools, but for our fan base and our student athletes and our schools respectively I think Texas Tech, Baylor and TCU are going to want to make sure we’re playing each other every single year.”
With the NCAA being overhauled and potentially going to the haves and have-nots of the college sports world, do you feel TCU is in position to ensure it’s with the ‘haves’? “Yes. We’re in a really strong position. With the new Big 12, it’s a great opportunity for us to even further establish ourselves as one of the leaders in the conference. That’s our goal heading toward 2025.”
You described the CFP expansion talks stalling out as ‘disappointing.’ Can you expand on that? “It is disappointing. I echo our commissioner’s sentiments, which is any of these models is an improvement on what we currently have. If there had been an expanded playoff, TCU would’ve participated multiple times and that would’ve been a great thing, not only for our school but our conference. When you hear the things that are holding this up, it makes you even more frustrated. It sounds like there’s a lot of objections being raised, but not a lot of solutions being presented.”
