Wave the Flag for Miami Dolphins in Leading NFL in Players Finishing Degrees with “How you do anything is how you do everything” as the Inspiration!!!

LEAD1 Association takes a great deal of pride in that the 129 athletic directors who constitute its membership have helped more than 13,000 student-athletes complete their degrees after leaving school.

Professional teams like the Miami Dolphins, led by owner Stephen Ross and Mike Tannenbaum, the Executive Vice President, are at the vanguard of these efforts, thanks in large part to the inspiring work of Kaleb Thornhill and Yves Batoba, who head up Player Engagement for The Fins.

With the average professional tenure of a football player being just 2.6 years, the looming career question for the players in the NFL is “what next?”

Thanks to the athletic directors from LEAD1, teams like The Dolphins, owners like Ross, key executives like Tannenbaum, and dedicated sports professionals like Thornhill and Batoba, for more and more players this includes finishing their college degree. In this exclusive interview for LEAD1 Association with Thornhill and Batoba, we were able to explore how this is taking place and what it means for the players, their families, the teams, the league, and the community. A special tribute goes to Mike Hollis, the Athletics Director for Michigan State, and Mike Holder, the Athletic Director for Oklahoma State, for instituting programs that graduate student-athletes such as Kaleb Thornhill and Yves Batoba who go on to exemplary careers helping others achieve their full potential as student-athletes, even after they leave college.

Kaleb Thornhill, the Director of Player Engagement for The Fins, played middle linebacker for Michigan State University, lettering all four years.  He wore the number 41 as a tribute to his father, Charlie, who was a legendary linebacker for the Spartans, too.

Yves Batoba, the Assistant Director of Player Engagement for Miami, is a former student-athlete as well, having balled it in college at corner for another LEAD1 school, Oklahoma State University.

*The Dolphins led the league this year in having players go back to school to earn their college degree.  How much of an emphasis is put on that by the team?

BATOBA: We really want our players to win in every aspect of life, and we really emphasize holistic development, which includes getting your degree. We know that the development comes with confidence, and can help with a clear mind when we know that the development comes with confidence, and can help with a clear mind when he steps on the field and gets ready to play.

* How does the NFL help each team and the players?

BATOBA: The player engagement at the league office provides us with great support. We coordinate with our continuing education consultant, Leslie Satchell, who works directly with academic advisors and identifies what classes are left for the players to take. From there, we help the players enroll in class.

* What role do the schools play?

BATOBA: There are actually some schools that set up programs that allow former student athletes to return and complete their college degree. It also depends on whether the athlete is physically going back to campus to take the class because they can utilize the resources there.

THORNHILL: The schools play a tremendous role in resources and support and guidance. It’s not easy to jump back in to a classroom, especially when you’ve been out for four years. The goal is to get as much support around that person from our department, to the NFL, and also the college so we can triangulate and help that player finish his degree so we can be positive and proactive even when things get tough.

* Do many players do this for graduate school, too?

BATOBA: We can see this in vocation school and trade school as well. We had three players, Michael Thomas, John Denney, and Chimdi Chekwa who earned MBAs last year, and AJ Francis in grad school for International Security at the University of Maryland. Players have to understand that in years 1-4 there is $20,000 that they either use or lose. So they have $20,000 sitting in the bank waiting to be utilized in any continuing education platform.

That’s why it’s so important for us to emphasize that the university is not necessarily going to cover them long term with financial support. That’s why the big emphasis on us is not waiting, because the average career is 2.6 years. When you think about that, you don’t have time. And the transition is much harder when you don’t have the degree. It’s almost a gateway to entry.

*What is your role in assisting athletes to go back to school?

BATOBA: It’s impossible to predict how long someone’s pro career will be. We take it upon ourselves that our guys are prepared for any and every possible scenario. Once we develop trust in our athletes and they know that we have their best interest at heart, they tend to trust us more about the opportunities we tell them about.

THORNHILL: We have a protocol and process that we go through in terms of timelines we need to meet and getting their continuing education forms to be able to get their transcript and figure out what the best scenario is for them to take classes. Is it online? Are they going back to Houston in the off-season where it makes more sense for them to take classes at the University of Houston? Does it make more sense for them to go back to the college? Is it mandatory for them to go back to their actual college? A lot of times, this prohibits guys from going back because their semester goes until May and they have to be back here for practices.

Unfortunately, a lot of times, we have to wait, like Mike Pouncey, for that class to open up online, for him to complete his degree, and he finished his degree this year.

Every scenario is different.

But the relationship is what gets us where we want to go. If they know our hearts, and truly, they know how to be a pro, because if they don’t know how to be a pro in the sport that they love, which is football, then how will they ever be accountable in a classroom setting, where they don’t necessarily want to be per say. That’s the hard part- getting through, making sure we have the right individuals, making sure their committed, and then moving forward.

* What has your experience been like working with the different schools?

BATOBA: Because they are institutions of higher education, they appreciate the value of a college degree. So a lot of schools are supportive when a former athlete wants to go back. The best part is, a lot of academic advisors already had a strong relationship with the players, so whenever they reconnect it’s like they’re picking up right where they left off.

* What degrees would surprise us/you that he players earned? Any in fashion, astrophysics?

BATOBA: I think two of our favorite surprises would be our placekicker Andrew Franks, who has recently completed his degree in Biochemical Engineering

and our linebacker Jelani Jenkins, who just received his degree in Applied Physiology & Kinesiology.

*How was your experience as a student-athlete effective when helping athletes decide to go back to school and pursue a different career after their athletic career?

BATOBA: I think having the experience is really valuable, because you understand the commitment that goes into being a student athlete. Being a full time student and full time athlete, it can be limiting when you’re exploring career options during your time on campus as an undergrad. It’s not just important to get the degree, but understand what doors that degree can unlock for you. You have film, study hall, you have to grab something to eat after class.

A lot of your focus goes in to your sport.

Because of that, when any of the players get in to the NFL, they don’t know what to do with their free time, they don’t have those classes to worry about. During that free time, we are able to identify what things they can do with their degree, and whenever they’re done playing football, we can help them get in to something they enjoy doing and that the degree will help them get there.

THORNHILL: You have to understand what doors this degree opens.

That’s why we have 30 plus guys on our board now that are interested in different industries beyond just the college degree. We want them to understand that once they knock out the degree, this is just the beginning. We have to leverage that, bottom line, the network and access the NFL provides for these guys to meet anybody in the country; so many people just want to sit down and talk with them, just because they’re in the game that they can really leverage. The relationships, the skill sets, they can learn about and the business acumen that they have to develop, so they can develop another skill, that somebody will compensate them for once they’re done.

I think it’s a gateway to where we’re ultimately trying to get them to meeting people that will get them jobs when they’re done.

*During your time with the Dolphins, about how many players have you had go back to school?

THORNHILL: Well, we don’t have an exact number because some guys will leave and go somewhere else and finish their degree while playing for someone else, even if we were the ones that got him to go back. It can be a little tricky, but I’d say we’re somewhere in the range of 35-50. I have the 15 there as a gap because we can either count those guys for our club or not count them.

We’ve been proud of what we’ve been able to do here with The Miami Dolphins.

Again, having more support from the rest of our staff and not just our two person department is huge because there’s so many more components of this job other than what we’re talking about and that if you don’t have help, it’s really hard to accomplish any of the goals we set out to. Especially when it comes to continuing education and the career development space.

Yves has done a tremendous job at taking this role head on, at a job I used to spear head at, and we’ve seen numbers increase because of that.

*Was there a certain player that you believe started a push for more athletes to go back and finish their schooling?

THORNHILL: I think Earl Mitchell was one of the guys that was first in his family to complete his degree.

We helped him get an internship, and he was able to open up about it. He realized the support he had here, and we made it a real big deal, and that’s what was really a catalyst for our organization and was kind of a buy-in to guys that we are here support you and no one is going to look at you differently, going back actually helps.

*Do you expect to see more and more athletes go back to school to get their degrees? Why or why not?

BATOBA: I think as more and more of these stories become publicized, and the NFL continues to provide and support these players to go back to school, I expect to see more and more.

*What kind of change, if any, do you see in the players after they receive their degree?

BATOBA: It’s pretty evident once they do get their degree. That same focus and self-discipline that goes in to studying and testing translates to football whenever you’re preparing for an opponent. Those increased dopamine levels that come from completing a degree or class makes them more confident.

A more confident player is a better player.

I think it’s human nature whenever you’re accomplishing something that wasn’t your primary focus, your dopamine levels increase, and you see even more confidence.

*With athletes going back to finish their degrees, do you believe this effects the NFL overall?

BATOBA: I think more well-rounded athletes just lead to better contributors of society. We talked about an increase in character, and that holistic development, you do see that character starts to develop. The more well rounded you are, the better you can contribute to society.

*What do you think motivates athletes to go back and get their degrees?

BATOBA: It really depends from player to player. Sometimes it’s a parent, who wants to see them walk the stage. Other times they have been here for years, and they know how to be a pro and can focus on both the sport and going back to school. But really, within our organization, we are pretty intentional about recognizing the players. Once they do finish their degree, we hold a team meeting to come and have them come up and receive a ball, and I think this sparks a little competition between the players.

Since they’re competitors by nature, they see another guy getting their degree, and they think “Oh man I can do that too.”

It really just depends on what the trigger is for that individual athlete.

THORNHILL: To elaborate on that, just imagine it, being in a team meeting where the coaches allow us to get up there and hand out these game balls which has a quote from the particular player with a quote on it describing what getting that degree means to them. And to have that ball, and read that quote out loud, again these guys are competitors, and a lot of them think to themselves “Man, I really need to get mine done and stop messing around”, again the coaches are in the room and can help us with this leverage point and get this done.

Not every team has that kind of buy-in.

Literally, Mr. Ross our owner, Mike Tannenbaum or EVP, our Head Coach, and coaching staff, they are invested in helping our guys reach their full potential. Yves mentioned, “How you do anything is how you do everything”, and just talking about that holistic development and being accountable, it transfers over from being on the field and off the field.

*Is this a new trend, or do you believe it has been common and just not highlighted before?

THORNHILL: I think what happened was you started to see more stories that were published with a positive light, and more organizations that are starting to understand what a degree and do holistically for an athlete. I think there’s still some stigma around going back, sometimes athletes brain wash themselves with the idea that they’ll be taking focus off their football. When actually, it’s a skill you need to be able to manage multiple things in their life, that’s gonna be constant, transition will always be constant.

With that being said, I think that we’re getting past that point, but I think some guys have identity foreclosure still where they can only view themselves as one thing, as a football player.

We need to wash that out of their minds, and try to get a new way and stress their minds to think differently.

*Thank you both for your time, and more importantly, for helping so many to finish their college degrees!

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LEAD1 Association represents the athletic directors from the Football Bowl Subdivision Schools (FBS). The athletic programs assembled and led by the athletic directors at the member schools of LEAD1 Association provide billions in scholarship aid yearly to over 50,000 students. Of these, many are the first in their family to go to college.

LEAD1 Association, previously the D1A Athletic Directors' Association, consists of the 129 institutions of higher learning in 44 states across the country which comprise the FBS, as highlighted in the above map.

With Veteran's Day approaching, LEAD1 Association salutes those who wore the uniform of our armed forces. They are to be thanked for their service to our country! LEAD1 is also proud that the United States Naval Academy, the United States Military Academy, and the United States Air Force Academy are members.

For more information, please contact Jonathan Yates, Director of Communications and Public Affairs for LEAD1 Association, at 301-807-2523. Special thanks goes to Melissa Brandes who did great work in producing much of this interview piece for LEAD1 Association.