'Raise the Bar': Ryan Ivey lays out bold plan as Tech's new AD

It may have been his first public appearance as the new Athletic Director at Louisiana Tech, but Ryan Ivey didn’t play Thursday’s introductory presser with a timid tone.

Ivey, who comes to Ruston after spending the previous eight years as AD at Stephen F. Austin, told fans, media, coaches, and athletes in attendance on the top floor of the Davison Athletics Complex that he didn’t come to LA Tech to swim as another fish in the choppy college athletics sea. He expects to make waves.

In what is his first administrative position at the FBS level, Ivey said the standard of Tech athletics should match the tradition that came before and to deliver future success to the generations young and old that care about the health of LA Tech.

“After spending over two decades in intercollegiate athletics, the last 11 leading three athletic departments, I know firsthand how special the opportunity to be standing in front of you is and it’s something that I do not take lightly,” Ivey said in his prepared statement. “It is a passion for each and every one of you. It is your institution, and it is now our institution and our athletic department and I look forward to joining with you in helping it grow.”

Ivey spoke openly about the balance between acknowledging Tech, as a Group of Five school, will have to work without the hefty TV contracts or swaths of cash that the bigger schools enjoy, while not allowing those realities to limit Tech’s vision on and off the playing field.

With previous stops as AD at SFA, Austin Peay State University (2015-2018), and Texas A&M University-Commerce (2013-2015), along with an Associate AD position at McNeese State from 2007-2013 – all FCS schools – Ivey knows firsthand how to operate without mounds of resources on day one.

And he knows Tech is in a similar position, but that won’t mean he and his department won’t strive to try punching above their weight class.

“Just throwing money at a problem has not been a luxury I have had and I know it won’t be one I have here either,” Ivey said. “I have learned to work in and with margins and have had success along the way. It doesn't mean we always got it right, but we took calculated risks that led to broad base success.

“I recognize that this is a unique and challenging time in college athletics, especially for institutions like ours,” Ivey added. “We’re constantly striving to maintain and enhance our position within the college athletics ecosystem. I fully come into this position with eyes wide open knowing that we have some inherent, built-in challenges. However, I will not stand by and just accept that we can’t have success. We have the ability, opportunity, and responsibility to dream big, bold dreams and we must not settle for anything less. Now is the time to raise the bar for Louisiana Tech athletics.”

That boldness was a part of why Louisiana Tech president Jim Henderson quickly saw Ivey as a top candidate and eventually the right hire for Tech’s open AD position.

“He brings the experience, he brings the demonstrated charter and leader, he brings a desire to win,” Henderson said. “He has a desire to help student athletes be successful and he’s willing to come an institution with a storied history like Louisiana Tech. That is a big commitment and he has not shied away one bit.”

Henderson has said from day one of his own arrival at Tech that his competitive nature fuels his decision-making and could see Ivey shared a similar view on the athletics landscape.

And he didn’t back away from one of Henderson’s direct messages in the interview process.

“As we talked to candidates, I put the challenge out there. I said, ‘there’s no reason we cannot be nationally competitive with our peers in every single sport,’” Henderson said. “We’ve got a cadre of coaches that have demonstrated the ability to coach at that level. We have to put the whole thing together so that we can be successful, continue to be successful in the classroom, continue to represent the storied institution in the right way and to be competitive on the field and the courts of play.”

Ivey, who officially starts day-to-day operations March 11, said off in the smaller media contingent that Tech can and will compete with the big programs in all sports but said that can only happen when everyone is pulling in the same direction.

It’s off to a good start as he and Henderson start their respective tenures at Tech within a two-month span of each other, an opportunity Ivey doesn’t take lightly.

“You only get that opportunity every once in a while,” Ivey said of aligning with Henderson. “You can’t manufacture it. It’s something that happens organically and so everything is aligned for us right now and we’ve got to be able to capitalize on that. That’s why I say now is the time because if you wait, the opportunity is going to pass you by.”

And he knows Tech must hit the ground running sooner than later given how much can change in college athletics.

Between Name, Image and Likeness reform and resource allocation, the transfer portal, coaching turnover, recruiting windows, and more to handle, Ivey said the department must be proactive in dealing with change – good or bad.

And if Tech keeps waiting for the ‘right time’, Ivey said there might not be an opportunity to rein in the out-of-control environment.

“Our enterprise is not perfect. We’ve got challenges and we’ve got problems. You could almost say college athletics has gotten itself drunk and high at the same time,” Ivey said. “We don’t know which way is up or down most of the time. But ultimately, it’s about investing in and creating opportunities for student athletes.”

Ivey continued that thought when asked what keeps him engaged in college athletics after two decades.

“I don’t know that our current model is sustainable, just to be really honest with you,” Ivey said. “I think when you look at the highest-resourced institutions, they are doing things differently than us. And that’s OK. I’m not mad at them. If we had the ability to do it, we’d be doing it as well. But we don’t. But I will tell you, I believe, and I strongly believe, that there is a place for institutions like Louisiana Tech in the Division I athletics ecosystem.”