Tim House discusses John Purdue Club, donations, NIL and more

Tim House, Purdue Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Associate Vice President for Development spoke to Alan Karpick on Friday, Nov. 1 about a variety of topics on Gold and Black LIVE.  The following is an excerpt (edited for clarity) on the interview with House.

GoldandBlack.com: What have been the conversations you have had with donors and people in your world regarding where football is?

House: It’s a complicated answer to that question. I think it depends on the day and the conversation. I think generally speaking, one of the things that we’ve really prided ourselves on in the John Purdue Club, and honestly have been very blessed to have a fan base like Purdue respond well to, is we’re very communicative. We probably do more one-on-one calls with donors and members than just about any school in America and that’s led to some fundraising success for us.

But what it also has helped with is times like this, narrative control and handling of misinformation that might be out there. And also you just have to embrace a situation as what it is. In these polarizing times, whether you’re winning big or you’re having a rough year, you do get more people connecting with your staff, and more opportunities to identify who’s most passionate about the program. Right now, are the calls always as fun as they are when you’re playing in the national title game in basketball in the spring? No, but you’re getting a chance to show people we care enough to listen to them, hear them out, that we value their support for the team that’s never mattered more.

You do take that feedback. Part of my job becomes going to Mike (Bobinski) and in my one-on-one with him, or in some of the other meetings I’m in with him, and sharing where the fan base stands on things. Some of it you share more freely, and others, you may say, ‘Well, that was after the game, and they had a long day, and maybe I’m not going to share that one.’ It is a great time for collecting feedback.

But the biggest thing for us is we have to be authentic in these conversations. People give money to people they trust and Purdue people are some of the most trustworthy, salt of the earth folks, ever. So, we’re not gonna act like it’s something it’s not. We’ve made a career out of working in sports because we’re competitors. We love competition. So, we’re very honest about the fact that the competitive success needs to come and we know that that’s an expectation of the fan base. And at the same time, it’s the balancing act when you’re in these situations, whether it’s right at Purdue or any school in America, is you still have to exhibit the behavior of being a great teammate to your teammates throughout the department.

We have a responsibility to show the same behavior we hold the student-athletes accountable to. If the student-athletes were out speaking negatively about each other or another program in the department, it would be all over the internet and not in a good way. And our fan base would frown upon that. And similarly, we have to continue to stay positive about our teammates and everything going on at Purdue, and do all we can to support the young men and women who are wearing the uniforms. That’s got to be our focus. It’s a balance of professionalism, that being a great teammate, at the same time being authentic and listening to people and letting them know, yes, you’re heard and by the way, none of us like not winning games. Everyone wants to win.

You don’t want to be around me when we’re not winning games. I tend to find a corner of the stadium where no one can find me so that I can express my frustrations to myself and not others. But it’s not a frustration with any person or player anything. It’s just, I like winning. I hate losing. So, I get it when others do, too, and so embracing their competitive fire, and relaying that feedback to Mike, and then remember who cares that much because eventually these things come back around. And that same passion for wanting to get better when things aren’t great can be channeled when things are better to get people to step up and support. That’s kind of how we approach it. I can’t control much. I control my attitude, my effort, and that’s what we talk about as a staff. And so that’s what we focus on.

GoldandBlack.com: What skill set in Ryan Walters gives him an opportunity to turn things around?

House: I think he’s got an unwavering belief in our ability to overcome this and to overcome any situation. He’s a confident guy. And that does become contagious.

When I’m walking around athletic facilities, there is still a belief and a lot of people hear that. But the kids are still working their butts off, and that means something. I will say this unequivocally and 100% honestly, that staff has been the best group of teammates I could have ever asked for, I’ve ever worked with.

And it’s hard, because in this day and age, in the last two decades I’ve been working on college places, there is a physical divide usually between the football operation and the rest of the department, because it is such a big operation. It usually requires that it has its own building. They have done everything they can to bridge that gap, to help us with donors. They really do care what the donors think. They’re not going to get play calls from them, but they know that it requires donor support.

I know Ryan went hard on coming to every NIL event he possibly could to help raise money. And we did everything we could in the John Purdue Club to assist with the Boilermaker Alliance within the rules the NCAA to do that. But to see him step up and commit that much time, I do know how much he cares. He wants to win. He’s competitive as all get out and wants to see us win and I think he’s a pretty solid recruiter.

It’s funny, you hear people, you read different things, you say things about where we stand with NIL, but we’ve drastically changed where we were within NIL in this offseason. And I thought he did a good job of convincing some high level players to come here. Then it becomes, how quickly can you get a group of guys that haven’t played ball together to gel? Do you get lucky with injuries? Can you get everybody there at the same time?

It’s hard. I’m not an excuse-maker. He said the same thing. I’m not saying anything nobody’s willing to say. But I would also say he’s dealing with a lot of the issues a lot of the coaches in college football are.

I think he’s a great recruiter, I think people like him, I think people trust him. I can only speak on my working relationship with him. But anytime we’ve needed any help with engaging donors or him showing up anywhere, he’s been there at the drop of a hat with a smile on his face, willing to do whatever it takes to help us and the whole department. There’s a lot of great things I can say, and it’s not just him, it’s his entire staff. They have been gentlemen and awesome to work with and I know that our young people on the team feel the same way.

GoldandBlack.com: How does the House settlement impact donors giving to NIL?

House: You’d be way off base if you said it doesn’t change anything. It impacts everything we do. I don’t think it requires less out of donors anywhere. I think it’s just maybe less of donors towards collectives and more focused on John Purdue Club fundraising, or whatever the equivalent is at schools. Uou’re still going to have that arms race. Not everybody’s gonna be able to get to that revenue sharing cap. At Purdue, I feel as though it landed in a great spot for us where we can get there as a Big Ten institution. We have a great relation with the university. Our families have really stepped up and totally changed where we stand within the league in terms of how much we raise. We’re one of the top fundraising schools over the last four or five years, and that’s going to really help us be positioned where we can get to that revenue, to the top of where that revenue cap is. I don’t know how much we could go past it.

What’s good about that is, there are a lot of schools that have double the size football stadiums who could go way past it, and it brings them back to us. But we’re still outpacing a lot of people in college athletics. I long term feel really good about where Purdue stands for the future of college athletics, because of where it landed, and because we have a president who’s fully supporting everything we’re trying to do and trying to build here. We’re very fortunate.

I don’t know if a lot of people paid attention during COVID, but over the past few years, a lot of the most seasoned ADs just retired and left a lot of this to a lot of people who are still learning how to be ADs. I think we are very fortunate to have Mike stick with us and have one of the most seasoned ADs at the table right now in such a transformative time, and that’s been a huge advantage for us.

I don’t think people know how much time he’s put into traveling all over the country, positioning Purdue and having about as credible of a voice in the room to position Purdue as best as humanly possible for the future of college athletics. And, because of that, I think a lot of people get focused on, ‘Hey, we wish football was winning a couple more games.

But the long-term reality is we’re in a really good spot, and where it affects our job is we’re just like everyone else. We’re going to still have to be in competition with everybody to raise as much money as we can. And what we’ve tried to do is we realize we’ve already asked our donor base to step up in a big way over the last 5, 6, 7 years.

We haven’t done a ton of huge facilities projects. We did the football stadium phase one. We did new basketball locker rooms. We did a beautiful new clubhouse that is going to be awesome for the golf programs. Volleyball and wrestling video boards in Holloway, stuff like that. But a lot of our focus has been on raising money that is going to be able to be targeted towards the student-athlete experience, because they are our most precious commodity in such a fluid marketplace where they can be more transient than ever.

How are we going to invest in their experience in a way where they wake up every day feeling like Purdue is the best place to be in college athletics? I have no desire to look anywhere else. And I want to be here, and we’re going to win through continuity.

You’ve seen it with Purdue men’s basketball. We’re consistently competing for Big Ten titles every single year. We have broken through that glass ceiling of making a Final Four, and we don’t show any signs of slowing down. It’s been built by creating a culture where, on the front end, we’re able to tell young people that Purdue is going to be a great experience.

So, our focus is going to be continuing to raise dollars that make that possible for our coaches. Because we believe that you got to get kids who love being at Purdue, and it’s on us to create that experience they love, So, that’ll be our focus.

And last thing I’ll say is, with the new revenue sharing, we’re exploring interesting ideas. The student-athletes are in a more of a partnership with us. How do we get them in position to promote what’s going on campus, whether it’s promoting giving to athletics or promoting what’s going on on campus in their major? Or here’s how you apply to Purdue. Here’s how you engage with Purdue in various ways so we can create more of an ecosystem where it’s a rising tide raising ships for the entire campus that our fans like, that they feel proud of, where they feel that connection between student-athlete and school. That’s some of the fun stuff we’re working on.

Then the last thing I’ll say is, we know that as we continue to ask for more, we have to continue to look for more ways to enhance the value of being a John Purdue Club member. What more can we add in terms of engagement for our alumni and for our donors for access? And then benefits.

We’re talking right now to the Lafayette Country Club about are there offerings there? Is there a potential partnership there where that can enhance the membership? One of the things we’ve heard it’s hard to find a good place to eat when you come in for games because there’s only so many really nice restaurants. So, we’re exploring opportunities to give that access to John Purdue Club members. We’re exploring opportunities to partner with different other entities around town to create more touch points for the student-athletes and the coaches at events.

So, we know more is being asked every year, but it’s on us to figure out how to make it worth it. That’s really where the job is at right now.

GoldandBlack.com: What keeps you optimistic that this will land in a place where yes, athletes, student-athletes will be paid as an opportunity to play, but that still remains a college level sport and something that fans want to digest and utilize in a level that still keeps it at that college game?

House: I want to say I believe we’ve kind of come full circle. I don’t think we’ve gone somewhere we’ve never been before.

If you look back over history, the first college football game was Rutgers versus Princeton. They paid some of the best athletes in those towns to wear shirts that said Rutgers and Princeton so that the people would come out and be exposed the idea of higher education and the mission and values the institutions that they represent. That’s just what we’re doing now.

People can like or not like that it got back to that or how big the dollar amounts are. But the reality of it is stadiums are still being filled. Arenas are still being filled with young people who are being exposed the idea of pursuing higher education and pursuing a set of mission and values that align with that institution’s university community, and we have one of the best in the country, in the world here.

You want to know why I’m not worried about Purdue? Did you see the turnout of our fan base at that national championship game? Seems like they’re pretty engaged.

They saw a group of young men who sat in public humiliation last year after losing to Fairleigh Dickinson, learned from their mistakes, took it on the chin, didn’t listen to the outside noise, or maybe if they did hear it, they used it as motivation, and they controlled what they could control, and they got better. And they owned it, and they looked inward instead of blaming other people and then they did it the right way. They did ethically. They did it as a team and as a unit. No one person was bigger than the others.

We are still making the main thing, the main thing. The main thing is, again, we’re inspiring the next generation to want to come to Purdue, and we’re keeping them engaged with that time in their life. And when I go to Ross-Ade Stadium, and when I go to Mackey Arena, I still see that in droves, everything that’s awesome about it.

Now, we can mess it up if we get away from keeping that core to what we’re doing here. But at Purdue, that’s not the case. We know the more you win, the more people pay attention to everything I just talked about. We gotta figure out how to make sure we continue winning at the highest level with all our sports, and that’s always going to be our charge.

But what it looks like and how we do it and why we do it, it’s never been better. And we know what the best version of us looks like, and we’ve just got to focus on that. No one’s done a better job than Coach Painter of displaying that for us and men’s basketball. We just got to make sure that continues to be contagious throughout our whole department and campus community.

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