Since being named McNeese Director of Athletics in June 2020, Heath Schroyer has elevated the department to levels it’s never seen financially, academically, competitively, and in the community.
Summary
• Implemented a mission statement that focuses on Community, Tradition and Excellence - the three pillars of McNeese Athletics, and has made the well-being of the McNeese student-athletes the top priority.
• Named advisor to the Southland Conference Commissioner in November 2021.
• Set school fund raising records in both corporate sponsorships ($2.4-million) and private donations ($1.5-million).
• Secured $2.5-million in naming rights deal for a new basketball arena (highest donation for naming rights in school history).
• Increased the athletic budget by 20 percent over last 3 years through fundraising, corporate sponsorships, and premium season ticket sales.
• Areas of Experience Include University Relations, Department Leadership, Student-Athlete Experience and Welfare, Compliance, Athletic Program Administration, Business Operations, Facilities and Capital Projects, External Operations and Athletics Development.
• Hired Head Basketball coach Will Wade in March of 2023 who in his first season currently has an overall record of 22-3 with wins at the University of Michigan and VCU.
Enhanced Facilities
• Secured first of its kind contract with ESPN Networks for all McNeese sports to be broadcast via the ESPN+ platform.
• Negotiated deal with Southland Conference for McNeese and Southwest Louisiana to host three events and tournaments projected to have multimillion dollar economic gains for the area.
• Football Media Day, Men’s & Women’s Basketball and Softball Postseason Tournaments.
• Oversaw $1-million annual net profit partnership signing with Ochsner Christus to fund athletic training department.
• Secured hosting the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships through 2029 (longest on-campus contract in the nation).
• Signed an All-University contract with Under Armor in 2021 which was the first all sports deal in school history.
Enhanced Facilities
• Directed completion of the Legacy Center, McNeese’s new state-of-the-art basketball arena.
• Secured $2.5-million in naming rights donation for the new basketball arena, the highest ever gift of its kind.
• Secured $32-million for the brand-new football press box with a 2025 completion date
• Raised $250-thousand for a new baseball canopy, completed in 2022.
• Raised $4-million for a new baseball facility, completion date 2026.
• Raised $400-thousand for a new scoreboard at the Nancy Hank Tennis Complex.
• Procured $3-million in funding to install new turf for football and baseball fields and for full Cowgirl Softball Complex renovation.
• Raised $800-thousand towards new softball locker room and training complex.
• Initiated court resurfacing at the Nancy Hank Tennis Complex.
• Installed new track surface at Bill and Lena Track & Field Complex.
• Secured $1-million for a new track and field complex.
• Commenced reconstruction of track field house, spring 2023 completion date.
• Secured $250-thousand for new Legacy Center weight room.
• Installed new scoreboards at all sporting venues.
• Raised $1-million for a new football locker room, completed in 2023.
• Raised $1.5-million for new weight room for all sports, 2024 completion date.
• Sold naming rights to the weight room for $500-thousand to Navarre Performance Center.
Revenue Generation
• Brought all corporate sponsorship in-house and formed McNeese Athletic Foundation.
• Raised $2.5-million in 2023 which set a school record.
• Corporate sponsors have increased from 26 to 78 in three years with a 2024 projection of over $3-million.
• Instituted Platinum Club for men’s basketball, generating $175-thousand per year for basketball enhancements.
• Implemented The Champions Club for football, generating $200-thousand per year for football enhancements.
• Sold over $1.5-million in corporate sponsorships since May 2021, the most in school history.
• Organized a new fundraiser called “The Gatsby Gala,” which raises over $300-thousand for the McNeese Athletic Foundation in one night which is attended by state representatives and politicians (first of its kind in the state of Louisiana).
• Secured $1.5-million in private donations over the last three years which is a school record.
• Signed a partnership with Ochsner Christus to fund the athletic training department and full-time athletic trainers, a net profit of $700-thousand for the department.
Recruiting, Hiring & Teams
• Recruited and hired new head coaches in football, basketball (men’s and women’s), tennis and volleyball (women’s)
• Men’s basketball head coach Will Wade led team to first conference tournament win in four seasons in 2023-24 and finished with a record of 30-4 setting numerous school records, including attendance (10 sellouts) and posted the program’s first-ever win over a Big Ten Conference school (Michigan).
• Women’s basketball head coach Lynn Kennedy guided team to best record and postseason tournament seed in five seasons.
• Hired sought after football coach Gary Goff who played for the Division II National Championship.
• Re-signed head softball coach James Landreneau who has taken the team to three straight NCAA Regionals including regional finals in 2022 and 2023.
• Volleyball has posted back-to-back seasons with its highest conference finishes.
• Completed contract extensions of existing softball, baseball, women’s soccer and track & field/cross country head coaches.
• For the first time in school history, all head coaches are on multi-year contracts.
• Hired the University’s first-ever minority head coach in women’s tennis (Gabrielle Moore).
• Started up beach volleyball for the athletic program that began in the spring of 2024.
Student-Athlete Advancement
• During his time as AD, McNeese athletics recorded more than 1,000 student-athletes named to the Southland Conference Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll which requires a minimum GPA of 3.0 with hundreds posting a perfect 4.0 GPA
• Dozens have earned SLC All-Academic honors with several being recognized nationally for their academics.
• Awarded the 2020-21 Southland Strong Community Service Award for the exceptional community service and tireless hours with assisting in cleanup following the devastating Hurricanes Laura and Delta, which struck the community within six weeks of each other in 2020. McNeese student-athletes, staff and coaches stepped in to begin finding ways to clean, repair and help in away way possible, whether it was helping tarp roofs, cut trees, pick up debris, clean out houses and businesses, and collect and distribute supplies and serve food.
• Student-athletes received the prestigious Southland Conference McCarty Citizenship Award three times (Whitney Tate, softball, 2023; Julian Gonzales, baseball, and Grace McKenzie, track and field, in 2021) and Gonzales was also awarded the SLC’s F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship in 2022.
Engaging Fans and the Community
• Re-instituted the Cowboy Caravan, a four-stop tour to engage fans with coaches and University leaders.
• Launched Cowboy Country Fest concert series, a one-weekend event featuring local, regional, and national artists.
• Hosted Cowboy Block Party, free concert series held Friday nights before Saturday home football games.
• Oversaw McNeese Athletics’ nationally recognized social media platforms.
• Launched newly designed mobile app for increased fan engagement.
• Created Poke Nation television show alongside local media personality.
• Created PokeCast in the fall of 2023 – a live, fan interactive weekly coaches radio show hosted by a local media personality and held out on location.
Leaderships & Sports Team Performances
• Won the Southland Conference Softball Tournament Championship in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and appeared in the NCAA Regionals all three years including the regional finals in 2022 and 2023.
• Won the Southland Conference Baseball Tournament Championship in baseball in 2021 and appeared in the NCAA Regionals.
• Won the 2022 SLC regular season baseball championship.
• Won 2021 Southland Conference Championship in men’s cross country.
• Won 2021 Women’s Indoor and 2022 Women’s Outdoor Track & Field team championships, both for the first time in school history.
• Men’s basketball team received its first-ever votes in the AP Top 25 poll.
• In 2023-24, men’s basketball ranked No. 1 in the league in attendance at nearly 3,500 per game and rated in the top 25 in the nation in capacity percentage at 77% full. In league games only, that percentage jumped to 95% full.
• The Cowboys sold out their arena 10 times, a school record.
• Football ranked No. 1 in the Southland Conference in attendance for the fourth straight season.
• The Cowgirls’ basketball team led the league in attendance for the third straight year.
• Cowgirl softball has led the Southland in attendance the last three seasons.
Schroyer's Story
• A college coach for 26 years with 24 of those at the NCAA Division I level.
• Head coach for 12 years at four different universities and was the second-youngest head coach in the nation when he was named the Portland State head coach.
• Has seen four of his former assistants become D1 head coaches and he coached over 100 players that have signed professional contracts.
• Named Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2005, the Tennessee Sportswriters Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2015, and was a finalist for the NCAA Mid-Major Coach of the Year.
• An assistant coach at major universities such as BYU, Wyoming, North Carolina State and UNLV.
• While at UNLV, signed four McDonald's All-Americans in three years and the first All-American at UNLV since the Jerry Tarkanian era.
• Named one of the nation's top 15 assistant coaches in two of the three years while at UNLV.
• A first generation college graduate who grew up on a Dairy Farm in Maryland.
• Prepped at the prestigious DeMatha High School program in Hyattsville, Md., where he played for the legendary coach Morgan Wootten, whose 1,274 wins as a head coach are the second-most victories in the history of basketball at any level.
• Earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Armstrong Atlantic State in 1995 and master’s degree in institutional leadership from National University in Fresno, Calif. in 1996.
• A native of Walkersville, Md., Schroyer has one daughter, Sierra, and a son, Hayden, from a previous marriage.
