New FGCU Director of Athletics Colin Hargis looking to build on Eagles' success

For Colin Hargis, his path to FGCU first started forming more than a decade ago, precisely the same time the rest of the nation was being introduced to Dunk City.

In March 2013, Hargis and his wife Katie were living in Tampa where he worked for the University of South Florida in its athletics department. The couple were also making frequent trips to visit Katie’s parents in Bonita Springs, which like the rest of Southwest Florida was abuzz with excitement following the FGCU men’s basketball team’s shocking run to the Sweet 16.

The experience left an indelible impression on Hargis, one that persisted through a subsequent nine-year stint at North Carolina State where he eventually became the Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations.

“We always said it’d be really cool to get back to Florida if FGCU were to work out one day,” Hargis said. “And lo and behold the opportunity came up and we said, all right, let’s dive in.”

The 41-year-old recounted the story Monday afternoon, just hours into his first day as FGCU’s new Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. He was one of four finalists for the position, which opened when Ken Kavanagh left in December after more than a decade overseeing the athletic department.

Hargis signed a three-year contract with FGCU in late March which will pay him an annual base salary of $235,000. He’s just the third athletic director in the university’s 27-year history.

“I’m grateful and fortunate to be here and to get to lead this department forward,” he said.

Before moving forward, however, Hargis said he’ll take some time learning about the people and processes that have helped the Eagles’ athletic programs get to where they are.

“When you look at the success they’ve had athletically … 17 years of Division I, 100-plus titles, you can win here, you can recruit here, you can bring student-athletes here and you can be successful,” he said. “It’s a really short but rich history, one that we can build on.”

Two ways Hargis envisions FGCU doing just that is by ensuring there’s a consistently strong foundation of people dedicated to fulfilling the department’s athletic goals, everyone from support personnel to coaches to student-athletes – and by developing additional financial resources. That was one of his strengths during his time at NC State, which saw record-setting department revenue growth during his tenure.

“We have to be able to generate resources here to support our student-athletes, to support our programs and sports and the university in general,” he said. “But I think there’s a huge opportunity for us to be successful as part of this campus that’s growing as the region itself is growing.”

At NC State, Hargis had a hand in helping to revitalize the brand of a university that boasts a tradition-rich history of 130-plus years in a state where collegiate sports reign supreme. He said in comparison, FGCU and its athletic department is more like a start-up, which comes with its own advantages.

“That’s a great thing because we get to be a part of creating the blueprint instead of having to recreate it or rebrand it,” Hargis said. “A lot of the elements are the same, it’s just we’re at a different starting spot.”

One emphasis for Hargis will be building a stronger connection between the FGCU athletic program and its surrounding communities.

“I think a lot of it is getting the message into these communities and telling our story, really focusing on the success that has taken place here,” he said. “It’s that storytelling that they’re more than just student-athletes. There are incredible 18 to 22-year-olds here on this campus. We need to amplify those messages.”

Another advantage Hargis sees for FGCU is the annual influx of winter residents that Southwest Florida receives from November through April, which just happens to coincide with the bulk of FGCU’s primary athletic seasons, including men’s and women’s basketball.

“Most of these people generally speaking are coming from the Northeast and the Midwest, areas that are driven by college athletics,” he said. “That’s an opportunity that we can tap into. We don’t need to be everyone’s No. 1 team but we can be their second favorite team, their hometown team when they’re in Southwest Florida.”

In addition to that older demographic, Hargis also wants FGCU to appeal to young families like his who are part of Southwest Florida’s population boom and attract them to athletic events. He and his wife Katie have two sons, 12-year-old Jacob and 8-year-old Mason.

“How do we make it so that kids want to come out to our athletic events because if the kids want to be here, the parents will follow,” Hargis said. “They may not be our season ticket holders and they may not be our donors right away. But if we can get them coming out to our events and having it ingrained in their heads that FGCU is an entertainment option then you can really start growing.”

Hargis concedes that some of these plans are not quick fixes. But taking the long view is something he’s comfortable with since he hopes to be at FGCU for the foreseeable future.

“We don’t take these kind of moves in our career lightly,” he said. “It has to be a long-term play because our goal is not to move our kids around. Is it somewhere where you can be forever? And when we dove into it, we said this is a place, a community, where we can live as a family.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: FGCU athletic director Colin Hargis takes over Eagles program