Newly appointed UNI director of athletics Megan Franklin looks to begin "legacy era"

When Megan Franklin was interviewing for the Northern Iowa director of athletics job, she had a lot of questions for UNI president Mark Nook.

She asked Nook what role athletics had to play in the institution and what the goals were for UNI athletics. In today's day and age as college athletics approaches a pivotal point in its history, those are pressing questions for anyone associated with the Panthers.

However, the most interesting question she said she asked was:

"What leadership opportunities do I have?"

That ability to help lead the way was important to Franklin. Serving as Drake University's Senior Associate Athletics Director for Strategic Initiatives and External Operations/Senior Woman Administrator, she spearheaded the hiring of Bulldog football coach Todd Stepsis, volleyball coach Darrin McBroom, men's soccer coach Pat Flinn and women's golf coach Steve Smith, all of which have found relative success in the Missouri Valley Conference. She also helped organize the 2019 and 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament sites in Des Moines, along with assisting in the building of Mediacom Stadium

One day she'll never forget, however, is April 16, 2007. Serving then as the director of student life at Virginia Tech, a devastating shooting spree took the lives of 32 people in Blacksburg. After the tragedy, she was asked by the dean of students to assist in the support and recovery of the injured students returning to campus following the attack. She spent three years, until the final student graduated, assisting those students where she could as they attempted to return to their lives following the traumatic events of that day.

It was those types of leadership qualities that Nook and the search committee ultimately decided they needed in Cedar Falls, hiring her not only for the director of athletics role, but also welcoming her onto the senior leadership team within the University.

"Her questions really opened that up," Nook said. "I found a leader that had a great deal of integrity in the way that she approached the problems that she was asked to solve."

Now, Franklin embraces that big challenge of leading UNI through what is one of the most tumultuous times in college athletics history. In a world where realignment is destroying conferences and budgets look to be restricted as revenue sharing becomes reality, the Panthers' place in Division I athletics is ultimately thrown into question.

Yet, Franklin is confident as she looks to lay in place what she calls the "Legacy Era" of Panther Athletics.

As the first woman to lead UNI's athletics department, she'll be creating a legacy of her own in that accomplishment alone. Though, Franklin's desire to come to UNI was centered on the people she would get to work with daily, particularly the coaching staffs that were already in place.

Having worked at Virginia Tech for several years, she worked in the same athletic department as Tom Brands, Kevin Dresser and then-assistant and current UNI head coach Doug Schwab. Working alongside three of the more successful coaches in collegiate wrestling, she always appreciated their "hunger" to strive for the best, regardless of how successful things were at the time.

As she looked at the staff in place at UNI, she saw many of the same traits.

"What I like about them is that they're still hungry," Franklin said. "There's no one resting on their laurels. That's what is so exciting to me is that 'Boy, what a wonderful group to work with and to learn from.'"

Along with a group of coaches that she believes will achieve success, she saw upgrades being made with the UNI-Dome and wrestling facility that showed commitment from the University's leadership and donors that would allow her to usher in a new era of success in Cedar Falls. One that will encourage fans to come out to games, engage with the University and drive fundraising and revenue, which will be crucial as the country's elite programs continue to distance themselves from the rest of the crowd.

Franklin feels confident that her vision and leadership alongside the UNI community of coaches, fans, athletes and alumni, will propel the Panthers into a successful era of athletics.

"The legacy of Panther Athletics will see championships won, careers celebrated, facilities built and great fun," Franklin said.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UNI athletic director Megan Franklin introduced to Panther community