In June, Ben Broussard will replace Bobby Purcell as The Wolfpack Club’s Executive Director.
Broussard has been the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Advancement and Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Colorado since October of 2017, spearheading the athletic department’s fundraising organization, the Buff Club.
Prior to that, Broussard had worked his way up to Vice President for Development for the Tiger Athletic Foundation at his alma mater, LSU.
Broussard’s successes in fundraising are immense. He had a record-level effort in his stint at Colorado, starting with a 17 percent increase in dollars raised in his first year. That was topped by a school-record $26 million haul in his second year. The five largest gifts in Colorado history all occurred while Broussard was in Boulder.
Broussard is excited about moving his family — his wife, the former Dana Russo, and three children, sons Jude and Evan and daughter Evie — to Raleigh. Last week, Broussard took time for an interview with The Wolfpacker for a feature that will be published in the upcoming edition of the magazine.
Here are highlights from that Q&A that will help you get to know Broussard:
How did you get involved in collegiate athletics?
“When I was young, I was a pretty good athlete. In high school, I played baseball and basketball. When I got to college, I had a buddy who played on the LSU rugby team. He asked me if I’d like to play. I went out and enjoyed it. That was a great time.
“Then I went to grad school, and when I was there I got an internship with the PGA, helping run golf tournaments.
“One of my best friends had an internship with the Tiger Athletic Foundation down at LSU, which is almost a mirror image with the Wolfpack Club at NC State. A year or two later after I came back from my internship, he gave me a call and asked, ‘Would you be interested in interviewing for a job as a development officer for the Tiger Athletic Foundation?’
“I did, and I was fortunate enough that retired two-star Marine Corps Major General Ronald Richard was running the organization. He gave me a chance. That was in 2004.”
What did you do for the Tiger Athletic Foundation?
“In January of 2004, LSU ended up playing Oklahoma in the national title game in New Orleans. Jan. 1 was my first day, and Jan. 4 was the national championship game.
“LSU won its first national championship in about 50 years in their own backyard. My job at that time was to meet people and raise money. Because everybody was just so excited about how well the Tigers had done, it made it easy.
“I started asking people for money. I'd get to know somebody, and they’d introduce me to two or three of their friends. I went from not knowing any of the donors and the fans to knowing several hundred of them really quickly because Nick Saban had a really good football team.”
Why the move to Colorado?
“While in Baton Rouge for 13 1/2 years, I had received a number of calls from recruiters and head hunters that basically said the same thing: ‘You could be in Baton Rouge the rest of your life. But if you do not experience other athletic departments or administrations, you’ll never see other ways things are done. If you ultimately are going to lead an organization, you are going to need some diversity and experience.’
“I agreed with them. The thing was, when I get offers from people, I had to get it approved by my wife to move our family. A whole bunch of them were not that exciting to my wife until Colorado came along. Colorado has a world-class athletic director in Rich George, and it’s a really nice place to raise a family. The role of running the Buff Club at Colorado and being involved in the athletic department was appealing, and we saw it as a great spot to raise a family.
“I accepted that job in September of 2017, and it was a great experience for our family.”
What about the Wolfpack Club opening caught your attention?
“There were a number of things there, and it starts with Bobby Purcell. This coming year I’ll be the president of our professional association [National Association of Athletic Development Directors], a position Bobby held in 2004-05.
“Whenever we have our executive committee meeting, Bobby comes. He’s a part of it. Through that we have gotten to know each other pretty well. Everybody knows who Bobby Purcell is. He’s larger than life in our industry.
“He’s always had fantastic things to say about NC State and Raleigh and people of the state of North Carolina. When they called me and initially asked if I’d be interested, that’s why I took the call.
“Then as we started talking about the job and the role and what I would do, and also that Bobby was going to be around to help with the transition, that made me more interested. My wife started looking into the area and made some phone calls. I have two cousins in the area, one in Raleigh and one in Apex, and we started talking to them about what it is like.
“Everybody said the same thing: it's a great place to raise a family, has fantastic sports and the geography of the state of North Carolina is second-to-none. Let’s be honest, the weather is a little bit warmer in North Carolina than it is in Colorado.”
What are some hobbies and passions away from the job?
“My absolute favorite thing to do in the world is watch my kids do what they do. I’m that dad: I’ll make every single one of my kids' basketball, football, baseball and soccer games. When I’m doing work and have to miss a game, my wife puts it on Facebook live for me so I can see how they are doing.
“That’s the thing that I enjoy doing the most, just watching my kids do what they do.
“I grew up in South Louisiana, and hunting and fishing and being outdoors were important parts of my life and still are. I really enjoy the game of golf. My boys and I run together.
"One other thing about me that is unique is that I love old trucks. I’ve actually got a 1968 Bronco that I restored that I’ll bring with me. At some point in time I am going to get a mid-1960s Ford F100, and I’ll restore it with my boys."
What are some of your biggest sports memories growing up?
“Where I grew up, the New Orleans Saints were a big deal and still are for us. Some of my first sports memories were waking up on Sunday morning and helping my mom and her family start preparing a meal. We’d all sit around the living room together and watch the Saints. They were terrible, but we’d still watch the game.
“When the Saints made the Super Bowl, one of my best friends and I made the trip together. I’ve been fortunate enough during my career that I’ve been to a number of national championship games in baseball and football as a fan and in a working capacity.
“This past year, my boys asked me, 'If LSU made it to the national championship game could we go?' Of course I said yes, not thinking that they’d make it.
"My wife and I and my two boys went to the national championship game. That’s the first we’d ever been to a college football game as a family as fans. That was great.”
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