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Some guests you interview. This one, you just listen to — and take notes.
This week on Talkin' with the AD, I sit down with Mike Mossbrucker, CMAA, a recently retired athletic director who spent most of his career at Mooresville High School in Indiana. A state workshop presenter for the IIAAA and NIAAA, a past NIAAA Board of Directors member, the 2025 IIAAA Athletic Director of the Year, and a recent NIAAA Hall of Fame inductee (to be formally inducted at the NADC in Phoenix this winter), Mike has spent more than four decades pouring into coaches, athletes, and the ADs coming up behind him.
We trace the whole road — from a multi-sport kid in Bloomington and a state champion wrestler at Bloomington North, to Indiana University, into coaching, and finally into the AD chair, where he learned fast that "you don't know what you don't know." Then we get into the good stuff: why certification matters, the facility audit that became his CMAA project (and a checklist his superintendent couldn't put down), what college scouts actually ask about in his office, and why the scholarship chase steals the joy from too many young athletes.
And to close, Mike hands over a few pages from the playbook nobody ever gave him — the ones about listening before you respond, building equity in people's emotional bank accounts, hitting your pause button, and simply loving the job.
If you're a new AD drinking from the fire hose right now, this one's for you.
In this episode:
- (01:10) Sports beginnings in Bloomington — a multi-sport athlete and state champion wrestler
- (06:20) From middle school wrestling to Mooresville: building a coaching career
- (08:39) Stepping into athletic administration — and "you don't know what you don't know"
- (10:48) Looking back on a career: legacy, energy, and treating challenges as opportunities
- (14:11) Why certification matters, and the three levels of a coach
- (19:51) The CMAA project: the facility audit that transformed a district
- (31:09) Serving coaches and student-athletes — creating culture and buy-in
- (35:50) The scholarship trap, and what college scouts really want to know
- (43:44) Mentoring the next generation of ADs — getting them to year two, three, and beyond
- (52:11) Leading the IIAAA and serving on NIAAA boards: relationships before hard conversations
- (59:19) On the NIAAA Hall of Fame — humility, gratitude, and the people who made it possible
- (1:04:11) The Closing Question: a few pages from Mike's AD playbook
- (1:09:42) Where to reach Mike
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Talkin' with the AD is a podcast for athletic directors, school leaders, coaches, parents, and athletes — built around education-based athletics and the people who make it work. Hosted by Morgan J. Sullivan — athletic director, coach, and author of Coach on Leadership.
LEAD · TEACH · GROW
Free resources for coaches, ADs, and sports parents: betteryouthcoaching.com
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Books by Morgan J. Sullivan: Coach on Leadership · MS Education Based Athletics · Before the First Snap
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Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes
Better Youth Coaching
Mission is to improve amateur sports through education of parents, coaches, and athletes
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