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CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID
This feature is part of our series of profiles showcasing members throughout the CoSIDA membership during the celebration of CoSIDA Membership Recognition Week for 2020-21. See more features at CoSIDA.com/ThankYourSID.
Dave Meyer – Miami University (Ohio), Assistant Athletic Director - Communications
by Will Roleson – CoSIDA Associate Executive Director
Miami University's Dave Meyer's job was upended by staff cuts last year but he has taken a positive outlook on the current season. And, he also looks back on his career path that started at MAC rival Bowling Green.
The Meyer family: Dave with wife Amanda and daughters Alaina (13) & Claire (11).
What is your favorite thing about being an SID?
DM: Working as a team. As we all know, this job includes strange hours, long weekends and lots of random requests from media, coaches and administrators. I love sitting down with my team every Monday and figuring out how everything gets done. We are all in this together and, as long as we know that, everything will work out.
Your staff was reduced last year. How did you plan for sports seasons with fewer staff and with so many question marks?
DM: I’ve been asked this question so many times over the past six or seven months and have heard from so many SIDs from around the country wondering the same thing. Getting a call and being told that six of your closest friends are being let go was hard to swallow. At 42 years old, that was the worst day of my life, but something amazing came out of it as well.
I was told we would be outsourcing all stats for home events. That sounds great, but my concern was “where do these people come from?” The outpouring of support from friends, former colleagues and former SIDs was remarkable. I reached out to anyone I could think of that might be able to help and the overwhelming support from these people has been touching. Former Miami employees, SIDs who had lost their jobs and old college friends are making this transition possible. Without their generosity I don’t know how this gets done.
What have you learned since sports returned at Miami?
DM: This pandemic has done a number on me. I’ve had family members with medical conditions, other friends of mine have lost loved ones and more friends than I care to count have lost their jobs, but when sports are happening, it feels great to just focus on that two-hour event and forget about any troubles you may be having. For two hours you just watch student-athletes do what they do best.
I have always loved my job and thought it was crazy that people paid me to do it, but looking back, I probably took sports for granted. Early in my career I traveled with the Bowling Green hockey team to Alaska and Miami football has taken me to Ohio State, Notre Dame and Iowa in the last three years. Looking back I wish I had embraced those experiences more. I was always so worried that everything was perfect that I never took the time to take it all in.
Meyer speaking at the podium of a Miami press conference.
Tell us a bit about your sports information career to this point and who has influenced you within the profession.
DM: I worked as a student at BGSU for three years (1999-2001) and after graduation thought I was a shoe-in for a full-time job. I was wrong. I probably applied for over 100 jobs and couldn’t even get an interview so for the next year I worked at Walmart. Then one morning I was getting ready for my shift and JD Campbell, the Assistant AD for Communications at Bowling Green, called me and said they were starting a new graduate assistant position and wanted to know if I would be interested. The pay was terrible but it was what I wanted to do so I jumped at the opportunity. Without that one phone call I have no clue where I would be today.
JD left for Indiana in 2007 which allowed me to have my first dream job: a Division I football SID at 28 years old. Needless to say, I had no clue what I was really getting into, but BG giving me that chance put me on the course I am today.
In 2009 I applied for the head SID job at Bowling Green but was told I was not ready for it and instead they hired Jason Knavel. I was disappointed I didn’t get the job, but after a conversation with Jason (while the two of us finished off a large pizza) I was excited about where we were going as a staff. Jason pushed me to become the best football SID I could be. He always had my back and when the time came to take this Miami job he supported it 100 percent. What I thought was a negative result turned out to be a huge positive and I picked up a life-long friend as well.
With all of that said, the group that had the biggest impact on my life/career was my staff at Miami. They welcomed me to Miami with arms wide open and as a group we accomplished things that not even I was sure we could do. We pushed each other, not out of fear, but because we never wanted to let anyone in the group down. What we had was special and is something I hope everyone on my staff takes with them as they continue their journeys in other locations.
What are your hopes and plans for the year ahead? Tell us about the financial literacy mission you and your wife Amanda have embarked on.
DM: I just want to find ways to help people, whether it is a student-athlete, coach, friend or someone off the street. 2020 took a lot out of college athletics and I am not sure we will ever be the same, but that doesn’t mean we can’t help each other in our day-to-day lives.
The one big way I know how to help is through the financial world. My wife and I are on a mission to help as many people as we can gain financial freedom by becoming debt-free. If you are reading this and scared about your financial outlook (or just want some advice) let me know. It will never cost you a thing. The joy we get from helping is payment enough. I am just a phone call, email (meyerd@miamioh.edu) or Zoom call away.