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CSC Voices, Beyond the Scoreboard Episode 6: "First Weeks of CSC Leadership"
Jason Yaman, CSC Executive Director
Host: Trip Durham, 2D Consulting, LLC
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In this Beyond the Scoreboard podcast and get-to-know conversation, Jason Yaman, CSC’s new Executive Director as of mid-March 2025, sits down with host Trip Durham to share his background experiences and why he wanted the CSC position, to provide insights on his leadership style, and discuss the issues and challenges facing athletic communicators and creatives in the ever-changing college athletics industry.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan native most recently served as associate commissioner for The Southern Conference. Yaman joined The Southern Conference as director of media relations in 2008 and after handling media relations efforts for nine years, he transitioned over to marketing and corporate sales during the summer of 2017.
Prior to his Southern Conference experience, Yaman held multiple positions in sports information, marketing, and media relations on NCAA Division I (University of Maryland, Indiana State, University of Michigan) and Division II (Saginaw Valley State) campuses.
Yaman is the fourth executive director in CSC history. This conversation with Durham includes Yaman’s thoughts on:
1:44 – Why and how he chose athletic communications as his original career path.
3:17 - What professional experiences along the way influenced him to where he is today and how mentorship played a huge role in helping shape him.
4:38 – Yaman talks about the art and importance of building relationships and building equity in those relationships and in the work you do. He tackles the “why” and the value of athletic communications in his answers.
7:14 - What inspired and motivated him to apply for the CSC position, and the momentum he sees and feels, particularly within the membership growth.
8:42 – Yaman discusses the wide diversity among CSC members in terms of their job responsibilities, staffing sizes and campus philosophies, how best to service the membership and how professional development opportunities are a difference maker in CSC. He notes how our different types of communicators can – and should – work together, and the importance of our communications/creatives efforts to drive revenue and bring value to athletic departments and campuses.
11:38 – Why Yaman chooses Batman when asked about his favorite superhero.
12:12 – Yaman’s leadership style as a consensus builder and being an active listener and why CSC has “customer service” as its core function.
14:10 – His top priorities in his first few months on the job, and the importance of upcoming data analysis and discussion following this winter’s CSC career satisfaction and salary survey.
15:28 - Where mentoring factors into how it he approaches his daily life.
16:58 – Why Yaman plans to take an active role in CSC’s Mentorship Program.
17:39 – Insisting he is not a conspiracy theorist, Yaman discusses why, if given three people to invite to dinner, he chooses Billy the Kid, DB Cooper and Tupac.
19:05 - With the flux of college athletics these days, how he approaches strategy to ensure CSC’s organizational goals are met with efficiency and effectiveness.
20:43 – The art of being flexible and adaptable, and having connectivity with other individuals who share your same responsibilities.
22:26 – The top challenges in the industry. Here, he discusses the House settlement and the importance of stemming the tide of the “churn and burn” mentality that many communicators have adopted.
25:01 - Misconceptions that Yaman sees about this profession.
26:27 – Fun fact time! Yaman discusses the top social media accounts that he follows, and why he includes the Detroit Lions X account and Captain Andrew Luck X account among his favorites.
28:00 – Yaman’s interests outside of work, which include choosing the coast over the mountains, working out, and his creative outlet, cooking.
29:12 – When asked about an experience/environment that he found himself in that was surprising or surreal, Yaman talked about his University of Michigan graduate student days when he was the early-morning person who had the keys to open up the football press box in the “Big House.”
31:32 – Yaman answers “Is there a question that you thought I would ask that I didn't? is there something that you wanted to convey that I didn't give you the chance to do?” by discussing what he misses about not being on campus and having the time to “darken the doorway” of colleagues.
Watch and listen to CSC’s new leader, get to know more about his background, how mentorship and professional development are important to him, his views on leading the organization, dangers of the “churn and burn mentality” and much more. And – just for fun –learn more about Yaman with his take on why Batman is his favorite superhero; why Tupac, DB Cooper and Billy the Kid are the three people he would sit with for a dinner conversation; and the top social media accounts he follows.
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