Jonathan Dancy

[Darin White Ph.D. 📊⚽️💰 @Sports_Biz_Prof]

PROMOTED! 🏆🏆

Two clubs we’ve been proud to work alongside. Two promotions. One incredible week.

@SamfordU University ’s Sports Industry Program students have been embedded with Cambridge United FC (England) and St Johnstone FC (Scotland) for the past three years, providing hundreds of hours of analytics support on both the business and team performance sides of their organizations.

This season, both clubs earned promotion! And this week, we happen to be in the UK presenting our latest consulting projects to both of them. Tuesday @CambridgeUtdFC and Friday @StJohnstone. You can’t script this stuff.

This partnership has been a win for everyone involved. Our @BrockBusiness students have gained the kind of real-world, international experience you simply cannot replicate in a classroom. And we hope that in some small way, the work our students have poured into these clubs has contributed to the success they’re celebrating right now.

To Cambridge United Football Club and St Johnstone FC: congratulations. We feel your excitement because we feel like we’re part of your story. It has been an honor to work alongside your organizations, and we cannot wait to see what’s next.

From Birmingham, Alabama to Cambridge, England and Perth, Scotland. There are 1,000 ways to work in sports. Our students found theirs from 4,000 miles away.

[Darin White Ph.D. 📊⚽️💰 @Sports_Biz_Prof]

Samford University's Sports Industry Program students are gaining hands-on experience today at the SEC Football Championship. Thx to @SamfordU @BrockBusiness alumni Will Prior who works for the SEC for spending time with us today!

Such opportunities highlight experiential learning's role in sports business education, where 85% of industry professionals report practical experience as key to entry-level hires per a 2023 NCAA career study.

[Jonathan Dancy @JonathanDancy1]

Win an Elmer T. Lee Barrel Selection Experience valued at $18,000 https://t.co/meolnTN2CE #elmertlee #sazeracbarrelselect

[Jonathan Dancy @JonathanDancy1]

@BeckTaylor Aggie grad and Samford dad. Looking forward to this!! GIG EM and Go Bulldogs!

[Samford Football @SamfordFootball]

𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 🗣️

📰 : https://t.co/LYFiDijgwn

#HatchAttack | #AllForSAMford

[Kamber Dancy @KamberDancy]

Thankful for year two serving & leading with this amazing partner at the best intermediate school in FISD! #FISDallstars

[Darin White Ph.D. 📊⚽️💰 @Sports_Biz_Prof]

Last night's game and the season as a whole exemplify why I feel so blessed to be part of the Samford community.

In an era where the transfer portal and NIL dominate the conversation, it's heartwarming to witness a coaching staff and team that prioritize the things that truly matter in life—character, work ethic, love for each other, and excellence in all they do.

Keep in mind that Samford Athletics recently posted the second-highest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the nation, right alongside Princeton, Northwestern, and Notre Dame! The men's basketball team last year... yeah, they scored a perfect 100!

As a professor and member of the Faculty Athletic Committee at Samford, I witness the DNA of what makes @BuckyBasketball and all the @SamfordU University teams special.

For instance, the day after the epic bracketology watch party in Homewood and just hours before the team was going to leave for Salt Lake City, the men's basketball players in my morning classes were on time and well-prepared for class at 8 am. Additionally, the guys on the team spend time every month working with underserved kids in the Birmingham community.
Check out the attached video as an example of the superb academic work done by our student-athletes (both students gave me permission to post this, by the way).

Jermaine Marshal (on the basketball team) and Davis Garrett (in the sports analytics/basketball analytics program) were tasked with researching the marketing strategy of a company called Daktronics and then giving a presentation in class. In typical Samford student style, they went above and beyond the requirement and developed this video to start and end the presentation.

While I know many of us are heartbroken at the foul call that denied the team the chance to win the game in the closing seconds (goodness knows I could hardly sleep last night because I kept dreaming about that play), I'm going to spend my day remembering how fortunate I am to serve at Samford University and how fortunate I am that all 7 of my kids and 3 of my "bonus kids" graduated from Samford University.

Samford truly is an extraordinary place—a place where genuine care for one another runs deep, where the hope of the Gospel permeates the campus, and where selfless service is a daily practice. It's the kind of place that embraces you and comforts you even in the darkest days of the soul.

At the end of the day, the common thread that runs through everything and provides the fuel for the engine that drives all of the above characteristics of Samford is our collective commitment to the Gospel of grace and the love of Christ.

#AllForSAMford #GoBulldogs

[Samford University @SamfordU]

Could not be prouder of this team.
❤️💙😤 #BuckyBall #AllForSAMford @MarchMadnessMBB

[Beck A. Taylor @BeckTaylor]

Let’s go!!!! #GoBulldogs #AllForSAMford

[NCAA March Madness @MarchMadnessMBB]

WELCOME TO THE DANCE SAMFORD 🐶

The Bulldogs will make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000 👏

#MarchMadness

[Jonathan Dancy @JonathanDancy1]

Win a barrel of Blanton's Gold valued at $20,000 https://t.co/a8vJyceSiR #blantonsgoldsweeps #sazeracbarrelselect

[Kamber Dancy @KamberDancy]

Loved getting to show off our incredible counseling space today in honor of National School Counselors Week! Thanks for all the love this week Wortham Fam! #spoiled #wearewortham

[Emerson Mavericks Girls Soccer @ehsmavssoccer]

Thank you @activate_games for hosting our team event today! We had a blast!

[Emerson Mavericks Girls Soccer @ehsmavssoccer]

HAPPY SENIOR NIGHT!! Come out to the field at 4:45pm to celebrate our first graduating class!!

[Beck A. Taylor @BeckTaylor]

Samford ranked #10 best college in the U.S. for career preparation—find out why https://t.co/4U2gm7Pqz3

[Darin White Ph.D. 📊⚽️💰 @Sports_Biz_Prof]

The Texas @Rangers is an amazing organization with top-notch people.

CASE IN POINT - On Tuesday morning at 6 am PT, Nick Richardson (VP of Ticket Retention & New Business Development with the Rangers), spoke to my sports marketing students via Zoom from his hotel room in Arizona. @NickRich1414 had only gotten a few hours of sleep after Game #3 of the World Series the night before.

Nick had agreed to speak about the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People" several months ago, but when the Rangers made the World Series I figured he would want to reschedule.

Nope! Nick kept his promise to speak to my students by getting up at 5:30 am. I told my students that Nick is a living example of the servant leadership principles we read about in the book. He had every reason to reschedule and nothing to gain by speaking to my students other than his desire to invest in the next generation.

The world of sports is filled with many great people of character and integrity, but none more so than Nick Richardson! Everyone in the sports marketing at Samford University is celebrating that Nick finally got his World Series ring! #WentAndTookIt

[Samford University @SamfordU]

👏 Samford University is ranked #10 in the nation for quality of career preparation! More than 60,000 students were surveyed on career prep, educational opportunities, learning facilities and satisfaction with the value received for experiences provided. https://t.co/hIiItflHQS

[Samford Football @SamfordFootball]

𝙎𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨

🆚Auburn
📍Auburn, Alabama
⏰6 PM CT
📺https://t.co/lPD5yxkOeS
📈https://t.co/VprHR11hoV

#HatchAttack | #AllForSAMford

[Samford University @SamfordU]

👏🚨Announcing a RECORD-BREAKING class: our largest total enrollment in the history of Samford University with 5,791 students.

🎉 Additional NEW records:
✅ largest class of first year students
✅ largest number of undergraduate students