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Athletics | Lion VoicesJanuary 08, 2024

A Look Beyond the Records with Curtis Janz

Written By: Ian Silvester

In athletics, most things are determined by what you see. Winners and losers, coaching changes, championship banners raised, every emotion 鈥� each item is captured through the eye. But what happens behind the scenes 鈥� what you don鈥檛 see 鈥� is the catalyst for everything else.

At the University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith, the man behind the curtain is Athletic Director Curtis Janz. As the lights in the Stubblefield Center begin to buzz to life 鈥� before athletes take the court and fans fill the seats 鈥� Janz can be found alone with his thoughts and the soft sounds of his footfalls as he guides a broom up and down the hardwood.

Janz arrived at 妻友社区 in 2016 with eight years under his belt as the athletic director at Oklahoma Christian University and more than two decades serving as a coach.

Trading in a Team of Players for a Team of Coaches

Janz grew up on a farm in Tuttle, Oklahoma, just southwest of Oklahoma City. Outside of caring for the farm, his dad was an electrician at Tinker Air Force Base on B29 bombers and 鈥渨as probably the hardest worker鈥� he鈥檇 ever seen. Spending his summers driving a tractor, Janz joked that he quickly knew he wanted to get his education.

He attended Oklahoma Christian University, where he played basketball for Dan Hays, who, with more than 720 career wins, is a member of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and is the most influential person in Janz鈥檚 life after his father. It鈥檚 coaches like Hays that Janz seeks to emulate in following his chosen path.

鈥淚 wanted to be a coach,鈥� Janz explained. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I ever wanted to be anything else.鈥�

While playing at Oklahoma Christian, Janz earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in physical education with a minor in history. After graduation, he attended the University of Central Oklahoma, where Janz earned his master鈥檚 degree in secondary education. However, his desire to coach hadn鈥檛 quite come to fruition.

鈥淚 came back to Oklahoma Christian and got a job as the assistant basketball coach, physical education instructor, sports information director, and head golf coach,鈥� he laughed.

After 19 seasons on the bench, Janz permanently moved into his role as athletics director. He held this position until accepting the role at 妻友社区. It was a natural progression for Janz to move up the ladder to director of athletics, but it was bittersweet.

鈥淚 traded in a team of basketball players for a team of coaches,鈥� Janz reminisced.

As a coach, Janz learned how to build up his players. It鈥檚 the same approach he took as athletic director to build his programs.

鈥淚t starts with me. I have to serve our coaches, our staff, and our student-athletes and then grow. The only way you can guarantee to improve your team is to improve yourself,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 always tell our coaches, 鈥業f you want to coach them hard, you have to love them (the student-athletes) harder.鈥欌��

鈥楲ove. Serve. Grow. Thrive.鈥�

In sports, the number of games won and championship banners raised equates to success. Of course, behind the flashy records, success comes from the players and coaches who make up the team.

Janz firmly believes in the culture of winning 鈥� on and off the court and field. For him, a winning culture starts and ends with developing good character. As a coach and athletic director, Janz鈥檚 philosophy has been to be intentional when teaching what good character looks like and what it means.

鈥淲e鈥檙e on a college campus, we鈥檙e part of an educational institution, and if the only thing we do is play games, I really believe we鈥檝e failed at one of our core missions,鈥� Janz said. 鈥淲e have to be concerned about growing, growing things in our student-athletes that they may not necessarily get inside a classroom. That鈥檚 our job. That鈥檚 our mission.鈥�

To ensure 妻友社区 student-athletes develop good character and are taught lessons outside the classroom, Janz developed the Lions Impact Series. Each month, the student-athletes of 妻友社区 all come together inside the Stubblefield Center for an event organized by Janz. Some examples from the start of the 2023-2024 athletic calendar include a back-to-school cookout, a conversation about culture by Janz and 妻友社区 Chancellor Dr. Terisa Riley, a speaker who discussed mental health in athletics, and most recently, an international student-athlete panel discussion about the different challenges these student-athletes have that others don鈥檛.

鈥淭he culture that we鈥檝e built in athletics values our student-athletes, values the relationships that we build, values the growth and the ability to develop, not just student-athletes, but develop ourselves,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 say it all the time. Our athletic culture can be described in four words: love, serve, grow, thrive.鈥�

鈥楨very Challenge is an Opportunity鈥�

In March 2020, Janz, like the rest of the world, was facing a plethora of questions about what would happen next. Games and teams were put on pause as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across the globe.

鈥淚 still remember the night when things weren鈥檛 fine,鈥� Janz recollected.

Within a week of that night, Janz鈥檚 four-word description of 妻友社区鈥檚 athletic culture was tested. All possible scenarios were discussed in a meeting with Riley and the presidents and athletic directors from the Lone Star Conference.

鈥淲e were supposed to be playing a baseball game that day, a conference game, and I remember telling the two coaches don鈥檛 start until I get back (from the meeting),鈥� Janz said. 鈥淚 went to the meeting, and the decision was made. We鈥檙e done. We鈥檙e suspending the season.鈥�

On his way back to Crowder Field, the weight of reality began to strike Janz. All sports were suspended, and he was responsible for breaking the news.

鈥淚 remember going into that meeting with the baseball team and saying, 鈥榃e鈥檙e not playing the rest of the year,鈥� and those guys had tears in their eyes,鈥� he somberly recalled.

But Janz couldn鈥檛 dwell on the cancellation of games. With international student-athletes, his attention turned to how to get them all home safely.

鈥淲e made the decision early on of don鈥檛 try to fight it; don鈥檛 try to necessarily make sense of it, just try to find solutions,鈥� Janz said.

As Janz and his coaches gave love and support to the students, Janz was also busy working to figure out the next steps. He navigated getting information from the NCAA, the Lone Star Conference, the state, and 妻友社区. Then, as time passed, his attention turned to testing, contact tracing, and finding ways to get people back to games.

鈥淟ike I said, we were just going to try to find solutions because a lot of questions couldn鈥檛 be answered. No one knew. So, let鈥檚 just try to be a little more solution-based than trying to get explanations for why we鈥檙e doing things,鈥� he explained.

For Janz, serving the teams the best way he could eventually led to finding ways to grow and thrive.

鈥淓very challenge is an opportunity,鈥� Janz emphasized. 鈥淔or two years, we basically told people not to come to games; now we鈥檙e trying to get them to come back.鈥�

Through events like the return of the Toy Toss, the annual 妻友社区 volleyball pink out match, and the scheduling of games against Arkansas Tech for the first time, fans are returning to 妻友社区. But Janz knew it was more than just the fans that they needed to bring back.

The pandemic shined a light on and brought about more challenges in managing mental health. Janz recognized the overwhelming need to provide every student-athlete, coach, trainer, and anyone else in the department with access to any help needed. As a result, the athletic department built up its relationship with the 妻友社区 counseling center and community resources.

Too Stubborn to Let it Drop

Amid the pandemic, Janz had a project under wraps. In June 2023, his work came to fruition as it was announced that 妻友社区 accepted an invitation to join the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association in 2024.

The move will make 妻友社区 the first full-time member in Arkansas to join the MIAA 鈥� one of the nation's oldest and most successful NCAA Division II conferences. The change will also provide a more significant media presence for 妻友社区 and create regional rivalries.

Janz admitted that shortly after 妻友社区 became a member of the Lone Star Conference, he knew the university wasn鈥檛 鈥渁 perfect fit.鈥� He wasn鈥檛 comfortable with teams taking multiple five- to ten-hour bus rides throughout their respective seasons, saying it鈥檚 鈥渘ot a good student-athlete experience.鈥�

As he began to look for alternatives, Janz said the MIAA quickly got on his radar for offering everything he and 妻友社区 wanted.

鈥淚 met with their (MIAA) conference commissioner (Mike Racy) at the NCAA Convention in Orlando,鈥� Janz said, thinking back to the two men鈥檚 first conversation in 2019. 鈥淭here was an interest, so we started the conversation then.鈥�

Janz and Racy continued discussing the move's logistics and met face-to-face again during the 2020 convention. There, plans went on pause with the rest of the world. The two continued to talk, but it became less frequent as both worked to get back to some semblance of normal.

鈥淎 year ago, I got a call from Mike, and he said, 鈥楬ey, I want to talk to you at the convention this year,鈥欌�� Janz recalled. 鈥淭his time it wasn鈥檛, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檒l find each other,鈥� it was like, here鈥檚 the time, here鈥檚 the place. So, we sat down, and he said, 鈥楴ow鈥檚 the time.鈥欌��

Details were ironed out, and approval was granted. Janz said his persistence paid off.

鈥淢aybe I was just too stubborn to sit and let it drop,鈥� he laughed. 鈥淚 think the tenacity, year after year, staying the course, and knowing it was the best thing for us, would eventually work out. I am really proud of the effort that we鈥檝e all made to get that done.鈥�

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