VINCE OTOUPAL: BUILDING CHAMPIONS - ONE VICTORY AT A TIME
June 12, 2009
SEASIDE, Calif. – On Oct 30, 2008, Stanford graduate Vince Otoupal stepped into the job of Cal State Monterey Bay Athletic Director. His responsibilities in this role are to direct the 13 men’s and women’s intercollegiate teams as well as guide the fundraising and marketing for the university’s athletics program.
Otoupal has been at San Jose State since 2005, most recently as senior associate athletic director for development and donor relations, with responsibility for fundraising and marketing, including the Spartan Foundation. He also has had a variety of oversight responsibilities with the university's 15 varsity athletic teams.
In the short eight months since being hired, Otoupal has seen the softball team win the school’s first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship and men’s golfer Ricky Stockton become the school’s first CCAA tournament individual medalist. He was also a part of the men’s basketball team making it to the CCAA conference tournament finals. This past spring, three of the Otter sport teams represented CSUMB in their regional tournaments with the softball team competing in the West Regionals in St. George, Utah while the men’s and women’s golf teams competed in the Super Regionals in Lincoln, Neb. and Omaha, Neb. respectively.
The Seattle native recently sat down to discuss his past and his future plans at CSUMB.
1. Why did you decide to attend Stanford and play football?
When I was in 7th grade I asked my Dad where a good place to go to play college baseball would be. He told me that Stanford has a good program and that would be a good place to go...
I was recruited by Jack Elway (John Elway's Dad) to play football and who redshirted our entire freshman class of 22 - I felt good when I met the team and my potential teammates on my recruiting trip. I then had Denney Green as a head coach for three years. My senior year, we had Bill Walsh as our head coach. We had 10 wins that year and some of my teammates included Tom Williams (Head Football Coach at Yale), John Lynch who recently retired from the NFL, and Chris Dalman (from Palma High school in Salinas) who won a couple Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers. I still have a picture of that team in my office. I keep it with me because it reminds me of the accomplishments we had as a team, for instance we beat Cal (all 4 years!!), USC, UCLA, Notre Dame and Penn State that year) but more importantly it reminds me of the power and the potential success that can occur when a group of like-minded individuals who all have the same goals and who focus on the team goals rather than individual accomplishments. We were a good team because we had guys who understood that team success (in the classroom and on the field) was a bigger reward than we each, individually, could ever achieve.
2. After college, you served in the Armed Forces at a Marine. How has that experience made you who you were today?
I joined the Marines because after the success I experienced as a team member on the Stanford football team (and then rugby team) I was not ready to let that feeling go. I wanted to be a part of another great team that had tradition, success, and selfless dedication to teammates. I found this as a Marine Infantry Officer. One of the career Marines I met gave me this quote: “Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue-to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak.” – Socrates. The Marine’s words to me: “Otoupal, you, of all people I have met, should do this as often as possible…” I heard him and I have done my best to heed his advice. Many of the Marines that I served with I am still in touch with and I am very proud of them. A number of the Marines that I served with still get together every couple years to catch up and tell stories. It is a great feeling to know that I have friends like that. We are so close because we experienced the same training and experiences and we were able to achieve a number of our goals (not all) because we trusted one another and we trusted in the team. That’s what I wanted from the Corps - the same feeling I got from being a student-athlete. I wanted to be around like-minded people who individually were very smart and good at their jobs with high moral standards but when those individuals came together as a team focused on specific goals great things was accomplished. It was really special because those goals were big and impossible to accomplish as one or two individuals. But as a team they were attainable. The lessons we learned when we failed helped us be successful the next time.
3. What drew you to take the Athletic Director's position at CSUMB?
Are you kidding? Look at this place. Look at the leadership of the University and the vision statement and the goals that are in place here right now… look at the coaches and the student-athletes that we have here. Look at the student-athletes that are coming here this fall… look at the facilities and the master plan for future athletic facilities. Look at the support the Athletic Department gets from faculty and staff on this campus. Come to a basketball game and see (and feel) how CSUMB students are a part of the whole game experience. We’ve had some great accomplishments this year by our teams and student-athletes and that is because we understand that success is fun. Getting good grades feels good – it’s like winning – it’s an accomplishment – it’s a victory. And, as we all know, winning is more fun than losing. It’s feels good to be a good teammate and it feels good to know that your teammates feel the same way about you – they will do for you what you will do for them…. I am around like-minded individuals here. We are not satisfied. We have not had an undefeated season yet. We’ve not had a team with an accumulative GPA of 4.0… Some things are hard here – but anything worth doing in life is going to be hard - at some point. If it wasn’t hard than everyone would do it and it would not be special. I came to CSUMB because this place reminded me of some of the teams I was a part of. Their goals, and the way those goals were approached, reminded me of some of the good teams that I have been a part of in the past… I keep a quote in my wallet. “Things may come to those who wait... but only the things left by those who hustle.” Abraham Lincoln. It helps keep me focused.
4. What changes would you like to see occur in the athletic department in the next 10 years?
Ten years is a long time. But we are putting three, five, eight and 10 year strategic plans in place. As I said, we have plans for athletic facilities. We have plans for academic centers. We have plans to win awards for academic all-Americans (individual and team) and national champions (individual and teams). We have plans for more scholarship money and a better pay for our coaches. Now, will we reach these goals soon? Maybe. But as any good team knows, if you don’t discuss goals, devise a plan to reach those goals, and start to execute your plans to reach those goals, then the team will never achieve those goals – or any goals, for that matter. It’s a process; it’s a philosophy; it’s a way to approach challenges; it’s an attitude that says “we will not give up and be defeated”. Are our plans Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAGs)? Yes. Are they attainable? By definition they have to be. Are we intimidated by some of the things that we need to do to accomplish these goals? No, and if we were then we are in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong teammates. I don’t believe that we are, any of us, in the wrong place at this time. Where’s the CSUMB Athletic Department going in the next 10 years? We are going to compete in everything we do – we are going to be Champions. By taking care of our family (the people who take care of us), by taking care of our business in the classroom (continuing to work hard on our grades and scholarship and raise our Department’s accumulative GPA), and by working harder than our opponents (during games, at practice, and in the off-season). These are the things Champions do. These are victories. These are what make us better people and better teammates. These are the things that are rewarding in life…
5. How are you and your family adjusting to living on campus?
It sure beats the commute I was making from San Jose…We love it here. The campus is great; very inviting. We have been to Cannery Row, the Aquarium, the beach, the Wharf (Fisherman’s Grotto is one of our favorite places – Chris the owner is great!), Seaside, Marina (we love to go to Kula Ranch and see our old friend Joe), Carmel, Monterey, Salinas, and a number of other places. We are looking forward to the Farmer’s Markets this summer and visiting some of the wineries and playing some of the golf courses. This place is so full of great history and stories… I am also looking forward to learning more about the history and the local Tri-County area. My wife, son and I are very glad and proud to be here at CSUMB as a part of the team. We are excited to be a part of the continued building of a Tradition of Success here at CSUMB Athletics. We will do this as a team – one victory at a time – in the classroom and in our respective venue of competition...
6. Who are you rooting for in the NBA Finals, Lakers or Magic?
I want what most sports fans want..good games to watch!
Thanks and
Go Otters!
