Athletic Director 20 Questions: Keith Maly – Millard North Mustangs
Question 1: Can you share a little about yourself?
Answer: Former basketball coach and special education teacher for 12 years at
Millard North HS. Worked as an AD for Plattsmouth HS for 3 years before
getting the opportunity to come back to MN and be the AD here at the school
that I attended as a student.
Question 2: What three adjectives would you use to describe yourself?
Answer: Considerate, Reliable, and Trustworthy
Question 3: When did you become an athletic director?
Answer: 5 years ago
Question 4: Why did you want to become an athletic director?
Answer: I was an Assistant AD for 6 years for Chad Zimmerman and that sparked my
interest in becoming an AD.
Question 5: What makes a good athletic director?
Answer: I think as an AD you have to have great communication skills with your
coaches, teachers, administration, parents and the community. You also have
to be adaptable because as an AD the situation can turn on a dime. Finally,
you have to be honest with people and not afraid to admit when you made a
mistake.
Question 6: How do you stay organized?
Answer: I create a to-do list every day. I also have a dry erase board in the
office with all the events written down that are happening for several
weeks. In addition, I use my cell phone for reminders of meetings and
important dates.
Question 7: How do you set the tone for the athletics department as an
athletics director?
Answer: Have a pre-season meeting with all of the coaches to discuss expectations
of each program. I specifically talk about the type of behavior that we
want our coaches, parents, and players to have during the course of the
season. I also want them to know that I’m willing to serve them the best
that I can and that they need to just communicate with me on a regular
basis.
Question 8: What brings you the most joy as an athletic director?
Answer: Watching the athletes compete at the sport that they enjoy playing. I also
enjoy being able to go to many different events during the course of the
year.
Question 9: Explain your greatest achievement as an athletic director?
Answer: My greatest achievement as an AD was working with another school to co-op
for boys soccer 2 years ago. Our numbers were low for several years and the
school* *that we worked with also had low numbers. We were able to
successfully combine the two teams and it was a positive experience for
both school districts.
Question 10: What are some of your current goals?
Answer: Provide quality programs for our student athletes. Build long lasting
relationships with our community members. Work with student athletes and
mold them into respectful and responsible young adults so that it will
carry them through the rest of their life.
Question 11: What do you think are the most biggest challenges facing
athletic directors today?
Answer: Official shortages and behavior of adults at contests.
Question 12: What do you think are the most important issues facing high
school athletics today?
Answer: Students transferring to other districts. Sportsmanship at events.
Question 13: What do you think is the most important thing for a successful
athletic department?
Answer: Coaches that can build relationships with student athletes and people that
you can rely on to help with all the events that are scheduled. Without
those people, you wouldn’t be able to pull any of the events off. I’m truly
grateful to have those people in my life because they make the job much
easier for me.
Question 14: What advice would you give to someone who is considering a
career in athletic administration?
Answer: A career that is rewarding, fast paced, challenging, and entertaining, but
each day is completely different from the day before.
Question 15: How do you think the role of athletic director will change in
the future?
Answer: My concern is that club sports will take over high school athletics
someday and the student athlete will not get the whole high school
experience.
Question 16: Does your high school have a dedicated athletics website?
Answer: Yes
Link: Millard North Athletics
Question 17: Does your athletic department have an X (formerly Twitter)
account? Instagram? Facebook?
Answer: We have a Twitter account and Facebook Account.
Twitter: @MNHSActivities
Facebook: Millard North High School
Question 18: Does your athletic department have a YouTube Channel?
Answer: Yes
YouTube: Millard North Live Streaming
Question 19: Does your athletic department have a Striv.TV Channel?
Answer: No
Question 20: What team(s) are you most excited about this year at your high
school?
Answer: Baseball, football, girls basketball, and boys basketball.
Omaha Sports Network: Millard North
