Staggs moves from coach to Athletic Director
0Written by Hollie Hinkle
As most schools experience, there is a constant shift in faculty and staff who come and go, or even change positions on campus. At UPIKE, Robert Staggs has gone back and forth between coaching different sports and serving in the athletics office.
However, Staggs wasn’t always a staff member. He started as a student-athlete, playing both baseball and basketball while earning his degrees in business administration and mine management.
Since then, he has spent his years benefiting the athletic department. Previous to his current position as athletic director, he spent 13 years as head coach of the softball team. He also assisted the women’s basketball team for 12 years, coached the volleyball team for seven years, assisted the baseball team for five years, and volunteered on the football coaching staff for one year.
In between his coaching positions, he was the athletic director for two years, associate athletic director for two and a half years, and acted as the Interim Athletic Director for one semester.
Staggs enjoys being the athletic director and said that it’s challenging but rewarding. It’s a good change of pace, but he doesn’t know yet if he misses coaching, though he does miss being around the players.
He also said that his favorite part of working at UPIKE is seeing freshmen come in, get to know them, watch them grow throughout their years here, and then see them graduate and become productive citizens.