From UFC to the NAIA: What Great Leaders Know About Winning the Right Way

Austin Bennett (00:17)

Welcome to the Right Way to Play podcast. No hype, no fluff, just real conversations about character-driven competition and the future of college sports. Alan, here we go.

Alan Grosbach (00:27)

Here we go. Austin, question for you. What do you think the UFC and the NAIA have in common?

Austin Bennett (00:31)

Man, we’re both extremely popular right now.

Alan Grosbach (00:33)

That’s true. That’s true. Otherwise, I mean, at a glance, you probably wouldn’t think a whole lot. You know, you think UFC is one of the most intense combat sports in the world. And then you think the NEI, it’s the home to 80,000, 85,000 plus student-athletes competing in 30 national championship sports now. Shout out women’s flight football. I think the similarities are like what it takes to be excellent. You know, you see that play out in both. Today’s guest knows better than just about anyone.

Austin Bennett (00:59)

You got that right, Alan. Brandon Buchanan is the newly appointed commissioner of the KCAC, one of the NAIA’s most historic conferences. But before stepping into college athletics leadership, Brandon spent nearly eight years with the United States Anti-Doping Agency, helping oversee one of the most rigorous anti-doping programs in professional sports as a part of the UFC. From managing global sporting events and ensuring the integrity of competition to now leading 14 NAIA institutions, 28 sports, and thousands of student-athletes, Brandon has seen athletics from just about every angle: as a student-athlete, as a coach, administrator, and now a commissioner. Today we’re talking about what that journey has taught him about leadership, integrity, culture, and why he believes small college athletics continues to make such a meaningful impact. Brandon, welcome to the show.

Brandon Buchanan (01:42)

Hi guys, thanks for having me. I don’t know how I’m going to follow Ben Zobrist, but I will do my best. That podcast was pretty special to a baseball geek like me. That was pretty cool. He wasn’t just a major leaguer; he was a dude. So it’s like, oh boy, I don’t know how I’m going to follow this today, but I’ll do my best.

Austin Bennett (01:57)

We have full confidence in you.

Brandon Buchanan (01:58)

Thank you. I don’t know about that.

Alan Grosbach (01:58)

Excited to have a fellow dude on the podcast; let’s just jump right into it. You worked in professional sports, as Austin said in your intro, through the UFC’s anti-doping program. And then also now you lead, like literally, one of the NAIA’s like OG conferences. Like the schools in the KCAC are, for the most part, original members of the NAIA and have only ever been members of the NAIA, you know. What made that transition special for you? I know you’ve talked about it in a few different forums, but what did you notice?

Brandon Buchanan (02:26)

Yeah, I mean, I’d say I wasn’t necessarily, I guess, surprised about a lot due to my time in college sports before professional sports. You know, I was blessed to play at high levels as well. But I will say it affirmed my thinking that the NEI is as pure and service-oriented as I thought it was. You know, I’ll admit, I had a lot to learn very quickly about the ins and outs of the NAIA, and not only the NAIA, but the KCAC, coming in as the assistant commissioner a couple of years ago, as my prior time call of sports was more at the D1, D2, and Juco levels. But I also had quite the, I guess I was blessed to have quite the crash course on the operation of it all, of the NAIA, but also the KCAC in my first year as the assistant commissioner. I’m very blessed to have the opportunity to do a lot of the job I’m currently doing prior to being named the commissioner last fall. So that helped, obviously, in a lot of ways, train me up, but it also may sound strange. But quite a bit of what I was doing transferred from the UFC quite seamlessly to the job now somehow. I don’t know how, but somehow it did. I will say, professional sports, particularly the one I was heavily involved with where you had the livelihoods of athletes in your hands in some respects, I didn’t take that lightly, and it really led to a lot of you and your team- a team of three or four people, I might add. had the livelihoods of 650-plus athletes worldwide in your hands. Those athletes get paid to show up to fight. They get paid to fight and win, obviously, but they also get paid to do things the right way, and that’s clean sport. And that’s where we came in. So anytime an athlete needed something, no matter the time, country they were in, you were on and ready to go. It could have been 3 a.m. I get calls from Russia. I get calls from Japan, China. Athletes with translators, and you had to be ready and on the go. And there was, there’s just no off-season in the UFC, as we, you know, as all of us know, they kind of just keep rolling, unlike many other professional sports. So, I guess I would say, you know, the pressure is still there now because you want the absolute best for your student-athletes and the institutions that you represent. But the pressure is just at a different level, I guess you could say, comparably speaking. Due to those pressures, professional sports expect that perfection. Now we know that doesn’t exist, but you would better try your best to be as perfect as possible and turn things around as quickly as possible because those athletes are relying on you. Lastly, don’t get me wrong, I really loved my time in the UFC. It taught me so much, and I will always be thankful for that. But this is where I wanted to be. Ultimately, my dream was to always get back to college sports. And help student-athletes have some, if not all, the same great experiences I was fortunate to have as a student-athlete myself.

Austin Bennett (05:00)

So good. So, you spent so much of your career focused on fairness, compliance, and the integrity of sport, not only at the UFC but now here in the NAIA with the KCAC. When you hear the phrase the right way to play, what does that mean to you personally, and how do you think it shows up in the work you do every day as a commissioner?

Brandon Buchanan (05:14)

You know, when I heard the right way to play initially, thought of one word: just service. You know, I think that can capture so much, right? Like in the end, how am I serving our student-athletes and institutions really is all that matters. So, from my perspective, how do I serve my EDs, SIDs, presidents, coaches, FARs, athletic departments, officials, you know, all those things? All those things add up to the right way to play and a better experience for our student-athletes and institutions. And that’s my kind of, that’s kind of my driving force every day as a commissioner. So, you know, to me, when you serve and want what’s best for others, it leads to the right way to play. I don’t think there should be any egos in this role, in my opinion. It’s kind of all about everyone else and how you can help them and how you’re increasing the experiences of your student-athletes while also helping, you know, your institutions retain and grow. You know, that’s the ultimate, you know. For example, we’re serving through education, providing quality education at institutions for our student-athletes across the board, not just the KCAs but the NAIA. We’re serving through championships, providing quality experiences, making it feel big. Like Austin, what you guys are doing at the national level is amazing. And I try to emulate much of that as much as I can. We’re serving through community, trying to partner with our community members. Our community is so deep, 100-plus years in existence. Our community runs deep. So we’re trying to serve as much as we can through the community, through partnerships, and also shining the light on all the hours served in the community by our student-athletes to better develop and help them put in, you know, we’re trying to help them put them in better positions to do so. And we’re serving through promotion and strategic forward thinking, creating as much content as we can, doing the little things that add up to the bigger outcomes. You know, we’re serving through exposure, for example, trying to…tap in and really pour into third parties like NAIA Volley Report, Hoops Report, NAIA Ball, all those things that can help our student-athletes and institutions feel bigger. Trying to do that. And when you’ve been around for a hundred-plus years as a conference, you also tend to have a pretty good following. So how do we continue to lean into that and serve that as much as possible? All those things, I think, add up to the right way to play and develop our student-athletes, most importantly, and increase their experiences. And then also, you know, this came to mind a couple of days ago, but I was always taught relationships over championships. And I think this can capture the right way to play so thoroughly. know, people have to matter, and love matters in the end. And I might’ve been given the gift of leadership in this role, but frankly, I’m only as good as the people around me. So, I just look at myself as, you know, kind of a conductor of a band. I heard this from one of my presidents, and I loved it. You know, conductor of a band, and that band around you is the smart people and the ones serving our student-athletes most importantly. So, you do your best to facilitate and serve those around you. And ultimately, they are the ones playing those instruments that make it all successful for our student-athletes. And you must have great people around you, as it truly takes a village. You know, we’re very blessed to have some of the very best people around us. You know, in this world, we desperately need more individuals as we have, willing to quietly love, humbly show up day after day, making a difference. And it’s that iron sharpening iron in the end that I truly love about the NAIA and

KCAC.

Alan Grosbach (08:15)

So Brandon, I’m gonna build upon that answer a little bit. And obviously you have a pretty diverse perspective, and we’ve asked this of a few different guests we’ve had, so I’m kind of curious about your take as well. So, you would know this well; your presidents know this well. We’re in this time of change in college athletics and higher education generally. And so what’s one thing you think the NEIA gets right that maybe people outside of our association don’t really understand or maybe don’t see on a day-to-day basis?

Brandon Buchanan (08:38)

Yeah, I touched on it earlier. I think it’s the purity of it. We keep it about the love of the game. We keep it about education first. We keep it about developing student athletes as a whole, not only on the field, but off. If at the end of the day, we can turn to our student athletes and help them become better sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, mothers and fathers down the road, I think that’s what we all strive for. Our goal in the NAIA, in my opinion, is to have those transformational relationships, not those transactional ones that we see so much of these days. You know, we are education-based, and the fact that our student-athletes can, most importantly, go to school, get a quality education, and then still do something they love out of the classroom in competition, and it’s pure at the same time, and they do it for the love of it is pretty remarkable in this day and age. You know, I also think it’s the right move by all of us to continue this approach as much as possible, you know, and to take advantage of this time we’re in, you know, increasing your, increasing our worth, increasing our value. Promoting these pillars that we stand so tall on and also continue to promote our quality institutions and our very competitive athletics that, you know, I think has been a little bit undersold in the past. You know, changing that narrative and making it big is something we’re all doing really well, I believe. And in the NAIA, people matter. In a world of selfishness, we have so many selfless individuals. And I think that means so much to me. And, you know, we all just want what’s best for our student-athletes. And when you have that, it helps someone like me feel so aligned with that purpose, with how I’m walking daily. And I truly believe I’m where I’m supposed to be at this moment in time. you find that, it kind of just allows you to be so clear-minded and not get distracted by all these external factors going on in the other levels. And I’m truly proud to be a commissioner in the NAIA and commissioner of the KCAC. And when you do what you love and love what you do, and have all that combined, it’s not just the job in the end; it’s a calling.

Austin Bennett (10:24)

You mentioned in your role as commissioner, all the different groups and the different ways that you serve. Talk to us: what’s one leadership lesson that you’ve learned that really no degree, no certification, no job description, no training could have taught you?

Brandon Buchanan (10:38)

That’s the loaded question, Austin. You never know it all in leadership. I think leadership is more failure than success. Finding ways to level others up, including yourself, isn’t easy by any means, but I believe it’s worth it. Kind of must fail. You must get it wrong to get it right, and there can’t be this fear of failure because it’s going to happen. Failure is ultimately part of the process, and you learn more from your failures than you do from your wins. Eventually, from those successes through those failures, you develop the standards that you try to live up to daily. And with me, I was considered successful in my baseball days. If I got it right three out of 10 times at the plate and failed seven out of failure doesn’t, it can’t really scare me. I was trained and conditioned to fail more than I succeeded in sport. So it’s been kind of conditioned in me for years and years. You obviously don’t want to fail, but it’s okay. And it’s going to lead to success in the end. You know, and I also have this true belief and faith over fear, and that has been so sacred to me as well and, you know, kind of a driving force for me. And then I touched on it earlier: relationships must matter.

Now, I learned very early on, and I’m sure all the other coaches know this. No one really cares about what you know until they know how much you care. And I’m sure we’ve all heard that before. I can stay here and spout all sorts of things because I’m knowledgeable

about some things, at least I think I am. But how can I expect you, know, others to be led, want to be led, or even listen if I first don’t know how much I truly care about them? And, you know, if your actions aren’t louder than your voice, then ultimately your voice means nothing. can’t just talk it, speak it. must show it and be about it. So, if you ask, you know, any of my staff, colleagues, players in the past, there’s not one thing I’ll ask them to do that I didn’t do first myself or won’t do myself. Your commitment in the end. You know, has to be greater than your feelings, and that’s when you ultimately get results. And, you know, in my time as a leader, there’s rarely a week that goes by where I don’t ask my staff or teammates or, you know, colleagues, anyone, you know, how they’re doing. And that means outside of work. I don’t care about work. Let’s talk about life. You know, how’s life? What makes you, you know, what makes you go? What makes you shut down? You know, you need to know these things as a leader. To know how to push and where to push, and the best approach for each person- not everyone is a robot. Not everyone is the same and responds the same to different directions or feedback. So just getting to know your people matters. And even as a coach, for instance, there weren’t many days when I didn’t go up to each of my players and just ask them how they were doing. Told them I love them. There’s an exercise I love to do with my team and staff now that, you know, allows you to open and kind of be vulnerable. And I’m sure others have heard about it, but it’s a hero, a hardship, and a highlight. And you basically just ask your staff members to get in front of your team, be a little vulnerable, you know, one person a day for a few weeks, you know, ask them what a hero is in their life and why, what a hardship was in their life and why, and a highlight in their life and why. And you’d be amazed just how transformational that is for everyone involved. You know, we would have guys in tears in a good way, college kids.

Alan Grosbach (13:27)

Yeah.

Brandon Buchanan (13:27)

In a good way, just having the ability to open and share and be real with their teammates. Like that’s, that’s what you want. And, you know, ultimately, just to make this clear, I’m by no means, you know, there’s not one cookie-cutter approach to this; leading is ultimately learning. And I’ve done a lot of learning, and I continue to, I don’t know at all. Not everyone has to be the same, do the same, and not one approach is better than another, but you do the best you can with where, where you’re at with what you have. And it kind of goes back once again to me as a coach; I didn’t treat every hitter the same. You know, I didn’t turn my hitters into robots. So, for comparison in this instance, every conference, every leader doesn’t need to be the same. Every hitter’s stance, approach, rhythm, and timing can be different. But if you get in a good position to put a good swing on the ball, that’s all that matters in the end. And that’s what we try to do every day in the KCAC: let’s put good swings on pitches and be the best we can every single day with the, you know, resources and situation our conference is in. You know, and it’s ultimately not about beating the other guy or beating someone else. Yeah, we’re competitive. Let’s not get that wrong. And I’m not NAIA, but it’s about us in the KCAC just being the best we can, you know, be every day, showing up every day, being consistent every day. if we’re winning or losing, we’re providing steady leadership for all to follow. And that’s all we can control. And ultimately, progress happens through consistency.

Alan Grosbach (14:43)

Yeah. That’s awesome. So let’s talk a little bit about your student-athletes across the conference. Twenty-eight sports, big conference, a lot of sports, a lot of championships. What’s something that you hope those individuals gain beyond wins, losses, championships? Like what’s that experience piece that you’re really hunting for in those events as you as you serve as the commissioner of the KCAC?

Brandon Buchanan (15:03)

Absolutely. We have, by the way, we have 29 sports now. We just brought in men’s volleyball. So I don’t know. I’m a glutton for punishment, but we’re having another sport to our, to our list. But anyways, my genuine hope for any KCAC student-athlete, in fact, any NAIA athlete, is that they know I genuinely care about all of them first and foremost, that they feel important, they feel valued, and that they know I try to do everything I can every day to support them and give them the best experiences I can. And ultimately, in the end, they leave our campuses better than they came, then that’s the I touched on this earlier- but if they can be better human beings in life, then we’ve done our job. It’s bigger than wins, losses, and championships, like you said. It’s bigger than any of us, and I’m proud to be a small part of it, and part of something much bigger than myself.

We’re all sharpening each other in the end and pushing each other to provide the best experiences we can for our student-athletes. And that’s what I love about the NAIA and KCAC.

Alan Grosbach (15:53)

That’s the perfect way to end it, Austin. I think

Austin Bennett (15:55)

I think so.

Alan Grosbach (15:55)

I think we need to jump it into jump into our fast five. This is our lightning round, Brandon.

I do have to warn you, these often turn into moderate fives, but we’re gonna do our best to make them make it a fast five. So first gut thought, first gut reaction, first question. You can attend any sporting event in history. Where are you going?

Brandon Buchanan (16:15)

1980, Lake Placid, Miracle on Ice.

Alan Grosbach (16:16)

Ooh solid

Austin Bennett (16:16)

Ooh, wow.

Alan Grosbach (16:18)

Yeah, he does believe in miracles, Austin.

Brandon Buchanan (16:20)

Vital changing, game changing, life changing, yeah, I mean, I would have loved to have been there.

Austin Bennett (16:24)

So good, I’d love to have been in that locker room too. That would’ve been amazing.

Alan Grosbach (16:25)

Yeah, what a good poll on that one.

Austin Bennett (16:28)

You’ve worked with UFC fighters and now college athletes. Who’s tougher to manage?

Professional fighters or college coaches? And you can plead the fifth if you need to.

Brandon Buchanan (16:35)

You’re getting me in trouble here, Austin. Honestly, 95 % of the fighters were great to work with, but I still say professional fighters in the end. College coaches, I can sympathize and understand more from their side. I’ve been there; I’ve been in their shoes. But yeah, fighters were tougher to manage just from language barriers, time zones, personalities, pressures. Yeah…

Alan Grosbach (16:54)

Okay, interesting.

Brandon Buchanan (16:55)

Yeah, fighters, 100%.

Austin Bennett (16:55)

Noted.

Alan Grosbach (16:56)

Don’t know that I would have guessed that. Best school in the KCAC? Just kidding, don’t answer that. The correct answer is McPherson College, proud, proud alumni. But the real question is if you could spend one day shadowing any sports leader- we talked a lot about leadership, past or present- who would it be?

Brandon Buchanan (17:11)

Probably cliché, but John Wooden. I’ve read his books. I find his teachings, leadership qualities, and his why for everything he did are so fascinating. I’d just love to be a geek in his office and listen to him practice playing one day, him coach during practice, coach during a game. Yeah, John Wooden.

Alan Grosbach (17:25)

NAIA coach.

Austin Bennett (17:26)

What about you, Alan?

Alan Grosbach (17:27)

Hmm… trying to think. Sports leader. A little bit of regency bias here, and it’s more just fascination with the sport. I would love to sit in on an Andy Reid-like game week breakdown. Like, I don’t, I don’t know. Like some of them, and you know, name some different coaches in their field, but those that just like are so in depth and go down to every minute detail, I just find that truly fascinating. And so, I mean, John Wooden would

was up there in my brain too, but I didn’t want to duplicate an effort there. But an Andy Reid game week would be fascinating.

Austin Bennett (18:00)

Yes. Wow. Good one. So what’s the coolest behind-the-scenes sports moment you’ve ever witnessed that most fans never get to see?

Brandon Buchanan (18:09)

I’d say multiple kinds of moments. I’m still so fascinated and have kind of a profound respect for how UFC fighters arrive for their fight on fight night. Being back there, watching them arrive, how their pre-fight routine went behind the scenes, how they just kind of flipped the switch and just…flipped it when it was time to go and make that walk and being there in those tunnels when they’re making that walk, it was, you know, hearing the crowd, the walk out music, just them in their zone and their moment. I, you know, I have a tremendous respect for that, and we’ll always have respect for that because those athletes are not only tremendous athletes, but they were just so dang tough. And I just have a profound respect for them always will. And I will say, you know, I’ve been lucky to be behind the scenes in other sports, but the UFC and how they went from strategic thinking, event management, attention to detail, planning, promotion, communication, marketing, all those things have been such good things I’ve learned and transferred to wherever I go. That has taught me so much over those eight years.

Alan Grosbach (19:14)

Right, our last of our fast five. What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you?

Brandon Buchanan (19:17)

I’m going to say this just because I’m looking at it and we talked about it earlier, but I have had almost 3000 Peloton rides over the last seven years. I am a Peloton junkie. And it might be unhealthy at this point. There are days when schedules and plans have to be delayed because I haven’t ridden yet, and thank God my wife’s a saint and she lets me do that. I will also be remiss if I didn’t use this platform to talk about autism awareness, a little more serious though. I say this because I have autistic sons who are ages seven and four at home. Truly life-changing. They have taught me more about life than anyone ever has and will, and they are my heroes. And without a doubt, the toughest people I’ve ever known. And I would just encourage everyone to kind of know the facts about autism, be more aware, support it, learn about it, accept it. And that’s all we can continue to do. I’m not here to cram it down your throat or anything, but just learn about it, know about it, and be receptive to it. That’s all.

Austin Bennett (20:12)

Such a good message. Thank you for sharing that, being vulnerable.

Real quick, going back to the 3,000 rides, how many miles do you think that is?

Brandon Buchanan (20:19)

Oh boy…

Alan Grosbach (20:20)

He knows how many miles that is…

Brandon Buchanan (20:20)

I don’t actually, I can… There… Well, no,

Austin Bennett (20:20)

It’s like fifteen hundred miles. You doing half-mile rides or what?

Brandon Buchanan (20:25)

I… That’d be impressive. No, I would say there are usually 10 to 15 miles every time. So 30 to 45 minutes. Yeah, I don’t know the miles. I equate to how many miles I’ve traveled around the world in one day. Eventually I’ll get there, but I haven’t looked yet.

Austin Bennett (20:43)

Sure. Yeah, good. You’ll have to keep us in the loop then.

Alan Grosbach (20:44)

Okay, interesting. Yeah.

Brandon Buchanan (20:45)

I will.

Austin Bennett (20:47)

Well, Brandon, thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate you taking the time to share your journey. Be vulnerable with us. All things from the world of UFC and professional sports to leading one of the NAIA’s premier conferences. Congrats to you on the successful first year in your role as commissioner of the KCAC. And we’re excited to see the impact you’ll continue to make on your member institutions and the thousands of student-athletes that you serve. So really appreciate the conversation, Brandon.

Alan Grosbach (21:09)

Yeah, thank you, Brandon.

Brandon Buchanan (21:09)

Yeah, of course. Thank you guys for having me. I love what you guys do. Keep it up. You guys are killing it. I really do appreciate everything you guys do. So thank you.

Austin Bennett (21:18)

You got it.

Alan Grosbach (21:19)

Austin, it’s time for a walk-off moment. What stuck out to you?

Austin Bennett (21:21)

Yeah, what stuck out to me is really the word service. From the jump, he talked about not only having a service mindset, but how many people he serves and the way that he serves them. And I think keeping that top of mind is important during the daily grind of the why and the who, all wrapped up into one. And so that’s my walk-off moment: the word service and how applicable it is to so many lines of business for us.

Alan Grosbach (21:43)

Yeah, yeah, I totally echo that. I also just say Brandon has such a passion for leadership, and that makes him, I think, really strong in that role. I mean, think about having, you know, how many schools does he have in his conference now? How many fourteen?

Austin Bennett (21:54)

Fourteen. Fourteen, yeah.

Alan Grosbach (21:58)

So, he’s got fourteen bosses; he’s got, you know, times student-athletes, times coaches, and just to have that passion for leadership and making the conference better is- it’s not nothing. It’s a big deal for a commissioner to have that mindset and be happy and excited that we have multiple that exist in that kind of similar space.

Austin Bennett (22:14)

No doubt. Well, Alan, that wraps us up for this episode. Thank you for listening to the Right Way to Play podcast. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share the episode with someone who believes in the power of education-based athletics.

Alan Grosbach (22:26)

Until next time, remember college athletics is more than a competition. It’s an opportunity to build character, develop leaders, and play the right way. Thanks for listening.