Northern Arizona Asst. Vic Sfera talks #NAUTakeover: The re-branding of a program

Before I begin with my very first post I need to thank Chris DiSano and the College Chalktalk crew for giving me this platform to share and interact with fellow readers and coaches. I am a huge fan of the NCDS program and am excited to take part in the journey this year…

For those of you who are not familiar with the Northern Arizona University basketball program, our head coach Jack Murphy (an NCDS alum) was hired in April of 2012 from the University of Memphis where he was an assistant coach for Josh Pastner. We inherited a team that had won one conference game and made a mid-season coaching change the season prior to our arrival.

From the get-go, our staff set out to change the perception of NAU Basketball locally, regionally, and nationally. One of the small ways we (somewhat unintentionally) went about re-branding our program was through a hash tag on Twitter, #NAUtakeover. What started out as a simple cap to a tweet sent by @NAUCoachMurphy turned into a movement within our athletic department, on our campus, and beyond Flagstaff, AZ. We used this simple social media tool to spread the following message…

The #NAUtakeover represents a program that is:

• Raising the Bar: We are committed to building a program that will demonstrate uncompromised excellence on and off the floor. This includes Big Sky championships, NCAA Tournament appearances, President’s Honor Roll students, and developing young men into valuable community members.
• In Good Hands: A staff that has been brought in to establish and execute the new vision of the program and will not yield until it is complete.
• Exciting: Our style of play and vision has much to offer students, fans, and prospective student-athletes alike.

When rebuilding a program, a staff must come in with a vision and then be able to find a way to make that vision a reality. This is certainly a process and, along the
way, you will have to sell that vision to create a buy-in from students, fans, boosters, and recruits. The #NAUtakeover has helped our staff express our vision and goals to a large audience via social media and in turn has created a much needed sense of excitement for our program!

All the best,
Vic
#NAUtakeover
@NAUCoachVic

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