It’s time to go behind the curtain of the director role and have honest discussions with leaders in the campus recreation industry.
In episode 47 of the Director Download podcast, Al Gentilini, the director of Recreation at the University of South Florida (USF), discusses the rewards and challenges of leading across three campuses and the leadership principles that have defined his career.
Six months into a newly consolidated director role overseeing USF’s Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses, Gentilini reflects on what it takes to build trust with a team spread across geography and why he believes directors are relationship builders — whether they want to be or not.
With nearly two decades at USF, Gentilini has developed a leadership philosophy rooted in directness, humility and genuine investment in people. He’s learned to deliver hard news clearly, to seek understanding before being understood, and to prioritize relationships just as intentionally as budgets or facilities. He’s also had to adapt quickly in his new role, bringing patience and clear expectations to the Tampa team while maintaining the trust he spent years building at St. Petersburg.
This episode is a must-listen for any campus rec professional working to lead across campuses and stay connected to their teams.
Episode Highlights:
- How a failed national director search led to a creative solution — and a new kind of director role spanning three campuses.
- Insight into how to manage dispersed teams, including the communication strategies and intentionality required when you can’t be everywhere at once.
- Gentilini’s path from child welfare investigator to campus rec director and the skills he carried along the way.
- Why directors are relationship builders by default, and what that looks like with staff and students.
- How Gentilini learned to seek to understand, then be understood — and how it changed the way he handles difficult decisions.
- The importance of investing in people consistently for long-term impact.
