Welcome to the Director Download, powered by Campus Rec Magazine.
It’s time to go behind the curtain of the director role and have honest discussions with leaders in the campus recreation industry.
In this episode, host Grady Sheffield, the director of Campus Recreation at Towson University and senior advisor to Campus Rec Magazine, chats with Jerrod Jackson, the director of MizzouRec Services and Facilities at the University of Missouri.
Jerrod Jackson’s leadership journey has taken him across some well-known programs in collegiate recreation — including Texas A&M, LSU and Nebraska. This was all before stepping into his current role at Mizzou. With a career built on loyalty, humility and a willingness to grow through every challenge, Jackson brings a level of honesty to the realities of campus rec leadership.
Jackson and Sheffield discuss everything from what it really takes to be ready for a director role to how to build relationships that move your department forward. All in all, Jackson offers a candid look at the highs and lows of leading in campus rec.
In this episode, Jerrod Jackson discusses:
- Why years of experience alone don’t make you ready to be a director.
- How mentors and missed opportunities shaped his path to Mizzou.
- The lessons he learned from stints at LSU and Nebraska, and how they prepared him for success.
- How transparency with staff fosters trust, ownership, and a shared vision.
- The loneliness of leadership and why building a peer network is critical.
- What he misses about direct student engagement — and where he finds joy now.
- The importance of balancing self-critique with grace, and learning to say “I don’t know.”
- His biggest wins at Mizzou, from rebuilding org charts to securing new food service options.
Whether you’re new to the profession or eyeing your next leadership move, this episode offers practical lessons and heartfelt reflection on what it means to grow — and lead — in campus recreation.
