Graggs Star Still Rising Thanks to Work at EMU

Nearly nine years have passed since the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal took notice of the accomplishments of Derrick Gragg, honoring him as a member of the 2003 Forty Under 40 class.

At the time, the Alabama native and former wide receiver for the Vanderbilt Commodores was 33 years old. But he already had received two notable promotions in three years working at the University of Arkansas to become the school’s second-highest-ranking athletics administrator, behind only the iconic Frank Broyles.

“Getting to work for one of the greatest minds in college athletics was a great experience,” Gragg recalled during a recent telephone interview. “[Broyles] was a mentor who gave me the opportunity to really grow in that department.”

The six years spent in Fayetteville, and previous administrative roles at Vanderbilt, Missouri and Michigan, were part of a planned journey, Gragg said. One that ultimately led to his current job.

Gragg, 42, is in his sixth year as the director of athletics at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, about 30 miles west of Detroit.

He was hired in February 2006, at the time one of the country’s youngest athletics directors among the NCAA’s 120 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions.

“Early on in my career, I set out to become an athletics director,” he said. “It’s worked out well.”

One year after accepting the job at EMU, almost to the day, Broyles announced his retirement as the UA’s athletics director, a post he’d held since 1973.

As second-in-command, it’s interesting to wonder if Gragg had considered the EMU offer while entertaining thoughts of remaining a Razorback until Broyles’ inevitable exit, thus positioning himself as a possible successor. It was not, however, part of the deliberation process.

“First of all, I thought Coach [Broyles] was going to be with Arkansas forever,” he joked. “But there are only 120 of these jobs out there and it’s awfully difficult to turn one down.”

Gragg, who earned his doctorate in higher education administration from the UA in 2004, has flourished since leaving Fayetteville.

The EMU athletics program won eight team conference titles in Gragg’s first year at the school, a record for any program in the Mid-American Conference.

Gragg’s second year as athletics director was marked by five more conference titles. The Eagles also won the conference’s all-sports trophy for the first time in 12 years. The award is given each year to the top men’s athletic program in the MAC.

In December 2008, Gragg made his first big move by hiring a new football coach. Three years later, Ron English led the Eagles to a 6-6 record, the program’s first non-losing season in 16 years. English was the MAC Coach of the Year.

In May 2009, Gragg was presented the Black Coaches & Administrators Administrator of the Year Award and the following year, he was inducted into the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame back in his home state.

Gragg, who taught two undergraduate courses while at the UA, continues to teach, serving as an adjunct faculty instructor at both EMU and Wayne State University in Detroit.

He also enjoys writing, contributing several articles and editorials throughout his career to the defunct NCAA News and currently to Champion magazine, the official publication of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

In December, Gragg even penned a guest column in the aftermath of one of his most difficult moments as an administrator. It was published by one of Michigan’s major media outlets, remembering a former EMU football player who died at the age of 25 from of a rare form of kidney cancer.

The upcoming year might also see Gragg complete his first book.

“It’s sort of a guide, about some of the teachings and lessons that I and some of my best friends in the world learned as student-athletes,” he said. “I’ve been working on it for a couple of years.”

Gragg said he and his wife enjoy spending time watching their daughter, age 18, and two sons, ages 14 and 10, play sports.

He also sings, continuing a hobby he and three of his teammates were involved in at Vanderbilt.

“I was in a singing group and we had a great time doing that,” Gragg said. “At one point, that was a career path.

“But I plan to be a lifer in athletics. I enjoy it and I hope to be considered one of the top [athletics directors] in this business.”