2025-26 West Texas A&M Athletics Strategic Plan
Doug Lipinski arrived at West Texas A&M on August 28, 2024 to serve as the Vice President of Athletics.
Lipinski’s innovative and forward-thinking approach to the rapidly evolving landscape of intercollegiate athletics has the Buffaloes modernizing the athletics department structure to focus on creating the best student-athlete experience possible. He has hit the ground running and has implemented a variety of new strategic initiatives that have resulted in productive outcomes.
The 2024-25 season marked his first leading WT Athletics, which saw impressive revenue growth, high academic accomplishments and national athletics success. Through new revenue generation modeling, operational efficiency and enhanced entrepreneurial initiatives the department saw overall ticket sales increase by 18%, with basketball leading the way with a whopping 36% uptick. In an ongoing effort to continuously add to the fan experience, a pilot program for beer and wine sales was introduced at First United Bank Center during the final three regular season home basketball resulting in a 15% increase in concession revenue.
As a strategic focused leader, he has detailed a roadmap for success while updating the current budget model in this new era of collegiate athletics, with the ecosystem changing drastically in recent years with NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness). As part of this new landscape WT athletics introduced two new NIL co-licensing partnerships with Influxer and Athletes Thread in effort to assist student athletes with this new frontier.
In the entrepreneurial spirit, he introduced WT first ever Blacktop Basketball Bash event to tip-off the 2024-25 basketball season. This NACMA award-winning outdoor basketball promotion took place in the middle of campus on the 26th street pedestrian walkway.
A few 2024-25 season highlights:
• Finished 3rd in the national Learfield Directors Cup standings
• Two (2) NCAA DII National runners up finishes
• Women’s cross-country finish best in school history
• Men’s Outdoor Track & Field NCAA DII National runners-up
• Eight (8) Lone Star Conference Championships
• 14 of 16 teams advanced to post season
• External Relations unit earned five (5) NACMA “Best of” Awards
• Football game experience earned gold as best in the country
• The Lisa G. Hennen Endowment for Lady Buff Athletics, was established with a planned gift of $1million to support WT female athletes.
• Received $200,000 gift to establish a Sports Performance Endowment
• Signed a new three-year extension agreement with Under Armor/Game One that has grossed a significant increase in value.
• Eight (8) LSC Coaches of the Year
• Ten (10) individual NCAA DII national champions
• Signed an expanded agreement with TeamWorks, includes the launch of NIL Exchange.
To meet the demands of a modern athletics program, Lipinski introduced the department's new holistic approach to giving. Fundraising saw the launch of the Excellence Fund, which is an unrestricted fund within the newly re-imagined Buffalo Athletic Club that is now the official fundraising arm of WT Athletics, supporting all 16 varsity sports and in creating the best student-athlete experience in America for WT’s 435+ student-athletes. The fund will drive innovative new initiatives along the continued growth, sustainability, and championship excellence of a NCAA DII athletics department. 2024-25 also saw the creation of the Coach Kimberly Dudley Scholarship Endowment for Lady Buff Cross Country and Claudia Harold Stuart Athletic Scholarship Endowment.
The most significant transformation has been the creation of new campus partnerships through his collaborative approach. Through all of these new complexities in higher education his bold vision, high energy and innovation as already made a positive impact on revenue generation and overall business structure of the athletics department. His launch of the new athletics strategic plan the “West Texas Way” emphasis the Big Five strategic Initiatives:
1) Leadership Development
2) Championship Culture
3) Fan Experience
4) Community Outreach
5) Financial Metrics
The new initiatives have already seen results, as WT’s athletic operational budget (24-25) was balanced for the first time since before 2020. Driving comprehensive tactics to grow new revenue streams and enhance existing ones, while securing the long-term financial strength and sustainability of WT athletics has been a major focus.
Lipinski spent 22 years at Grand Valley State University, his alma mater and a 16-time Learfield Director's Cup champion. He served as GVSU's deputy athletic director for external relations, overseeing all marketing and promotions, communications, ticketing, digital marketing, multimedia, corporate sponsorships, annual giving, merchandise and licensing. He and his team won 102 National Association of College Marketing Administrators awards the most by a school at any division, and he led the university in finalizing the largest sponsorship deals in its history. Which includes assisting in over $50 million in capital projects, securing the largest apparel agreement in NCAA DII, negotiated record setting broadcasting rights agreements and setting sponsorship revenue records. This includes the national recognized one of a kind revenue generating concept “Tailgate Town” in which a parking lot was converted to a tailgating space where pub sheds are leased as pre-game suites.
He was been active on the national scene as he has served on the NCAA DII Track & Field National Committee, NACMA Board of Directors, CFB 150 (college football) marketing committee member, attended the NACDA senior administrator institute, along with being a frequent speaker, presenter, panelist at ICLA, NACMA, NACDA and D2ADA national conventions and events.
Lipinski earned a bachelor's in advertising and public relations and a Master of Public Administration at GVSU. He was a four-year member of the varsity baseball team and spent the subsequent four years as an assistant coach to Hall of Fame head coach Steve Lyon before moving into administrative roles.
Lipinski and his wife Carrie are the proud parents of two sons, Adam and Lukas.
