2022-23 Executive Leadership Book Recommendations

Another year brings another valuable list of book recommendations from athletic directors & commissioners around the industry, as well as past recommendations! Each executive leader has their own profile with recommendations from 2022-23 as well as any past recommendations.


Click the drop down menu below to find each leader’s recommendation.


If you’re an AD or Commissioner who has yet to respond with the best book(s) you read last year, please email anthony@driveandcompany.com.


* indicates new recommendation(s)





Book Spotlights

Think Again by Adam Grant received the most recommendations with three.

Joe Karlgaard

Dan Butterly

Ted Gumbart

The most recommended author this year was Jon Gordon, with recommendations from five different leaders.

Janet Cone

Ken Kavanagh

Scott Carr

Ian McCaw

Brent Jones

2022-23 Executive Leadership Book Recommendations

School/ConferenceNameBook Title
Abilene Christian Zack Lassiter Necessary Endings
Alabama Greg Byrne Crucial Conversations
Alabama State Jason Cable I Came As a Shadow: An Autobiography
Army West Point Mike Buddie The Art of Possibility
ASUN Ted Gumbart Think Again
Big East Val Ackerman The Boys in the Boat
Big Sky Tom Wistrcill Out of the Pocket
Big South Kyle Kallander The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare
Big West Dan Butterly Who We Meet Along the Way
Big West Dan Butterly Think Again
Bradley Chris Reynolds Tribes
Buffalo Mark Alnutt The Power of One More
Buffalo Mark Alnutt Dare to Lead
Butler Barry Collier Miracles on the Hardwood
Cal Poly Don Oberhelman Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Central Arkansas Brad Teague Markham Street
Central Michigan Amy Folan Range
Charlotte Mike Hill Untamed
Cincinnati John Cunningham The Book of Joy
Clemson Graham Neff The Ride of a Lifetime
Cleveland State Scott Garrett The Culture Code
Colorado Rick George Wise Decisions
Colorado State Joe Parker The Splendid and the Vile
CornellNicki MooreThe Privileged Poor
Dartmouth Mike Harrity Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To
Dartmouth Mike Harrity The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson
Davidson Chris Clunie The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride
Dayton Neil Sullivan No Ego: How Leaders Can Cut the Cost of Workplace Drama, End Entitlement, and Drive Big Results
DenverJosh BerloThe Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus
Drake Brian Hardin Unbracketed
Duke Nina King The Light We Carry
East Carolina Jon Gilbert To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision
Eastern Michigan Scott Wetherbee Getting to Neutral
Elon Dave Blank Good Company
Fairfield Paul Schlickmann I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye
FIU Scott Carr The Carpenter
Florida Atlantic Brian White Surrender
Florida Gulf Coast Ken Kavanagh Sooley
Florida Gulf Coast Ken Kavanagh The Power of Positive Leadership
Florida State Michael Alford The Ride of a Lifetime
Gardner-Webb Andrew Goodrich The Golfer’s Mind
George Washington Tanya Vogel How the Word Is Passed
Georgia Josh Brooks The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Georgia State Charlie Cobb Uncommon Life
Georgia Tech J Batt Ego is the Enemy
Horizon League Julie Roe Lach Becoming Mrs. Lewis
Iowa Gary Barta Swim with the Sharks
Iowa Gary Barta A Life Well Played
Iowa State Jamie Pollard Shoe Dog
Jacksonville State Greg Seitz Atomic Habits
Kent State Randale Richmond The Go-Giver
Kent State Randale Richmond Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service
La Salle Brian Baptiste Miracles on the Hardwood
La Salle Brian Baptiste Die with Zero
Liberty Ian McCaw The Sale
Lipscomb Philip Hutcheson Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Longwood Tim Hall The Culture Puzzle
Louisiana Bryan Maggard Think Like a Monk
Loyola Chicago Steve Watson Unbracketed
Loyola Marymount Craig Pintens The Midnight Library
MAC Jon Steinbrecher The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
Miami (FL) Dan Radakovich Swagger
Michigan Warde Manuel Change Proof: Leveraging the Power of Uncertainty to Build Long-term Resilience
Michigan State Alan Haller Radical Candor
Milwaukee Amanda Braun The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals
Montana Kent Haslam Truman
New Mexico Eddie Nuñez The 2% Way
New Mexico Eddie Nuñez Think Like A Warrior – The Five Inner Beliefs that make you Unstoppable
New Mexico State Mario Moccia Washington!
New Mexico State Mario Moccia Wagons West : Dakota!
Niagara Simon Gray The 5 Disciplines of Inclusive Leaders
North Alabama Josh Looney Call An Audible
North Carolina Bubba Cunningham Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
North Dakota Bill Chaves Legacy
North Texas Jared Mosley Extreme Ownership
Northern Illinois Sean Frazier Can College Level The Playing Field?
Northern Illinois Sean Frazier Leadership Matters: Confronting the Hard Choices Facing Higher Education
Oakland Steve Waterfield The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
Old Dominion Wood Selig Sooley: A Novel
Oregon State Scott Barnes Leadershift
Oregon State Scott Barnes Home Waters
Pac-12 George Kliavkoff Meditations
Patriot League Jennifer Heppel Educated
Presbyterian Rob Acunto The Crux: How Leaders Become Strategists
Radford Robert Lineburg Demon Copperhead
Rhode Island Thorr Bjorn The President and the Freedom Fighter: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America’s Soul- Brian Kilmeade
Rice Joe Karlgaard Think Again
Robert Morris Chris King The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Sacramento State Mark Orr Presidential Spirits
Saint Francis (PA) James Downer The Splendid and the Vile
Saint Joseph’s Jill Bodensteiner Cloud Cuckoo Land
Saint Peter’s Rachelle Paul Lessons in Chemistry
San Diego State John David Wicker Bowerman and the Men of Oregon
San José State Jeff Konya Leadership Two Words at a Time
SEC Greg Sankey How’s Your Soul
Seton Hall Bryan Felt Talking to the GOATs
SoCon Jim Schaus Bible Book of Romans Commentary
South Dakota David Herbster Inner Rival
Southern Utah Doug Knuth Raving Fans
St. Bonaventure Joe Manhertz The Mentor Leader
St. Thomas Phil Esten Why We’re Polarized
St. Thomas Phil Esten Relationship Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College
Stanford Bernard Muir The Rosie Project
Stony Brook Shawn Heilbron Long Walk to Freedom
Sun Belt Keith Gill Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942
Syracuse John Wildhack Colin Powell: Imperfect Patriot
Tennessee Tech Mark Wilson Title IX, Pat Summitt, and Tennessee’s Trailblazers 50 Years 50 Stories
Troy Brent Jones Selling in a Crisis
Troy Brent Jones The Coffee Bean
UAB Mark Ingram To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision
UC Santa Barbara Kelly Barsky Daring Greatly
UNC Asheville Janet Cone The Energy Bus
UNC Asheville Janet Cone Training Camp
UNC Asheville Janet Cone The No Complaining Rule
UNC Asheville Janet Cone The Seed
UNC Asheville Janet Cone Soup
UNC Asheville Janet Cone The Hard Hat
USC Upstate Daniel Feig ASPIRE: Seven Essential Emotions for Leading Positive Change, No Matter Where you Are
USF Michael Kelly The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
UT Arlington Jon Fagg Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Utah Valley Jared Sumsion Radical Candor
UTEP Jim Senter Endurance
Washington State Pat Chun A Passion for Leadership
West Virginia Wren Baker The Locker Room
Western Kentucky Todd Stewart Killing the Killers: The Secret War Against Terrorists
William & Mary Brian Mann Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell