By Chance Love, Senior Reporter
Being forced to quit a sport you love because of a freak injury is devastating for an athlete who puts a lot of time into it.
However, still being able to be around sports as a coach or by working in another athletic position is a consolation prize for Northwestern Oklahoma State University Athletic Director Brad Franz.
Franz hurt his back in the early 1980s playing basketball, which completely altered his life and career path.
The back injury became a recurring problem for Franz, as he has had three different back surgeries since he initially endured the injury.
“Back then, they didn’t have the knowledge that they have today about backs,” Franz said. “I never recovered from those surgeries. I had to sit out a year from school. I couldn’t finish my senior year of high school playing basketball.”
While growing up in Willmar, Minnesota, Franz initially wanted to be a farmer. Franz was forced to pivot to something different after his back issues began.
“I grew up on a farm,” Franz said. “I liked farming. I liked agriculture. I realized I couldn’t do that because I wasn’t going to have a normal back again.”
He decided to put his effort into teaching and coaching.
Franz graduated from Sheridan College in Wyoming with an associates degree. He later obtained a bachelor’s degree in health and sports science education and a master’s degree in education at Northwestern. He spent years as an assistant and head men’s basketball coach, athletic director and vice president for student affairs.
While at Otero Junior College, Franz was offered the position of vice president of student affairs.
“The president walked into my office one day and said, ‘I want you do for the whole college what you do for your teams,’” Franz said.
Franz was initially skeptical about taking the job because he had no prior experience in student affairs, but the president witnessed his work with student athletes and knew he would be a perfect fit.
“There was a challenge of helping every student every day,” he said. “It became an easy transition for me to move into student affairs because it was the same thing, and I enjoyed it.
“Student affairs is very similar to athletics. You are constantly helping people achieve their goals.”
Helping people achieve their goals is what Franz is doing at Northwestern, as he has become an outlet for student athletes, he said.
Franz has been the athletic director at Northwestern since the summer of 2016.
Before coming to Alva, though, Franz had another option: to go to Montana State University — Northern.
He said he knew nothing about either school, but his father knew both head coaches at Northwestern and Montana.
Ultimately, he chose to go further south across the U.S.
“Northwestern has been the greatest decision of my life,” Franz said. “It has done everything I could ever imagine. It has been good to me and my family. Best decision I ever made.”
FAMILY MAN
Besides coming to Northwestern, seeing his children Jordan, Cecely and Aleysa become who they are today is one of his greatest joys, he said.
“Watching my kids be successful in life and go into professions where they are working with people has been exciting for me,” Franz said.
His son, Jordan Franz, spent years as the assistant men’s basketball coach at Northwestern. Over the years, he saw firsthand how hard his father worked.
“He’s always in the office,” Jordan Franz said. “Most people go home at five o’clock. He’s up at the office until eight o’clock, working to make the college better.”
When Franz is not in his office, he is having a good time with his family.
“He loves to come hang out and take the grandkids around,” Jordan Franz said.
Shane Hansen, an instructor of health and sports science, recalled a road trip he and Franz took to Wyoming that really kickstarted their friendship, he said.
“He and I hopped in the car and took about a three-day road trip,” Hansen said. “From that point on, I’ve viewed him as someone like a mentor.”
What Hansen admires the most about Franz is his work ethic, loyalty and integrity, he said.
“He’s as hard a worker as you’ll ever meet in your life,” Hansen said. “He’s as loyal as any person I’ve ever been around.”
In Franz’s current role, the academic side of things is incredibly important him, Hansen said.
“He personally looks at every single grade check and initiates conversations with coaches based off those reports,” Hansen said. “That tells you where his priorities are from an integrity standpoint. He doesn’t just say it’s important. He lives it.”
‘DOING ALL HE COULD’
FOR NORTHWESTERN
Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Matt Adair said he believes Franz is the hardest working person he has ever met.
“I remember one time he hurt his back and couldn’t hardly move or walk,” Adair said. “He had a small cot brought into his office, and he laid on that cot so he could reach his phone. He worked full days while driving back and forth to Oklahoma City for spinal treatments.
“Most people would have been convalescing in bed, but Coach Franz was doing all he could from the floor of his office.”
Adair said he thinks one of the biggest reasons Franz is so successful is because he is driven by hard work and being a great leader.
“People in sports talk about the work ethic of guys like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan,” Adair said. “Brad Franz was cast in that same mold.”