about us.
Collegiate Consulting is a team-based consulting firm committed to the student-athlete experience and the overall health of athletic departments.
With a proven track record using our extensive database of conference and divisional historical knowledge, our team closely follows current and potential movements and their subsequent effects on all college athletics.
Collegiate Consulting’s priority of strengthening institutional sports programs is at the forefront of our company’s goals, including provided services such as feasibility and benchmarking reports and coaching and administrative searches.
Russell c. Wright
Founder and Managing Director
Russell Wright founded Collegiate Consulting in 2005, following his tenure at FANSonly (now CBS College Sports Online), as collaborative venture with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA); The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) and Strategic Marketing Affiliates (now part of CLC).
Since its founding, Collegiate Consulting has worked with more than 750 institutions, conferences and associations across the NCAA, NAIA, NCCA, NJCAA and CIS and is recognized as one of the leading consulting firms within intercollegiate athletics. In 2012, Collegiate Consulting entered the ticket rights marketplace. When the ticket business was purchased by Learfield in 2015, Collegiate Consulting Ticketing had boasted 20 University clients, including Illinois, Purdue, Wichita State and Rice, generating more than $7.5 million annually in new ticket revenue for its partners.
Within its consulting business, Collegiate Consulting has become a leader in institutional reclassification, assisting 18 institutions with their move to Division II and 20 institutions who reclassified to Division I since our founding. In the past two years, Collegiate Consulting has completed more than 100 projects, ranging from strategic planning, operational reviews, feasibility studies, conference membership, executive search/placement and Title IX/gender equity studies.
During his tenure at online pioneer FANSonly, which during his tenure, was the leading provider of web solutions for intercollegiate athletic departments with more than 250 partners, Wright and his staff were responsible for client acquisition, account management, local corporate advertising, e-commerce and business development. During his tenure, the company grew from 6 to 250 partners.
Mr. Wright earned his B.S. in Management from Clemson University in 1991 and M.S. in Sports Administration from Georgia State University in 1996.
Bailley Concatto
Director of Operations
Bailley Concatto joined Collegiate Consulting as a Project Manager in the Fall of 2022 before transitioning into the role of Director of Operations. During her time, she has lead more than 50 projects with 25+ institutions including benchmarking and feasibility studies, strategic planning, media valuation studies, sport sponsorship and new sport studies, executive searches, compliance reviews and NCAA reclassification applications. Bailley oversees the day-today- operations of Collegiate Consulting and manages the internal and external communications.
Prior to Collegiate Consulting, Bailley attended Southern Illinois University
Edwardsville where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and was a member of the softball team for five years. As a member of the SIUE Softball Team, Bailley was four-year captain and three-year Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative. She was VP of SAAC for one year and served on the Ohio Valley Conference Championships Cabinet in 2021. In addition, Bailley earned Ohio Valley Conference honors throughout her playing career including All- Newcomer Team in 2018 and Second Team All-Conference in 2022.
She graduated Cum Laude in 2021 and is currently completing her M.S.Ed in Higher Education Administration with a specialty in athletics from SIUE.
Clay Dawes
Director of Business Development
Clay has been a member of the Collegiate Consulting team for over two years working on institutional and athletic intercollegiate studies first as a Project Manager before transitioning to the role of Director of Business Development. His experience spans across several projects relating to intercollegiate athletics expansion, compliance, sport sponsorship, media valuation and athletic restructuring.
Through his role as Director of Business Development, Clay focuses on growing both Collegiate Consulting and its institutional partners through organic methods focused on interpersonal development and quantitative approaches. Clay has worked as an integral part of the team delivering unique projects to various clients. Notably, Clay worked as part of a team doing a Division III athletic study with a major emphasis on advancement for athletics, Division I Power 4 realignment and multi-million-dollar media valuation studies. Additionally, Clay was part of an institution-wide compliance study focused on the growth of student-athlete welfare and increased athletic performance. Both studies consisted of various market research items, interviews of key stakeholders and suggestions for future methods of advancement. Along with the entire Collegiate Consulting staff, have a 100% satisfactory rating across all projects completed on institutional and athletic projects.
Before his time at Collegiate Consulting, Clay competed on the Georgia State University men’s soccer team as a NCAA Division I athlete. While competing, Clay earned his B.B.A in Marketing and M.S in Sport Administration. Outside of his work with Collegiate Consulting, Clay has conducted international work collaborating with a Dubai based soccer club and its many international players and staff.
Ben Steinberg
Project Manager
Ben Steinberg joined Collegiate Consulting in November of 2021 while completing his Masters in Sports Administration at Georgia State University. A key component of the Georgia State Sports Administration curriculum is a sports industry internship to coincide with a capstone project. Ben was recommended to join Collegiate Consulting by Dr. Beth Cianfrone for his internship.
After joining the team in 2021 as an intern, Ben worked his way to becoming full-time in March 2022. Within this period, Ben has collaborated and worked on more than 10 different projects, including his capstone; entitled Reclassifying Divisions in College Athletics: The Transition Effects on the University. His study explored the after-effects of Division I transitions for eight different institutions. The data gathered by the study serves as a base for Collegiate Consulting projects concerning Division I transitions.
Ben graduated from Georgia State in the Spring of 2022 with Summa Cum Laude honors. He joins Collegiate Consulting Founder/Managing Director Russell Wright as a graduate of the Georgia State Sports Administration Master’s Program. Post- graduation, Ben has collaborated on more than 30 different projects.
Ben is originally from Decatur, Ga., and attended Georgia College & State University for his B.B.A. in Marketing. An avid trivia player, Ben enjoys quizzing the office on various sports trivia, especially about his favorite teams, The Atlanta Falcons, Hawks, Braves and Atlanta United.
Jenny Silver
Project Manager
A third-generation Jayhawk, Jenny Silver (nee Oakson) attended the University of Kansas as a recipient of myriad academic scholarships. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in 2000, she began her career in Chicago at U-WIRE, a CBS College Sports company, as Assistant Editor then News Editor and then ultimately ascending to Managing Editor when she was transferred to California. U-WIRE was a college newswire which featured college news, opinion, entertainment and sports articles as a collective feed, aggregating articles from more than 500 college campuses, including the United State and Canada.
In full, Silver has spent more than 20 years as a professional writer and editor. She worked in public relations at CCS/PR which represented Kodak, Hewlitt-Packard and Puma brands. Moving into the political realm, she made a name for herself as a Speech Writer for city and regional candidates. Before joining the cadre at Collegiate Consulting, she was on the editorial team at Tule Publishing, a digital romance novel publisher based in San Clemente, California.
The Overland Park, Kan., native competed in softball for 15 years, both on the amateur and recreational levels. She now lives with her husband in Carlsbad, Calif., where she received a Recognition of Honor as a volunteer for the Foundation of Women Warriors and was selected to be a member of the National Association of Professional Women.
Scott Farmer
Senior Consultant
Scott Farmer led the University of Louisiana at Lafayette athletics program through its finest era. He guided the Ragin’ Cajuns through a transformation that resulted in unparalleled success in the areas of athletics competition, academics, fundraising and increased exposure on the state and national level. In 2013-14, the Ragin’ Cajuns were rated (by CBSSports.com) as the 34th-best athletic program in the country, finishing as the top non-BCS school in the rankings.
During his tenure, football won four consecutive bowl games; women’s basketball claimed consecutive WBI titles; Men’s Basketball participated in the Big Dance; Baseball won three consecutive Conference Championships; and softball participated in the NCAA Tournament advancing to the Super Regionals six
consecutive years.
The Federal Graduation Rate for Student-athletes led the Sun Belt Conference and the public institutions in the state of Louisiana for three consecutive years. Farmer played an integral role in establishing the Ragin’ Cajuns Athletic Foundation. The RCAF raised almost $10 million in 2015. He also helped develop the $115 million Athletic Facilities Master Plan. Farmer has increased (almost tripled) football season tickets from 4,800 to 13,755. For the 15th consecutive season, both baseball and softball led the Sun Belt in attendance.
Farmer completed a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Softball Committee, serving as the chair in 2011 and 2012. From 2012-14, Farmer served on the NCAA Leadership Council. Farmer came to UL Lafayette after eight years at Troy where he served as Senior Associate AD. Farmer was a four-year letterman in swimming at Georgia Southern. He received his BS in 1986 and MS in 1987. Farmer began his career as head women’s swimming coach at Georgia Southern.
Barry Blizzard
Senior Consultant
Barry Blizzard has over 40 plus years of college athletic experience both on campus and as a conference commissioner in the NCAA and in the NAIA. Prior to joining the WVIAC, Blizzard served as assistant athletic director and sports information director at Bluefield State College for two years and then athletic director at that school for fourteen years before taking over as the fourth commissioner of the WVIAC in 1987, a position he held until the WVIAC ceased operations in 2013.
For the past 26 years, Blizzard has been tournament director of the WVIAC Basketball Championship Tournament which has been held in Charleston, West Virginia since 1960 and is one of the truly outstanding small college championship event in the country. In his years at athletic director at Bluefield State, Blizzard chaired the WVIAC athletic director’s committee on three occasions and served as president of the NAIA national athletic director’s association in 1986-87. Also during his time as athletics director, he served on a special task force to re write the mission and purpose statements of the NAIA.
After moving into the commissioner’s seat at the WVIAC, Blizzard served as president of the NAIA Commissioner Association from 1992-94 and was selected as the NAIA National Athletics Administrator of the Year in 1992. Also while serving as commissioner in the NAIA years of the WVIAC, Blizzard served as NAIA District Eligibility Chair.
Blizzard conducted an intensive research project from 1992-94 to give guidance to the WVIAC Board of Directors on a possible move from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. The result of that
research lead to a move by the WVIAC to NCAA Division II in 1995.
Blizzard is currently the Administrative Coordinator of the NCAA Division II Commissioner’s Association and has joined the staff of Collegiate Consulting based in Atlanta, Georgia. Blizzard received his bachelor's degree from Bluefield State College WV (1974) and continued his studies as a master’s level student at Radford University (VA) where he received his Master of Science degree in 1976. Blizzard has also completed all four levels of the NACDA management institute.
Mike Vienna
Senior Consultant
Dr. Michael Vienna has over 40 years of experience in higher education. He concluded his career as the Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics at Emory University. Prior to Emory, he served as the Director of Athletics and Recreation at Salisbury University.
While serving as a Director of Athletics, his programs earned 26 team national championships, 20 team national runner-up finishes, 63 individual national champions and 214 conference titles. In a 24 year span his program finished in the top 25 in the NACDA National Directors Cup, including 5 top ten finishes. His student-athletes garnered 681 All-American honors, 56 Academic All-Americans and 27 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship awards.
After retiring, he aided Haverford College and Marymount University during their leadership transitions by serving as their Interim Director of Athletics.
His leadership experience included roles on the NCAA Division III Management Council, the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee, the Legislative Relief Subcommittee, the Playing and Practice Season Subcommittee, the Division III LGBTQ Working Group, NCAA Pathways mentorship program, NADIIIAA Executive Committee, Men’s Soccer National Committee, Chair of the Nominating Committee and Capital Athletic Conference President, Vice President and Treasurer. He was a member of NACDA for 35 years, NADIIIA for 25 years and on the Editorial Board for the Athletic Management publication for 20 years.
In 2007, Vienna was named the NACDA Athletic Director of the Year for Division III’s Southeast Region. He was a recipient of Salisbury University’s Presidential Appreciation Award and is a member of the Allegheny County (NY) and Salisbury University Halls of Fame.
Vienna attended the University of Mount Union where he earned a B.A. in health and physical education. He then obtained his master’s in sports management and Ph.D. in higher educational administration from Kent State University.
A native of Belfast, NY, Mike’s family includes wife, Janine, daughters Ashley and Jacquelyn and grandchildren Quinn, Langston and Emersyn.
Robin Capehart
Senior Consultant
Robin Capehart, a native of Moundsville, West Virginia, currently serves as a Senior Consultant with Collegiate Consulting in Atlanta, GA.
From 2019 to 2023, he was the President of Bluefield State University, where he focused on improving the college’s fiscal health, increasing enrollment, and fostering community engagement.
Under his leadership, the university achieved significant milestones, including obtaining university status, offering the institution’s first graduate degree, and adding new health science programs. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Bluefield State University experienced enrollment growth and increased campus diversity, with the percentage of African-American students rising from 6% to 30%. Financially, the university improved its cumulative financial index from last to second in the state and expanded campus assets through strategic acquisitions.
President Capehart also oversaw the opening of campus housing, implemented a more efficient budget process, and successfully raised significant funds through fundraising efforts. He prioritized the well-being of faculty and staff by providing raises, established the Emerging Scholars Program to support high-achieving students, and enhanced the athletic programs.
Bluefield State University received recognition from the Higher Learning Commission and successfully transitioned into the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
Prior to his role at Bluefield State, Robin Capehart served as the president of West Liberty University for eight years, achieving record enrollment and fundraising. Under his leadership, the university experienced significant growth, including the construction of the $22 million health sciences building, the first academic building on campus since 1976. His strategic initiatives and the university’s rise in rankings reflect a period of transformative success during his tenure.
President Capehart began his career as an attorney in Moundsville, West Virginia, and served in various legal roles, including assistant prosecuting attorney, chief administrative law judge for the State Tax Department, and tax attorney for Steptoe and Johnson. He also held the position of Secretary of Tax and Revenue under Governor Cecil Underwood and served as Chair of the Governor’s Commission of Fair Taxation. Additionally, Mr. Capehart worked as a professor at Marshall University and the WVU law school.
In addition to his legal career, Mr. Capehart has a creative side. He has produced five motion pictures, authored two books, and written numerous stage and screenplays. He even played the role of a sports reporter in the movie “We Are Marshall.” He has also contributed to a national tax publication as part of its editorial staff. Academically, Mr. Capehart is a magna cum laude graduate from West Virginia University, where he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He obtained his law degree from WVU and pursued further studies at Georgetown University, earning a graduate law degree in taxation. As a Fulbright Scholar, he had the opportunity to teach at a law school in the Republic of Moldova.
Currently, Mr. Capehart resides in Johnson City, TN, with his wife, Dr. Amanda Banks, who teaches at East Tennessee State University.