The world of professional sports is one of the hardest and most competitive job fields to enter. Samford’s Sports Industry Program (SIP) is seeking to help every student who’s pursuing a career in sports to land the job of their dreams.
SIP was founded in 2011 by professor Darin White. He came to Samford in 2009 after 15 years at Union University, where he had been a professor and head soccer coach.
SIP started with just Sports Marketing in 2011. They added Sports Analytics in 2017, and the Fast Track in Sports Business in 2024.
SIP is a program that helps students interested in working in sports by guiding them down one of these three curriculum pathways. Students study one of the six majors that the Business School offers, and benefit from the networking, advice and programs that SIP provides.
“If you get into the SIP program, we basically then sit down with you and try to figure out what is your dream job in sports, and then figure out how to get you there,” White said.
Students in SIP all want to work in sports, but this could range from working in sports analytics, to being an NFL agent, to working in fan engagement, scouting, corporate partnerships or social media marketing.
SIP seeks to build networking for the students through their connections, doing hands-on group projects and bringing in speakers to speak from the industry side of things.
SIP partners with teams and brands from all major sports around the country. Their advisory board is full of people currently working in top programs in the sports world, inclding even the Chief Financial Officer of the Miami Dolphins and the President of the Falcons.
“The program, in other words, is very, very connected to the industry,” White said.
Taylor Mansell is a junior in SIP studying economics. She hopes to work in baseball, specifically as an MLB scout.
“You learn a little bit of everything, and it’s incredibly helpful if you go in having multiple different skill sets,” she said.
At the end of her freshman year, she joined the Samford Baseball analytics team and is now the team lead.
As to why she want to work in sports, Mansell said, “There’s things about sports that you can’t make up and things that are just so raw and so real. And it’s something that I want to be a part of and help other people feel the same way that I felt when I was a kid watching sports.”
Sterling Nabours, another student in SIP, is a junior studying management and sports marketing, but is primarily interested in sports analytics.
“(I) found out about the sports industry program, and honestly, that’s the reason why I am at Samford,” Nabours said.
Sterling is currently the video and data analyst for a professional soccer team in Scotland, St. Johnstone F.C. He will spend the entire summer there, and is hoping to work there full time after graduating.
He first got the opportunity when the owner of the team reached out to White asking if there were any students interested in working on the team side.
“I was hoping to (work in professional European soccer) and I knew it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities, but I never thought it would have gone this well,” Nabours said.
Nabours helps with recruitment and match day scouting. For recruitment, he looks at players and whether they would fit with the team and its needs. For match day scouting, he watches the opposing team play and gives a briefing to coaching staff.
“I’m not the final say, I’m not the most important say, but I do have a voice in the room,” he said.
Students in SIP spend time outside of class listening to speakers, working on projects and doing unpaid internships all to pursue their dreams of working in sports, and SIP helps ensure that happens, with their 100% internship placement rate.
“Truthfully, the number one thing we’re looking for is someone who’s going to be absolutely all in,” White said. “Our job as the leaders of the program is just to provide as many of those opportunities as we can to them and then let them take them and run with them.”
SIP will be hosting a Greek life softball game on April 17 at Joe Lee Griffin Field.
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