Travis Goff, the new athletic director at Kansas, appeared on Sports Radio 810 and the Border Patrol with Nate Bukaty and Steven St. John. He talked about several topics including decisions to be made in the football program, watching Kansas football be successful, the basketball program and much more.

Being around Kansas and seeing the beginning of Mark Mangino’s early years and experiencing success at Northwestern:

Travis Goff: I think, for me, being a Kansas guy, being from the state and I always have a soft place in my heart for Kansans who are great Jayhawks. You think about the great basketball players here and in football. I think that's one of the things. It's not maybe the number one, but certainly as I look back over those great Mangino years, there were some great Kansas kids really making a huge impact on those teams.

So I think that's part of it. I think the other thing is seeing the buy-in and again, I come back to culture that was developed by those teams, the leadership and I think the handing down of leadership and ownership from class to class. That was something that I was certainly able to absorb early in that tenure. Then as I left and was watching and rooting for the Hawks from afar. I think that's part of it. I think those are some of the attributes that I've been able to see and be part of at Northwestern with Coach Fitz. For me, was it frustrating? Was it difficult? I think for every Jayhawk and every alum, yeah, it's been challenging from a football perspective. We all know what we can be. We all know what our capabilities and potential is here because it's been done.

There's a lot of places, frankly, just it's never been done. It's been done here. It has been done and in not that more distant of a timeframe. I think, at times, some of the frustration would be about lack of continuity. Just knowing enough about building a football program to know you're just not going to get there if you can't have and maintain some continuity, especially at a place like KU that does have some innate challenges with it. I think that continuity word is critical as we look forward.

You've had a chance to observe things for a few days and talk to both coaches and student athletes in the football program. Do you have a certain timeline that you'd like to meet when it comes to hiring a football coach? How do you feel like that process is going to play out over the next few weeks?

Travis Goff: I had a few weeks leading into this, just through the interview process and taking in as much information in reading and listening as much as possible. I feel like there really was an opportunity and preparation for the interviews, but certainly now then and thinking about how to apply if I was afforded this tremendous opportunity.

I felt good coming in on Tuesday about what were the things I was looking for and what were the things I was missing coming in. I said it in every opportunity I've had. I don't show up in Lawrence pretending to know exactly what Kansas football needs. It would be, irresponsible quite frankly, to show up and pretend to understand all those dynamics. It really has been about these first few days. It's only been, I think, three or four coming in, listening, learning, talking to people on the staff, talking to people in football, talking directly to Coach Jones, talking to his staff. I've been at practice twice. Really prioritize that in a bit of a manic schedule in a manic, few days.

Just being around the guys, watching the energy, watching the buy-in, watching the way in which they're working this spring, I think has been wonderful to see. Then again, the discussions and things I'm able to absorb. No real clear timeline, I wasn't going to allow myself, really in week one at least, to establish or commit to a timeline that frankly may not have had all the pieces of information it needed to then go down a particular path and execute this thing for the long haul for Kansas football.

Talk about the NCAA basketball investigation that us looming, the new contract for Bill Self, and how much of a factor was that in taking the job.

Travis Goff: Late in the interview process, when I was emerging certainly as a finalist, as a late candidate, they did a great job. Chancellor Girod, his staff, the committee, and really the voice came directly from Chancellor Girod and just giving an overview of the case and where we're at in terms of KU and the overall knowledge.

That was greatly appreciated, and I think indicative of the commitment to get off on a great foot of trust and all those other things. No part of that process and continuing to move in the search, there was never a point where I was going to shy away. I think it's been well-documented. The university, Chancellor Girod, and the leadership support of Coach Self, even prior to the contract extension last week. My competence lies in a great institution with incredible people, both leading it and then at every layer of the organization, in athletics and across campus. I know that's, without a shadow of a doubt, how we're going to navigate this thing and navigate it successfully ahead.

Bukaty talks about the importance of finding an athletic director who wanted the job and not just needed a job. Also the fact Goff has ties to Kansas.

Travis Goff: That's a great question, a great point. I would look back for a minute on the interview process and again, credit to Chancellor Girod and the committee. It really needed to be about my experience and my preparedness for this position. That group is so seasoned, knows opportunity here at KU and certainly knows the challenges here at KU, but more focused on the opportunity.

They weren't going to make an emotional decision around a Jayhawk being at the helm. If that was part of it, gosh, that'd be a really great added bonus, but it was really going to be about experience, preparedness, the fortitude to stand through the challenges in college athletics and certainly at KU. That was a neat part of it because, I wasn't hanging my hat on being a Jayhawk and having the degrees, growing up in a KU family and having started my career here. That was just something that was a nice little add on at the end. I do think though, guys, it's really unique in this industry. There aren't a lot of alums out there who are leading athletic programs at their institution. I think as you progress in your career, you learn how to set aside some of those emotions that I described to you early, but when you have, truly, in a way that only an alum can have, the care and the passion and the belief in that university and that athletics program, I think it's going to help you get through the road ahead and the journey ahead.

Then of course, for me, younger family, we're going to come in and build roots as deep as we possibly can. The whole mindset, and again, I think there's an advantage as an alum, this is for the long haul. This is going to be, I think, a story of continuity, not just in this position, but in football, obviously in men's basketball, and within our other programs, because that's what we need to do to build sustained successful programs here.