From South Bend to South Beach, it's been a lifetime spent around college athletics for Chris Vann
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SOUTH BEND − A late-summer night in South Florida will bring him back to those fall Saturday afternoons in South Bend.
Try as he might to convince himself otherwise, South Bend native Chris Vann knows that it won’t be just another day at the office as an assistant director for facilities, events, and operations when No. 5 Notre Dame visits No. 10 Miami (Fla.) on Labor Day Sunday night.
When Vann sees those gold helmets on that Hard Rock Stadium field, he’ll remember the Bend. Remember home. Remember those days of dreaming about where his life might one day go.
Fall Saturdays – Notre Dame home football game fall Saturdays – hit differently for Vann and his mother and his five siblings. The energy around town. The anticipation. The pomp and circumstance that came with a Notre Dame home football game.
If Vann and his younger brother, Shaq, and a group of friends could find a football and a patch of green somewhere, they’d stake claim to it and recreate what they hoped might happen on those fall Saturday afternoons on the Notre Dame campus. When Vann would catch the football, he’d be like former Irish wide receiver Golden Tate. When he’d run the football, he’d be former Irish running back Darius Walker.
Those were his guys. Those were his dreams.
“That’s how I fell in love with college football,” Vann said earlier this month from Coral Gables. “If you grow up in South Bend and you love football, man, you’ve got one of the most prestigious programs in your backyard. I saw it pretty much every single Saturday in the fall.
“It’s going to bring back some memories. I just hope we have a successful event.”
From the football spotlight to the shadows
Spoken like a college athletics administrator. Football was Vann’s ticket to somewhere other than South Bend. He knew that. He knew to stay away from trouble. He knew not to stray far from his academics. Do that, and life could take him to places. He could be someone. He could be a success.
It took Vann from Adams High School, where he was second team All-Northern Indiana Conference, to Siena Heights (Mich.) University for two years before it redirected him to Ball State. A backup linebacker/special teams guy at 6 feet, 230 pounds, Vann graduated in 2016 with a degree in sport administration.
He didn’t know what to do next. Stay in athletics? Absolutely. Coach? Absolutely not.
“I left that for my brother (Shaq, the wide receivers coach at Ball State),” Vann said. “I don’t know if I have the patience for coaching.”
While enrolled at Maryville University in St. Louis to earn a master’s in strategic communications, Vann worked as a graduate assistant in the athletic department. The associate athletic director was Jarrett Fleming, a South Bend Washington graduate.
“He brought me under his wing,” Vann said. “That was one of the best things to ever happen to me.”
Best because it reinforced Vann’s belief that sports administration was what he wanted to do with his career. Best because if one kid from South Bend’s west side could make something of himself, so could another. Best because Vann saw his path to something.
Failure has never been an option for Vann. Not growing up. Not going to school. Not in the working world. He was going to make it. So were his siblings.
“It was doing the right thing and doing what needed to be done,” said Dodge City (Kan.) Community College assistant athletic director Chris Woodruff, one of Vann’s closest friends and a fellow South Bend native. “They’ve all worked toward being better in their careers. I give his mom (Allison Townsend) a lot of credit. She’s a saint.”
Vann’s first job took him to Southern Arkansas University as assistant athletic director for facilities and events. He did everything from designing and distributing tickets to scheduling events and weight room times to event setup and close down. Concessions need help? Vann would help. He knew no other way.
It doesn’t matter if he works eight hours a day or 18, Vann’s going to finish the job.
“Those are the people who thrive in today’s athletics environment,” Woodruff said. “He's willing to go that extra mile.”
Along the way, Vann found his why.
“It’s cool to be on campus, cool to be around the athletes who make you feel young,” he said. “I love being a part of a team environment.”
In 2023, Vann learned of an opening for a similar admin position at Miami. Growing up, Miami may well have been the other side of the world. Why chase a career at a place so far from home? Why not?
“Who wouldn’t want to live in paradise?” Vann wondered.
A gameday to list that seems never-ending
Vann’s position as assistant director for facilities, events, and operations means he oversees all gamedays on the Coral Gables campus for the women’s soccer, tennis, and women’s basketball programs. He’s often the first to arrive and the last to leave. Turn on the lights? Turn off the lights? Vann often does both.
On this August day on the phone, Vann was at practice for the Hurricanes’ track team.
For the Notre Dame game, Vann plans to arrive at least six hours before the 7:30 p.m. kick. He’ll run through a lengthy checklist. Are all the gates good? Tailgating areas? Parking? Security? Are the home and visitor’s locker rooms ready? Replay booth? Officials’ locker room? Bench areas? Who needs what and where? Vann’s on it.
“It’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff,” he said. “When you play, you don’t worry about any of that. Now, it’s a lengthy list of things we check once, twice, three times every game.”
Vann spent much of August rounding up enough tickets, and maybe a few VIP sideline passes (his department coordinates those) for the 15 to 25 family members and friends who plan to attend. As gameday gets closer, Vann’s to-do list gets longer.
“Man, it’s going to be crazy,” he said.
Gameday will be a blur. Vann may catch a play here or a series there, but he’ll be problem-solving while tethered to his walkie-talkie. Before he knows it, it will all be over but the post-game duties. The day will be long in a job where the hours never end.
Where’s this all going for him? Where will he be in five years? He wants to remain a college sports administrator. Maybe not be the top guy – let somebody else be athletic director – but maybe one of them. Maybe get married. Maybe start a family. All options are on the table. One day.
“I don’t want to say that I’m still trying to figure it out,” said Vann, who turns 33 on Christmas Day. “Hopefully, I can figure it out and not put as many hours into my job and experience some of the other good things in life.”
Life is good for Vann. He’s doing what he loves in a place he loves. He misses the fall back home. He doesn’t miss the winter. He loves to fish. He loves that he can hop on his bike and cruise along the coast, sometimes for 30 miles at a time.
Those rides offer a chance to reset and reflect.
“You forget about everything and zone in on the moment,” Vann said. “Seeing the ocean, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Chris Vann knows well the power of what Notre Dame football means
