Malcolm Butler

Posted on Facebook by Malcolm:


Wanted to announce a little change in direction for my career.



After having the honor of leading the Louisiana Tech Athletics Communication Department for the last 23 years, I am making the move into a different stage of my career. My last day as the Senior Associate AD at LA Tech is June 30.



I am excited about what’s next.



I will still have “a voice” which makes my decision easier. It was the right time. I look forward to continuing as the radio Voice of Tech Athletics for football, men’s basketball and softball.



But my last days as a member of the Athletic Communications team ends at the end of this month.

23 years has flown by.



I can honestly remember my first day in the office way back in the summer of 1999. To be honest, I was way in over my head. But I persevered, relied on my passion for Tech and my desire to make a positive impact, and most importantly, I hired talented people to be a part of the communications team.

There are so many people who have had an impact on me during the last two-plus decades. I wish I could thank everyone personally, but this post would become the length of War and Peace.



I definitely want to thank Jim Oakes who hired me in 1999. Jim gave me a chance to work at a place I love. I wasn’t ready for it from experience standpoint, but I think Jim saw the same qualities I looked for when hiring: someone who loved Tech, loved Ruston and had a passion for athletics.



I want to thank former Tech President Dan Reneau and current Tech President Les Guice for their support. It’s always nice when you feel that from the 16th floor, and I have for 23 years.



I want to thank Mary Kay Hungate who has been my go-to for all these years. You always need that person you feel you can go to and that you trust will be open and honest with you even if they don’t necessarily agree. That’s been Mary Kay for the last 23 years.



I want to thank Eric Wood for his willingness to think outside the box over the last year as I started the move into my new role. Dr. Wood gave me an opportunity for which I will forever be thankful.



I want to thank Kane McGuire and Anna Claire Thomas, whose love for LA Tech matches mine. Their loyalty to their alma mater provided stability within our office and in all honesty lengthened my time in my current role.



I think one of my greatest assets has been my ability to hire talented people who fit well within the Tech culture. And those people have been a big part in making my career both successful and enjoyable. So many of them were in the early stages of their careers and now have gone on and are still working in the profession at so many different universities around the country.



I want to thank all of the coaches, administrators, and support staff who I worked with along the way. It’s a relationship business, and I’ve developed some great relationships with a lot of wonderful people.



And finally, I want to thank the thousands of student-athletes who I was lucky enough to get to know and to help tell their stories. So many of them I talk to on a regular basis and consider lifelong friends.



I’ve been a part of some historic moments in Tech history. I’ve worked with some wonderful people. I’ve spent more than two decades of my life doing something I love and will continue to love, just in a slightly different role.



As I move to what is next for me, I do so with the hope that I had a positive impact on my alma mater. I will continue to bleed red and blue.

I wonder what he’s going to be doing?

I enjoyed Malcolm's radio play-by-play for the Techsters, he's such a homer! When a Techsters was whistled for a foul it was never, "oh, so-n-so committed a foul." Nope! it was always, "oh! they're gonna call a foul on...." like the refs were dead wrong in making the call. Love it.

This seems odd to me. I would never thought this would happen.

Doing play-by-play for football, men's basketball, and softball sounds like a pretty good gig without the stresses of managing a staff, meeting deadlines, and dealing with all the minutiae that comes through the Athletics office.