Kyle Brennan's job is full of trouble-shooting.
The director of athletics compliance and eligibility gets an average of 20 to 30 phone calls and 50 to 100 e-mails during all hours of the day asking compliance-related questions, he said.
In his seven months at Ball State University, Brennan has taken an educational approach to his job. He welcomes every question because it means someone has spotted an issue instead of acting without thinking about the consequences, he said.
"If you have coaches who are educated, you have less chance of them breaking the rules," Brennan said. "Because I don't believe that most coaches are intentionally rule violators, especially with secondary violations. I believe a lot of times those are inadvertent or made because of a lack of understanding of the rules."
Since Brennan has been at Ball State, he's completed projects like designing a Web site, developing a compliance curriculum, instituting monthly meetings with every coaching staff and writing a compliance manual.
Men's tennis coach Bill Richards said Brennan has been able to develop trust with the coaches.
"I think from a coach's standpoint, you don't want to feel like someone in that position is out to get you," Richards said. "Kyle has the attitude that he's here to help us follow the rules and not catch us."
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said the approach toward compliance has been a proactive one.
"We're just trying to get everyone in the habit of asking the question before they do something," Collins said. "If they pause, then there's probably a reason they're pausing, and hopefully it's to ask the right question."
Women's basketball coach Tracy Roller said Brennan's accessibility has helped her staff on a daily basis.
Brennan came to Ball State in October from Texas Christian University where he was director of compliance. Before that he was a compliance assistant at Northern Illinois University.
Collins said Brennan will be able to bring the good things from those schools and combine them with what Ball State is doing.
It also helps that he has a law degree. The NCAA compliance manual is 460 pages, and Brennan said his legal background helps him to understand the many nuances he often gets questions about.
"It's basically written by lawyers for lawyers in a lot of ways," he said.
Beyond his legal background, Collins said Brennan really understands what today's coaches are going through.
"He's done some things I think the coaches appreciate and I think the biggest thing is the coaches have confidence in Kyle," Collins said. "If people have confidence in you, then they're not scared to come to you if there is a problem."
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