According to NCAA statistics, roughly 1.6 percent of college football players are selected in the NFL draft and only 1.9 percent of them will make an NFL roster. Winning on the field creates the headlines, drives in donor money, and is the ultimately benchmark of success for the media, donors and fan base.

Unfortunately, Arizona State has suffered back to back disappointing seasons on the gridiron, but they are excelling at an elite level in the classroom and the community.

In 2015, 70 out 110 ASU football athletes were named Scholar Ballers, a distinction given to those who excel in the classroom recording a 3.0 or higher grade point average (GPA). Across all sports, ASU ranks only second to Stanford in the Pac-12 in a number of important academic metrics, most importantly the NCAA Graduation Success Rate at 87%. In football specifically ASU ranks third at 80% graduation rate. ASU is also 2nd in Academic All American since 2000, most post-graduate scholarships granted to athletes, and most Pac-12 All Academic selections.

Jean Boyd, ASU’s Senior Associate Athletic Director has been a catalyst for these achievements. Boyd oversees student-athlete development and performance. Following his football career with the school, Boyd has served on the ASU staff for over 20 years. I sat down with Boyd recently and discussed his role and responsibilities and ASU’s recent academic success.

“My job has expanded since (ASU Athletic Director) Ray Anderson arrived here,” Boyd said. “It’s been pretty well documented for a good stretch. From 2001 until 2014 my primary responsibility entailed direct academic support to student-athletes, but also oversight of our comprehensive efforts for all student-athletes in terms of academic and life skill development. Some of things that are on that list of responsibilities are hiring staff that oversees day-to-day academic success which include structured study of course, mentoring, and tutoring and test preparation.

“There is an entirely separate but integrated area called life skill development, which is surrounding decision making, drug and alcohol education, and awareness, sexual responsibility, managing effective relationships, career transition and other types of life skill development.”

Since Anderson’s hire, Boyd’s role and imprint on the program and student-athlete development have expanded.

“As Ray came on board and reorganization was going on,” Boyd stated, “I added the reporting lines for the sports performance area, which is strength and conditioning. I also added our athletic training area, which deals with preventative and rehabilitative medicine. I manage our relationships with student health services and counseling services, which involve physicians and counselors.

“As my role expanded what I started to focus on was creating systems and programs that push student-athletes to be at their very best in all elements of their life.

“My energy is towards a holistic, systematic program that pushes student-athletes to achieve at their highest level in every area of life. Not just academics, not just life skills, but how to empower athletic trainers, academic cultures, sport cultures and counselors all to pour into these student-athlete lives that help them to be high achievers for the rest of their lives. “

While the rest of the world focuses on wins and losses, Boyd sees a bigger picture when he is working with the student-athlete. At the core of this approach is the long-term outlook and a creating a path to a productive and fulfilling life once these young individuals’ college playing days are over.

“Being an excellent athlete in college, then not being able to go get a job, not having developed skills that lead towards being a good father or mother, at the end of the day is hollow,” Boyd explained. “My focus has evolved into a much broader, more global focus, but still in the spirit of empowering young people.”

Boyd sees a different type of student-athlete today, as there is a greater focus on the athletes voicing their opinions and standing up for various societal issues.

“At the end of the day there is a huge emphasis on the final four of college football, march madness, wins and losses and all those kind of things,” Boyd remarked. “At ASU, we are seeking to bridge the gap between the perception of big-time college athletics as win first, toward using your sport as a vehicle toward success in life.”

Naturally, Boyd and ASU football Head Coach Head Coach, Todd Graham are in regular communication concerning a broad range of topics regarding the program and its players.

“We talk about football, how we are evolving our staff in sports performance, injury prevention,” Boyd described, “on down to leadership and how we are developing leaders on the team, including academics. We talk daily for sure about something that falls into many areas, including academics.”

Boyd is personable, knowledgeable and passionate about empowering student-athletes at Arizona State. However, his greatest asset is the path he took when he first arrived in Tempe in the early 1990’s. Boyd has certainly walked in their shoes.

As a child, Boyd grew up in inner city Los Angeles in the cities of Carson, Compton and Paramount. He understands what it is like to have the odds stacked against him. Boyd attended Cerritos College in Southern California due to a lack of offers out of high school. In many cases, his life experiences resonate with the student-athletes he mentors.

“I would hope that the commonality and life experience is a key in building relationships that are meaningful,” Boyd explained. “I went to elementary and middle school in Compton, California. A lot of these movies, such as “Straight Out of Compton”, reflect the environments that a lot of young people come to places like ASU from. This includes subcultures, like gangs, drug use, and always having to look over your shoulder. This can impact you as you grow up. As I reflected and learned more about psychology, I see how these types of realities impact us. I think having lived through that behind closed doors I can tell some of them, ‘Look what you’ve experienced, I have experienced too.’ I think that commonality is helpful.

“I think haven been a Division I student-athlete at Arizona State University gives you some leverage and credibility in the work you do with student-athletes because you walked in the same exact shoes as them. I think it helps in that regard. “

Boyd is affectionally known as Arizona State’s best junior college recruit, as he excels in developing student-athletes from the community college ranks.

“To the sports world, junior college means you aren’t talented enough or perhaps you don’t have the academic credentials,” Boyd said. “It’s seen as a deficiency. When I was at Cerritos College what I found, was there were a lot of people there that are hungry, who quite frankly, had a chip on their shoulder. In my case I was an academic qualifier but I didn’t have the offers. I was pissed off. It challenged me to bust my tail.”

Boyd joined ASU’s staff after spending time in the New England Patriots’ training camp in 1994 and with the London Monarchs in 1995. Since his playing days, Boyd has seen a lot of change, including the boom of social media. While some universities deter their student-athletes from using social media. Boyd sees it as an opportunity for those individuals to grow as they take responsibility for their actions.

“Number one, the worst thing you can do is allow it to be a deterrent or allow it to negatively impact you,” Boyd noted. “Of course, when you represent yourself through social media, the language you use, the pictures that people post, the things that you post, are going to speak to your character in a public way. It either works for you or against you, there’s no middle ground.

“People who are 18 or 19 years old, their frontal lobes aren’t fully developed and they are often times making impulsive decisions. It can quickly create negative energy towards one’s personal brand. Also, it can be a deterrent for excellence in the sense that if you are not properly managing how you consume social media in the evening times, including blue light, which mimics morning time. Then you stay up and only get five hours of sleep a night, how can you be an optimal performer? These conversations surround how to not allow these mechanisms adversely impact your ability to be great.

“Certainly, there are benefits including the amount of information you can get about subject matter, promoting small acts of kindness, projecting a high character and hardworking character. That is someone people want to hire. It can certainly be a tool for the positive. It can also enhance and improve learning and strategy in sports. “

Not only has social media and technology changed the landscape of student-athlete development, but there is a greater focus on the individual and treating each student-athlete with an individualist approach.

Naturally, with ASU’s recent academic excellence, it has become a key selling point for the Sun Devils to sell to recruits. Boyd, of course, plays a big role in enticing the best and brightest prospects to Tempe.

“Whenever we have student-athletes and families on campus, we think it’s critical that they understand how they are going to be cared for holistically,” Boyd said. “Obviously understanding who the coaches are is going to be important but understanding who and what resources are going to be around you on a daily basis, speaking to your spirit, heart and mind as a young man as a student but also as a person is every bit of important. We think that’s critical in recruiting. The philosophy is we need to have as many professionals as possible looking after the best interest of the student-athlete while they are here.

“We need to put Courtney Skipper in front them, who is the director of student academics for football, we’ve got to get Alonzo Jones in front of them, who is the associate AD of championship life, which is all about seeing yourself winning the game of life when you are 35 or 40 years old. We need to get academic tutors and people in the community in front of them. When we have big recruiting weekends the recruits are on campus seeing what classrooms look like, the student union, seeing what programs the institution offers that go way beyond the sidelines and end zones. It’s an all hands on deck type of weekend.”

The aforementioned Scholar Baller distinction isn’t only an honor that current student-athletes strive for, but also one that is enticing to recruiting prospects considering Arizona State throughout their recruiting process. Boyd described the origins of this program and the impact it has had on the student-athletes.

“The language and ideology came from a fusion of some friendships I have,” Boyd recalled. “There was a gentleman named Keith Harrison that was a position coach for my junior college team, that I kept in contact with, and he started doing research on variables for success with African-American student-athletes in particular. We always would compare notes on what he researched and what I saw practically. We would joke that a lot of the guys, from our background, were all baller and no scholar. This notion of a baller is, great athlete and you have status, and you are over concerned with athletic identify but you are not taking care of your scholarly business.

“At some point, he framed it Scholar Baller, which is someone who embraces the opportunity to grow and learn and be a great athlete but also be someone who is a great student, be someone who gives back to their community and be someone is an agent of change and leader in society. We incorporated it as a non-profit organization but ASU was the testing ground where we began rewarding and incentivizing academic performance by giving gear and putting a patch on the jersey. It was part of the foundation of getting us moving in a trajectory in a way that we are second in the league now in a number of measuring sticks.”

In addition to the Scholar Baller program, ASU boasts Barrett Honors College. Barrett is nationally recognized and widely considered as one of the top honors college in the nation. This allows ASU to often distinguish itself when competing for student-athletes who greatly value the importance of academics and place that as a significant factor in their college decision.

“If we are recruiting against someone that is considered an academic power, without Barrett, we would have a difficult time competing.” Boyd admitted. “If someone is looking for a top-notch academic experience and a Top-25 athletic experience, then Barrett allows us to be able to have a conversation with them about how they can have the same type of academic experience here as they would at an Ivy League school or Stanford.

“It’s been a huge difference maker in recruiting. About 10-15percent of our student-athletes are in the Barrett Honors College, including (football players) Brady White, Cam Smith, Nick Ralston, and Kyle Williams.”

ASU being voted as Playboy’s top party school in 2002 is not only a distant memory just because it occurred 15 years ago. Arizona State President, Dr. Michael Crow, has worked diligently to shed that stereotype, an approach that has served causes such as the ones Boyd champions very well.

“I can’t speak enough about what Dr. Crow and his leadership has meant to the institution overall,” Boyd said. “What he brought in terms of a vision, in a non-tradition approach to elevating the institution, academically through its work with businesses, with the United States military, and anything in between. We’ve partnered with a number of different types of entities to create solutions to our problems in our society.

“It elevated us from a status standpoint as an academic institution are really unparalleled, the growth and the ascent that ASU has had. You look at the statistics and we are the number 1 school for innovation in the country. On a list of the top 10 institutions across the whole world, not just the country, but across the world ASU ranked number 9 in most hirable graduates. Only one school in the league is ahead of us, which is Stanford, everybody else is behind us. “

Boyd see’s ASU’s vision, led by Dr. Crow, Ray Anderson, and other university leaders such as himself, as an opportunity for student-athletes to grow as students and individuals. He believes Arizona State offers this invaluable methodology to recruits.

“We are breaking down these myths and barriers from the past,” Boyd stated. “People see it as a state school, where you can hang out and have a good time. This a serious academic institution that can transform your life if you will embrace it the right way. These things are critical in recruiting.”

Boyd’s impact with ASU football is undeniable, as he has helped transform services provided to ASU football players and other student-athletes across the athletic department of the school. Unsurprisingly, Boyd still keeps in contact with numerous former players. He referenced former Sun Devil greats such as Jaelen Strong, Will Sutton and others who are currently representing ASU in the NFL.

Boyd treats all the players equally and is determined to support the walk-ons in the same manner and passion he supports the blue chip recruit.

“If you are here, you are part of the family,” Boyd commented. “We don’t have lines of distinction. One of my all-time favorites is a young man named Littrele Jones. He was a walk-on from Southern California. He was a little guy and played defensive back and his nickname was ‘Scrappy.’ This kid was a walk-on and he came in the office one day and he said, ‘Hey Jean, I am struggling, I need help. I need some support.’

“I spent time with him and got to know him. We connected him with the resources that gave him the support that he needed at the time. Over his experience here, he ended up earning a scholarship by blocking field goals during practice and blocked a couple field goals during games. He had a great experience here and towards the end of it, he shared that he wanted to be a firefighter. Four or five years later he threw a Phoenix Fire Department hat down on my desk and he said, ‘I did it, I got on the force.”

Boyd was noticeably excited as he shared this story and numerous others about players that did not make all-conference lists. He also shared his enthusiasm about a current football player, Kyle Williams.

“Kyle Williams played as a true freshman last year,” Boyd said. “He is an incredible kid. He is one of the brightest, hardworking, gets-it, one of the more impressive guys I have been around. When you see guys who have the whole package like that, I always say, I hope you can play.

“Leadership and leaders are often seen as such because of their athletic ability. When someone is a high achiever and high performer athletically, and then they check the box of being a natural leader, academic achiever, care for others and those type of things, man there is nothing that can replace that package. They really have the ability to move teams.”

As Jean Boyd spoke about Kyle Williams, I couldn’t help but think of another Sun Devil that, ‘checks the boxes.’ That, of course, is Boyd himself. He may be the last to admit it, but he has been moving these ASU teams for years and transcending them to greater heights in areas much more important than sports.

When we watch the Sun Devils take to the field this fall, fans will have a lot to be proud of, as these young men, with Boyd’s leadership, are winning off the field every day.