Each year at SEC Media Days, coaches and players discuss the outlook for the season and what their goals are on the field.
The goal is to prepare – whether it’s for the season or for what will come after their playing days are over.
It is a harsh, and sometimes misunderstood, reality for fans and athletes alike. The average professional football career, for those even drafted, is around four years. The vast majority of collegiate athletes never play professionally.
But the education they receive … that represents a much more significant opportunity for most.
We caught up with two Regions bankers at SEC Media Days who benefitted from their time as SEC athletes.
The experience that you get, focusing on teamwork, habits that you develop, the structure. You’re used to being coached. It really prepares you for life outside of sports.
Wally Conyers is a long way from his roots in SEC athletics. But he would tell you that his time as a defensive lineman at Vanderbilt is part of the reason he’s a banker known for service and dedication today.
“I played football at Vanderbilt University in the late 1990s. I was a defensive lineman,” he said. “I was on the team for five years. It was a lot of fun. I got to be in some really exciting environments, exciting games.”
Conyers played at Vanderbilt for the legendary coach Woody Widenhofer, who not only coached at Vandy but was also the genius behind the famed “Steel Curtain” defense of the ‘70s-era Pittsburgh Steelers. Tough. Hardnosed. Gritty defense, from an old-school coach.
“The experience that you get, focusing on teamwork, habits that you develop, the structure. You’re used to being coached,” said Conyers. “It really prepares you for life outside of sports.”
And for Conyers, that career started almost immediately after college with his first employer – Regions.
And if he could give advice to young athletes today? Conyers is quick to reply: “Prepare for your future beyond the sport. Chase your dreams! But know that your career is a marathon. Not too many people play professional sports that long, so prepare for life after it.”
I loved playing at Vanderbilt! The balance of student and athlete there is truly important to the program. It’s helped me become what I am today in my career.
Preparing for life – during and after sports – is something that Megan Ganschow holds close to her heart, also. During the bustle of SEC Media Days, she was also scheduled to return to her alma mater to talk to student-athletes there about building credit and planning for their financial future.
“A lot of student-athletes don’t get enough conversation around what it looks like when you leave college,” she said, and she might have the experience to know.
From 2006-2010, Ganschow played soccer at Vanderbilt, playing all over the pitch during her time. Returning to share her knowledge and experience with students is simply an extension of the discipline and connection she feels to the school and to her job as a banker at Regions.
“I loved playing at Vanderbilt!” she said. “The balance of student and athlete there is truly important to the program. It’s helped me become what I am today in my career.”
And it started with learning the good life and professional skills that translate both on and off the field.
“(My time playing soccer at Vanderbilt) helped prepare me with time commitment, planning. We were always on a schedule at school. Up at 6 a.m. for workouts. Class. Weight room. Then back on the field,” she added. “Playing in the SEC, you really have to be disciplined on and off the field to be successful, and that same mind set transfers to your career.”
Catch more 2023 SEC Media Days coverage on Doing More Today