Highland's Nordman named Associate AD at Butler

Highand Athletic Director Tyler Nordman will become Associate Athletic Director at Butler, starting August 19.
Highand Athletic Director Tyler Nordman will become Associate Athletic Director at Butler, starting August 19.

Current Highland Athletic Director and Butler County native Tyler Nordman will become Associate AD at Butler Community College on Aug. 19.

Nordman has spent the past seven years at Highland, the last three as Athletic Director. Prior to that, Nordman was the Director of Student Life & Housing.

During his time as the Athletic Director, Nordman spearheaded many new projects that have taken the Scotties to the next level. In his first two months on the job, he launched scottieathletics.com, the first ever athletic website for Highland. In 2016, with the help and support of the college and community, he went on to build a new football practice facility that included two full size grass fields, video tower and extra space for training.

In 2018, Nordman facilitated the construction of a turf football field equipped with a new scoreboard and video board. This year, he is overseeing the construction of a new track and new soccer field as well as new scoreboards and a video board for the field house.

The Scotties overall brand, social media and live-streaming presence was greatly improved during Nordman's tenure. His creation of the Scottie Sports Awards and Scottie Sports Talk are just two examples of how he has elevated the Highland brand and experience for the student athletes at HCC.

"We work for our student athletes and coaches. It is our job to create the best experience possible while educating and developing these young adults into the best student athlete they can become," commented Nordman.

During his time at HCC, Nordman increased fundraising efforts immensely. The Annual Scottie Golf Classic and Northeast Kansas All-Star Games are two fundraising events that Nordman took the lead on and improved greatly. 

"College athletics is a giant arms race. Increased fundraising efforts give us the opportunity to do more for our students and helps us to stay competitive," mentioned Nordman.

In his three years as Athletic Director, Nordman was committed to improving student success in the classroom. He kept that commitment as the number of NJCAA All-Academic Awards winners increased in each of his three years. On the field and court, Nordman was part of multiple KJCCC championships, Region VI Championships and a number of National Tournament appearances for the Scotties. The last two years, nine out of ten sports teams at Highland were ranked in the Top 20 in the NJCAA, with the Men's Basketball team reaching No. 1 in the Nation in 2019 (first time in school history for any sport).

"Our Mission at HCC is to educate and develop student athletes through competitive excellence and we feel we have worked hard and made strides to accomplishing that both on and off the field and court," said Nordman.

"My wife Stephanie and I are very excited to join the Butler Community College family. Highland will always hold a special place in my heart as I started both my collegiate and professional career in the navy and gold, but I look forward to this new opportunity for my family and happy to be joining a program like Butler. I am eager to get to campus and get to work."

Nordman will replace Matt Jacobs, who after 12 years with the athletic department is moving across campus to manage BCTV 20, the college's own television station. He will still be involved in athletics, helping with live broadcasts of Butler sporting events and operating the video board for home Butler football games. He will also continue to be a champion for the Jacobs Fund for Athletic Excellence, an endowed fund set up through the Butler Community College Foundation to help raise funds for the athletic department.

"Myself and the Butler athletic family are certainly sad to see Matt leave the 500 building after all he has done for us the past 12 years," Butler Athletic Director Todd Carter said. "But with that being said, we all are excited to welcome in Tyler and his vast new ideas he has with both social media and fundraising. For Butler athletics to stay on top, we have to continue to move forward in our daily activities."