“No Better Role Model” Than Derrick Brooks For Student-Athletes At USF

Derrick Brooks was hired in October 2025 to the be the chief operating officer of athletics at the University of South Florida. Brooks is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame.

Tom Layberger

Faith. Family. Football. Those are the pillars with which Derrick Brooks lives by and is surrounded by in his second-floor office at the Lee Roy Selmon Athletics Center on the campus of the University of South Florida.

A bible rests on his desk at arm’s reach and mementos of his Hall of Fame career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are displayed. Family? Three of the four children born to him and wife Carol know their way around campus. Across the street is where daughter DaNia plays softball for the Bulls. Son Darius works within the Dean’s office at the College of Education. Son DeCalon, who like his father was a linebacker at Florida State, spent last football season as an intern with USF’s strength and conditioning staff.

“Having those family connections and to work here at USF in a professional capacity really intrigued me,” said the 53-year-old chief operating officer of athletics, a new position in the department he accepted in late October. “A lot of people don’t have that opportunity. It is really unique and it really appealed to me.”

What also appealed was the opportunity to work with someone Brooks has long had a professional relationship.

Professional leadership with a personal touch

When Rob Higgins left the Tampa Bay Sports Commission after two decades as its executive director to become the CEO of Athletics at USF, he knew he wanted the former 11-time Pro Bowl linebacker to play a key role within the department.

“It was really important from a variety of different angles,” said Higgins, of the desire to bring Brooks on board. “To be able to have someone of the character and mindset of Derrick to be part of our senior leadership in the COO position was critical especially when you think about there being no better role model for our student-athletes.”

It was not easy for Brooks to leave the Vinik Sports Group, which manages the Tampa Bay Lightning and with which he served as an executive vice president for corporate and community business development. An icon within the Tampa Bay sports landscape, Brooks was a go-to guy for Higgins when it came to helping lure major sporting events to the region whether it was the Super Bowl, men’s and women’s NCAA hoops, the Frozen Four or, most recently, the 2026 NHL Stadium Series which was announced when Higgins was still with the commission.

“There was a lot of success over the years when he led the (commission) and I was on his board serving in a variety of roles,” said Brooks, whose oldest child is daughter Brianna.

Hence, in addition to family connections at the university, there was something else when it came to accepting the COO position.

“The opportunity to work again with Rob Higgins,” he said.

Brooks, who was Higgins’ first hire at USF, was a co-chair of Super Bowl LV with Will Weatherford, chair of the USF Board of Trustees since 2021 and a former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Hosting a Super Bowl offers countless details at the best of times. But during a pandemic?

“I think that kind of propelled the business relationship between Rob and I as well as Will Weatherford,” said Brooks, who was with the Lightning for 15 years and has a pair of Stanley Cup rings as well as a Super Bowl ring he earned from his days scaring the dickens out of quarterbacks and ball carriers. “We were able to do something that a lot of people didn’t think Tampa could do. A world pandemic? We were able to pull off one the greatest sporting events in a safe manner.”

Brooks said he and Higgins learned more about each other leading up to the game and “kept the momentum going.” It is the personal side that can only benefit student-athletes at a truly chaotic time with the transfer portal and NIL.

“There is nobody to better surround our 500 student-athletes with,” said Higgins. “His business acumen and his experience in sports leadership roles are critical as we look to modernize and professionalize USF athletics. It truly is the best of both worlds from a character standpoint and the expertise he brings to the table with the business side.”

Brooks wanted to tackle the chaos and in a way that would make it easier for USF’s student-athletes to grasp.

“At a time when most people would say there’s a lot of turmoil, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of moving parts, why not jump into this particular fire and play a part in putting it out and giving it some direction?” he said. “I was thinking through all those things when I told Rob I would surely come on and be his first hire.”

Bobby Bowden’s call to Mrs. Brooks

Derrick Brooks could not figure out what on God’s green earth he did wrong. Was it something during a game? Practice? Why would Bobby Bowden call him into his office.

“Coach said, ‘Derrick Brooks, I am disappointed in you,’” recalled the former All-American with the Seminoles. “I wondered if he had the right player.”

Bowden had the right player.

“Coach Bowden hands me a sheet of paper and said, ‘Read this,’” Brooks said, almost with the level of anguish as the day the meeting took place during his freshman season of 1991. “It’s my transcript and there is a big red circle around a ‘C.’ Coach Bowden said, ‘That’s not your potential and we need to call your mom because I promised her of the high standard I would hold you to.’”

Bowden picked up the phone and told Geraldine Brooks that her son was in his office and was in a bit of trouble. The coach revealed the reason why: her son made a ‘C’ in biology.

“My mother said, ‘I am going to come down there and yada, yada, yada and I am going to put my foot up his (butt),’” said Brooks, his memory as vivid as though it was 35 minutes ago and not nearly 35 years. “She is just going off on me.”

For good measure, Geraldine said she was going to do the same to Bowden for “allowing” her son to make an average grade. The freshman linebacker was able to calm her down saying the message was received – loud and clear – and everything will be fine.

Bowden hung up likely wishing he had not picked up the phone.

“Coach said, ‘Derrick, please do both of us a favor,’” said Brooks, grinning from ear to ear at the memory of an unforgettable meeting with the college football icon. “Get it together because I don’t like anything your mom said about something going up my rear end, okay? I know she means it.’”

Brooks means it when he talks about the value of education and how he wants student-athletes at USF to understand there is plenty of help available in the Selmon Center when it comes to traversing the path of collegiate athletics, which is one that can be paved with riches as well as torn apart by carelessness. Brooks considers himself “traditional,” though he is all for NIL and transfer opportunities. What concerns him are the decision-making processes that can go astray.

“You have a means to have a head start in terms of earning revenue at a very young age,” he said at forum at USF a few days before the meeting in his office. “I try to give (student-athletes) tools to manage that situation. A lot of it, usually, is kids come into compensation and they do not have a good support system around them.”

Hence, the need for education in a rapidly changing environment. Several individuals and companies are involved in managing the funds college athletes are making, and more will come out of the woodwork. Not all of them are interested in placing the student-athlete first.

“I try to give them tools in terms of the education piece, and we are doing that here within our athletic department at USF,” said Brooks, who has a master’s in business communications from Florida State, which he completed during his first four offseasons with the Bucs and with the encouragement of coach Tony Dungy. “Here are some guardrails and some guideposts they need to be aware of. We hope that most student-athletes take advantage of those resources.”

Florida Man

Brooks knows the Sunshine State. His youth, college, professional playing and post-playing careers have been entirely within the state’s borders. Tampa? Well, Raymond James Stadium, Benchmark International Arena and USF are three addresses he knows well.

“I realize the rarity of that, particularly in sports,” he said of not having to leave the state. “This journey has taken me from Pensacola through Tallahassee to Tampa and down to Key West with respect to business opportunities. To grow up in this state and serve in all of the positions I have served over the years in my professional development is truly humbling. I am very grateful for it.”

There is plenty of giving back. Founded in 1997, Derrick Brooks Charities, Inc. endeavors to provide a path forward for youths whose families may not have the means to do so themselves. It is about helping a community in which Brooks thrived on the field and has long cared for well beyond the gridiron. That is also evident in the Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School, the doors of which opened in 2007.

Today, in an office a few feet from where another Buccaneers’ great and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Lee Roy Selmon, had his office when he led USF’s athletic department, Brooks cannot overstate how grateful he is for an opportunity to dive in and help student-athletes better understand and navigate what can be a tangled web. That and Brooks’ immense leadership throughout the region are why Higgins picked up his phone.

“I always respected him from his playing days at Florida State and what he accomplished on the football field with the Buccaneers,” said Higgins, a USF alum and Tampa native. “The person, though, is so much greater than the player. That is saying a lot when you are a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”