"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1
Entering his eighth year at East Texas Baptist University in 2019-2020, Adam P. Ledyard was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Communications in 2016 and has served the athletic communications industry for 18 years. He has been able to work at the NCAA Division II, III, and NAIA levels along with working a major NCAA Division I bowl game.
In seven years (2012-2019), Ledyard has helped to expand the ETBU brand and corporate sponsorships in Marshall, Texas, along with improving the communications area in athletics. He has produced one of the top NCAA Division III social media networks that is the best in Texas and fourth in NCAA Division III. He also helped re-brand the ETBU awards banquet in 2017 as they became the Toby Awards which has become a red carpet event. In seven years, he has been able to raise over $85,000 in sponsorships along with building relationships with local business' averaging $12,000 a year in corporate sponsorships.
He has re-built the media relationships with the Shreveport, La., and Tyler, Texas, television stations and the Marshall, Texas, media in the Marshall News Messenger and KMHT Radio. He overlooks the production the ETBU Sports Moment every week for KMHT radio along with supplying video highlights to the local televisions. With his radio background, he has also done play-by-play for ETBU football, baseball, and softball and hosted the weekly coaches show on the ETBUSportsNet.
Prior to ETBU, Ledyard spent five years at Judson University (2007-2012), a private Christian university in the Chicagoland area, leaving in August 2012 as the associate director of athletics. In those five years, he promoted a department that started with eight sports and finished with 18 when he left. He started the JUSE (Judson University Sports Extra) Network, the JUISY (Judson University Inspirational Stars of the Year) Awards, and set up live video and broadcasting for basketball and baseball and softball. He also earned four NAIA-SIDA awards in this time for with three for his website work and one for his fall media guide.
He started social media for the athletic department creating their Facebook and Twitter accounts which were the first in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. He was one of the first in the Chicagoland area and NAIA to have live in-game twitter updates along with interviews after the games posted on YouTube. In 2011-12 he was named the CCAC “Sports Information Director of the Year” and also served as the CCAC’s sports information director from 2010-12. Just before leaving Judson, he was voted onto the NAIA-SIDA board as a committee member at the 2012 NAIA-SIDA convention in St. Louis, Mo.
Other duties he held at Judson during his five years were assistant chapel director, Fellowship of Christian Athletes advisor, Church-University Cooperative coordinator, Camp Day Coordinator, Athletic Community Service Coordinator, and athletic missions trip coordinator.
Ledyard began his athletic communications career at Olivet Nazarene University as a student assistant for the football team. He had the chance to travel with the team through the 1998 NAIA playoffs and to the national championship game in Tennessee. He received an internship in 1999-2000 under Dean Hybl at Rollins College where he learned the tricks of the trade of the business. From there he took his first job at McMurry University (2000-2002) in Abilene, Texas, as the assistant sports information director and was promoted to the head sports information director after a year in 2001 at the age of 24. He spent two years in Abilene, Texas, before moving out of the business for a year to work for a non-profit in Ohio.
After a year in the non-profit business working for a hospital in Ohio (2003), Ledyard became the sports information director at Southwest Baptist University (2003-2006) in Bolivar, Mo. After three years at the NCAA Division II program, he moved back to Illinois to work for the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake (2006-07) as the director of communications. Missing athletics, he transitioned back to athletic communications in 2007-08 at Judson University.
In all four stops at Rollins, McMurry, Southwest Baptist, and Judson, Ledyard has redesigned each athletic website implementing new ideas. He has won three website awards from NAIA-SIDA and implemented video at SBU, Judson, and ETBU.
He has been able to work in several media markets including Orlando, Fla., Chicago, Ill., Abilene, Texas, and Springfield, Mo. He built relationships in all those markets receiving coverage for each school on the television stations and local newspapers including an article in the Chicago Tribune, CBS Sports Online, and Vice Sports.
In 2000, Ledyard had the chance to work OurHouse.com Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) during bowl week. He was the liaison for the University of Florida football team, help set up for media day, and was on the Florida sidelines during the game. He has also worked the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., as the game day social media coordinator in 2016.
In his 18 years of promoting student athletes, he has had the chance of promoting several NCAA All-Americans, a NCAA national player of the year, several CoSIDA academic All-Americans, and all-conference players. He has been able to help with NCAA and NAIA National Tournaments along with hosting conference tournament games. Several athletes have also received awards for the first-time ever for their university through the promotion by Ledyard.
Ledyard graduated from Olivet Nazarene University in 1999 with a degree in communications (general speech and broadcasting). In December 2018, he earned a Master's of Business Administration from East Texas Baptist University. He has been married to Theanna (Truesdale) for 13 years and they have four sons Samson (10), Ezekiel (8), Daniel Cooper (5), and Titus (3). Theanna is a former collegiate volleyball player at Evangel University.