Northwest Wayne News

Three former Wayne State University football players, Josh Renel, Nick Thomas, and Drake Reid, recently participated in the National Football Foundation (NFF) Campbell Trophy Summit held at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Renel described the event as "a rare opportunity to meet and learn from so many extraordinary people who have achieved a lot of success in their lives, both athletically and professionally." Thomas added, "The Summit is a truly inspiring experience for emerging leaders in business and their community. Bill Campbell's legacy of mentorship and leadership is woven throughout the event, creating a powerful and lasting impact. I was honored to represent Wayne State Football again and strongly encourage fellow Campbell Trophy nominees to attend in the future." Reid said, "The summit was once again an incredible experience. The opportunity to learn from esteemed business leaders, NFL & CFB Hall of Famers, and experts in leadership and performance is a great privilege not many get to experience. I look forward to returning back in the years to come and continue building relationships with fellow scholar-athletes."

The seventh annual William V. Campbell Trophy Summit took place from July 24-26 at Stanford University. More than 300 attendees gathered for this event that aims to honor Bill Campbell’s legacy as an influential business leader. The summit is sponsored by Intuit, which provides financial technology products such as TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp.

Since its inception in 2017, the summit has connected former Campbell Trophy nominees with leading CEOs and entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley. This year’s speakers included Pat Gelsinger (former CEO of Intel Corporation), Randy Komisar (former partner at Kleiner Perkins), Ronnie Lott (NFF Board Member and College Football Hall of Fame inductee), Andrew Luck (General Manager for Stanford Football), Denis McDonough (former White House Chief of Staff), Brad D. Smith (President of Marshall University), and Steve Young (College Football Hall of Fame inductee).

NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell stated: "Since our founding in 1947, the NFF has been at the forefront of showcasing football's unique power to develop leaders. No one understood or embodied that ideal more than Bill Campbell, and the Campbell Trophy Summit stands as a singular and powerful platform to carry forward his legacy. I want to especially recognize Mark Flynn and Brad Smith, whose leadership has been the driving force behind the Summit, ensuring Bill's influence continues to grow exponentially."

The summit serves as a tribute to Bill Campbell—former CEO and Chairman of Intuit—and provides past Campbell Trophy nominees with opportunities for networking and learning from top entrepreneurs.

Steven Tardy, CEO of French & Parrello Associates and a 1989 NFF National Scholar-Athlete from Rutgers University commented: "The Summit has been an invaluable experience — not just for the leadership insights and lessons, but for the camaraderie. Being able to step away from the constant urgency of running a company and spend time with such accomplished, thoughtful people has been refreshing. The conversations here are foundational and challenge me to think differently about how I lead and how I can keep improving myself and my organization."

This year’s participants represented 143 colleges across all divisions with careers ranging from medicine to engineering. The group had an average college GPA of 3.68; sixty-five percent have earned advanced degrees; they came from 41 states plus England; more than half played Division I football; another quarter played professionally; over forty-five percent had attended previous summits; ages ranged from early twenties up through seventy-one.

Brad D. Smith opened this year’s summit by emphasizing its exclusivity: "What makes this event distinctive and special is you can't buy a ticket again," said Smith. "You have to earn your seat. And every one of you who've been nominated for the William V. Campbell trophy have done just that... It's my privilege because you are the best of the best elite student athletes and purpose driven leaders."

Over three days attendees participated in workshops on leadership development along with team-building activities such as non-tackle ultimate football games, casino night events, panel discussions on career growth topics like effective communication led by Matt Abrahams from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mark Flynn—CEO MWF Advisors—has organized each summit since its start: "The past few days... we've been reminded leadership isn't about titles or trophies... It's about lifting others... aligning your values with your actions... showing up consistently humbly... No one lived that better than... Bill Campbell..."

All former nominees for both the Campbell Trophy (since 1990) as well as NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Fidelity Investments (since 1959) are eligible for invitation.

Other highlights included keynote interviews such as Steve Young discussing leadership principles learned under coach Bill Walsh; panels on teamwork featuring Denis McDonough alongside Palantir Technologies executives Mehdi Alhassani & Keenan Reynolds; Diane Flynn addressing self-awareness in leadership; sessions on innovation by Pat Gelsinger; workshops led by Liz Wiseman on multiplier vs diminisher leadership styles.

On day two Ryan Nece interviewed his father Ronnie Lott about giving back through leadership influenced by Bill Campbell while Scott Brady discussed artificial intelligence trends impacting business today.

Randy Komisar reflected on launching companies alongside Bill Campbell while Denise Lee Yohn spoke about customer experiences shaping brand loyalty.

Andrew Luck concluded by discussing changes facing college athletics including collective bargaining agreements & NIL deals’ impacts.

Attendees also included previous winners Thomas Burns (Virginia) & Jim Hansen (Colorado); five College Football Hall-of-Famers Blake Elliott (Saint John's [MN]), Gordie Lockbaum (Holy Cross), Ronnie Lott (USC), Andrew Luck (Stanford), Steve Young (BYU). Lockbaum & Young are among only forty-four NFF National Scholar-Athletes also inducted into College Football Hall-of-Fame.