The sweeping commercialization of major college sports hasn’t just created new earning opportunities for athletes—it’s also unlocked career paths for professionals who might never have envisioned working in the space.
That includes Andrew Brandt, a prominent sports lawyer and former Green Bay Packers executive. For the past 12 years, Brandt has led the Jeffrey S. Moorad Center for the Study of Sports Law at Villanova University, where he also teaches legal courses.
In addition to his academic work, he’s a columnist for Sports Illustrated and hosts a podcast. Now, he’s added another title to his already hyphenated business card: strategic advisor to the University of Louisville’s athletic department.
Although the university formally announced the position Thursday, Brandt has been working with Louisville since Jan. 1. In that time, he has visited the campus multiple times, helped crafted the school’s revenue-sharing framework for athletes and participated in contract negotiations with approximately 25 athletes.
Brandt said he accepted the gig after turning down previous offers over the past two years from multiple, unnamed Power Four programs to serve as their football general manager—a position that would have required relocation. The Louisville position allows him to remain in Philadelphia, where he lives near Villanova’s campus.
Brandt was acquainted with Louisville athletic director Josh Heird from Heird’s time as Villanova’s deputy AD between 2019 and 2022. Heird approached Brandt last year with the idea of a strategic advisory role.
“I think Josh was sitting in meetings last fall, hearing about all the changes coming to college sports, and just reached out and said, in so many words, ‘Can you help us?’” Brandt told Sportico.
Unlike the football-specific roles he previously declined, this consulting position covers the entire Louisville athletic department—a broader scope that Brandt found appealing.
“I wanted the intellectual challenge,” he said. “It’s a learning experience. I haven’t worked at this level of college sports before. Someone like me, five years ago, probably wouldn’t have been asked to help out, but the world [of college athletics] has changed.”
The arrangement with Louisville doesn’t include an exclusivity clause, though Brandt says he doubts he’d have the time or bandwidth to take on a similar role at another university.
At Villanova, he cleared the position with the law school’s dean, who had no objections.
“Andrew has offered informal support to our department and teams over the last few years,” a Villanova athletics spokesperson said.
In January, Villanova appointed Eric Roedl, previously Oregon’s deputy athletic director, as its new AD. Brandt and the two are scheduled to meet next week—possibly five months too late for Villanova to extend a competing offer.
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