Garrett Klassy was Nebraska's Senior Deputy AD from 2019 until 2023. Following the retirement of Bill Moos, Klassy served as the Huskers' interim Athletic Director during the summer of 2021.
Klassy oversaw Nebraska's nationally-prominent football program under Moos and provided oversight over the athletic department's external operations, which included development, creative and emerging media, marketing, HuskerVision, Husker Athletic Partners, ticketing, communications and licensing. He also oversaw the medical and sports performance areas which included strength and conditioning, performance nutrition, sport psychology, sports analytics, athletic medicine and the Nebraska Athletic Performance Lab.
Klassy played a prominent role in several major Nebraska Athletics initiatives. He took the lead in developing #NILbraska, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln initiative to educate student-athletes on branding, marketing and financial literacy, among other aspects. Klassy also directed the creation of Huskers Athletic Partners, an in-house agency which managed Nebraska's multimedia rights and radio network.
Klassy oversaw and managed the fundraising efforts for Nebraska's $100 million GO BIG capital campaign, which broke ground on a new football facility on April 30, 2021. He also implemented Nebraska's COVID-19 protocols and created the policy for the safe return to athletic facilities for Husker student-athletes, coaches and staff.
In his time at Nebraska, Klassy was a champion for student-athletes to have their own voice while looking for innovative ways for Nebraska Athletics to contribute to the community. He created Nebraska's "N Our Voice" series, where student-athletes share their personal stories and experiences in their own voice. Klassy was also responsible for bringing Garth Brooks to Memorial Stadium for the first concert in the stadium since 1987. The concert sold out in fewer than two hours and provided increased revenue for the athletic department with an estimated economic impact of more than $10 million for the city of Lincoln.
Klassy came to Nebraska from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was the school’s third Director of Athletics in the Division I era. Klassy led the Flames' athletic department starting in August of 2017. In competition, UIC won eight conference championships, the most in a two-year span in school history. The men's basketball team enjoyed its first 20-win season in 14 years and advanced to the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
The Flames also set records in the classroom. In spring 2018, UIC's 336 student-athletes achieved a record-high grade-point average of 3.17. Thirteen of 18 teams had at least a 3.0 team GPA and nine were at 3.2 or better. During that semester, 51 Flames earned a 4.0 GPA, while 193 were at 3.0 or higher.
Klassy also introduced several beneficial partnerships with various industry leaders. He brought in Brett Ledbetter and What Drives Winning, teamed with Chicago-based 4FRONT on a groundbreaking partnership, entered into an agreement with The Aspire Group to manage ticket sales and service and struck a new five-year accord with adidas, which serves as the official footwear, apparel and accessory brand of the Flames.
Klassy also oversaw the rebranding and launch of the Flames Athletic Fund, which helps to support five major UIC Athletics initiatives: scholarships, nutrition, weight room, training room and student leadership.
The Flames continued to succeed at a high clip during Klassy's second year in Chicago. UIC led all Horizon League schools in the 2018-19 Division I Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings. The Flames accumulated 75 points and outscored the closest competitor in the conference by 28 points to run away with the top spot in the Horizon League.
Outside of the numerous team and individual accomplishments, Klassy secured a $10 million naming rights agreement for Credit Union Arena that included $750,000 for student scholarships. He also led the rebranding of UIC's logos and marks to more closely align the university with the city of Chicago's value and history.
Klassy came to UIC after spending the four years as Senior Associate AD for External Relations at George Washington University in Washington D.C. At GW, he was heavily involved in several key areas, including: development, corporate sponsorships, sports marketing, ticket sales and communications. Klassy developed a rebranding initiative that resulted in unprecedented local and national exposure for the Colonials.
In addition to his responsibilities within the external areas, Klassy managed day-to-day operations of an athletic department that currently features 27 sports. He expanded the department’s resources by nearly 50 percent and saw increases across the board in areas such as: ticketed attendance (52 percent), ticket revenues (63 percent), Buff and Blue Fund membership (62 percent), and both overall (67 percent) and unrestricted giving (120 percent).
In addition to serving as a member of George Washington’s campus committee for a $1 billion capital campaign, Klassy negotiated multiple contracts in several areas of exposure, including: apparel, sponsorship and broadcasting. He led planning meetings for multiple athletic facility projects at GW and also worked closely with the compliance office to organize regular meetings to educate coaches and staff on NCAA rule changes and more.
Prior to working in the nation’s capital, Klassy served at the University of Oregon from 2005-13. He began his stint in Eugene as an Assistant AD, Tickets/Regional Director of Development. In those roles, Klassy oversaw all ticket sales and operations, while also maintaining, developing and cultivating relationships in order to grow athletic giving.
In 2007 Klassy was promoted to the role of Assistant AD for Development. As a member of the Duck Leadership Team, he maintained oversight of the Duck Athletic Fund, ticket office and sales departments. He managed the sales of suites at Autzen Stadium for football games and instituted the first-ever outbound sales staff with a focus on ticket sales for men’s and women’s basketball and baseball.
In Klassy’s final three years at Oregon, he fundraised gifts that totaled over $11 million. Overall, he was an integral part of the team that brought in more than $140 million for the Oregon Athletics Legacy Fund.
Before making the move to the West Coast, Klassy was the assistant director of ticket operations at the University of Alabama. Among other duties, he was responsible for supervising daily operations in the ticket office for the Crimson Tide. He also served as a liaison to the marketing department in order to develop game-day experiences and promotional events.
From 2000-01, Klassy was the Director of Ticket Operations at Tulane University in New Orleans, La. There he managed an upgrade and conversion of the department’s ticketing system, while also working closely with the business office on revenue projections, controls and budgets. Klassy also spent one year as the Assistant Box Office Manager for the Louisiana Superdome and New Orleans Arena from 1999-2000. He hired, trained and supervised all box office employees and created a manifest for the New Orleans Arena that opened in 1999.
Klassy’s career in collegiate athletics began as a student at the University of Wisconsin. He worked as an athletics intern and ticket service representative from 1995 to 1999. He co-managed re-seating of basketball and hockey season ticket holders to the new Kohl Center, provided complete reports of reconciliation for athletic and special events, and operated complimentary ticket sign-up and distribution in accordance with Big Ten and NCAA regulations.
A native of New Glarus, Wis., Klassy graduated from Wisconsin in 1998 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication arts with an emphasis on public address. He is married to Lindsay Klassy and the couple has a son, Brody.