Alumnus Armstead attended 2023 Campbell Trophy Summit

On Wednesday, South Dakota linebacker Brock Mogensen was named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, but what does that mean long-term? For alumnus Isaac Armstead, a 2018 semifinalist, it meant the experience of a lifetime.

Armstead and his brother, Will, who also competed for the Coyotes, took part in the fifth annual William V. Campbell Trophy Summit held July 27-29 at Stanford University. The Summit is organized as a tribute to the late Bill Campbell, the former CEO and Chairman of Intuit, to pass along his insights about success, leadership and personal growth. The 2023 event provided all past Campbell Trophy nominees a unique chance to interact and learn from many of the nation’s top entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley CEOs.

The list of speakers and mentors who appeared at the Summit are remarkable:

• Steve Young, Pro Football Hall of Famer; HGGC Co-Founder (BYU)
• Ronnie Lott, Pro Football Hall of Famer; Lott Auto Ventures CEO (USC)
• John Lynch, Pro Football Hall of Famer; San Francisco 49ers General Manager (Stanford)
• Alex Smith, Former NFL quarterback (Utah)
• Brad Smith, Marshall University President (Marshall)
• William H. McRaven, U.S. Navy Four-Star Admiral (Ret.); NFF Vice Chairman (Texas)
• Sam Acho, AWM Capital Director of Human Capital, Innovation and Impact; ESPN Analyst (Texas)
• Mark Flynn, MFW Advisors CEO (Saint John’s (MN))
• Steve Hatchell, National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, President & CEO (Colorado)
• Chris Howard, Arizona State Executive Vice President and COO (Air Force)

That’s just to name a few. 

This was not a Summit you could pay your way into. There was no ticket to buy. It was earned by what these men achieved at their schools, in their communities and on the football field.

“I was amazed,” said Armstead, who currently works at GE Aerospace in Massachusetts. “To be in the presence of three Hall of Famers was surreal. I spent the first 5-10 minutes just taking it all in and was certainly a little starstruck. I was like, ‘I had this man’s trading cards and a jersey growing up. I didn’t even know who he was, I just knew he hit hard!’”

Armstead was one of more than 200 former Campbell Trophy nominees representing 155 colleges and universities from all divisions who attended the Summit. All expenses were paid and each was allowed to bring a guest. It was Armstead’s second trip to California. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, native’s first was when South Dakota played UC Davis his redshirt freshman year in 2015.

“Will and I had a great time touring San Francisco prior to the event,” said Armstead. “The Summit kicked off Thursday night and we had a meet and greet on top of Stanford Stadium and it was a really formal atmosphere. I realized pretty quickly that this was the type of environment that you wanted to be around.

“There were speakers and breakout groups throughout the next two days and it was wild to see the slate of panelists and speakers they had for us. Ronnie Lott, who I idolized growing up, was on a panel of speakers and I was able to ask him questions. He talked about finding your greatness in abundance. ‘Not only am I a great athlete, but I’m smart, I can solve hard problems and I can be funny and personable about it.’ Being an expert and being great in multiple things. That is a strength. That is a power. And I had never put it that way.”

There were lots of correlations, metaphors and football references, Armstrong explained, and plenty of great debate on all the issues of the day – NIL, transfer portal and athletes as employees. Members of the NCAA were present and prepared with a list of questions.

“I’ve been to a lot of conferences, but it was great to be around so many like-minded individuals with a common backgound talk about these issues. We had a spectrum of athletes from high-end, power five football players to Division III who had a collective thought on what college football should look like.”

There was also comradery. He hit it off with former North Dakota State quarterback Ryan Williams, spoke with Nick D’Ambrose, an all-American running back at University of Chicago who is finishing up his residency, and learned about Ivy League’s unique football rules by chatting with Dartmouth alumni.

As for his biggest takeaway, Armstead found relief in knowing that almost every speaker said they struggled transitioning out of football and into their next endeavor. But it was Sam Acho’s words that resonated most.

“He said find your oxygen. Find what energizes you and what you can’t live without. Once you find your oxygen, you’ll be ready to live, ready to breathe and ready to attack.”