Don Oberhelman leaned back in his chair and listed the things he was looking forward to during his retirement: house projects, travel and reading a stack of books “probably 10 feet tall.”
Then Oberhelman, who served as Cal Poly’s athletic director for 15 years took a pause.
“There was this other sobering thought that entered my head,” Oberhelman said.
He realized if he had the same life expectancy as his father, whom he described as “one of the most healthiest and vibrant individuals” he’s been around, Oberhelman would only get to live 15 more years.
“That’s not much time. I want to spend that time with my wife doing the things we love, and that’s going to be reading, traveling, being in our home and seeing our friends,” Oberhelman said. “My father loved his retirement, and I dearly wish he had more years of it.”
Oberhelman announced his retirement on June 9. He will remain in the position until the fall or until his next replacement is hired.
READ MORE: Cal Poly Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman announces retirement
During his time at Cal Poly, the Mustangs have secured 54 team conference championships, the most of any Big West university over that period. Additionally, the graduation rate amongst student-athletes increased from 71% in 2011 to 93% in 2024, according to Cal Poly Athletics, which is one of his produdest accomplishments.
In recent years, Oberhelman has been adjusting the department to the new changes in college athletics, such as the rise of name, image and likeness (NIL) payments along with increased use of the transfer portal. The recently approved House v. NCAA settlement will usher in an age of direct payment to athletes, roster limits and new financial burdens for institutions.
He said, however, college athletics’ vastly changing landscape didn’t affect his decision. Yet, the timing of his decision does bring him “greater peace” by stepping down at the right time.
“I’ve held this baton now for 15 years, and I’ve sprinted as fast as I can. I need to hand it to somebody now who’s fresh, who can now sprint us forward, and take us through this next phase of what Division I athletics is going to look like.”
Don Oberhelman
Across the country, many universities have decided to end sports programs. Loyola Marymount University dropped six sports in January 2024. So far in 2025, Grand Canyon discontinued a successful men’s volleyball program and UTEP cut women’s tennis. St. Francis (PA) is moving its athletics program from Division I to Division III.
Cal Poly fell into the same category when it eliminated its swim and dive program in March 2025. All schools, including Cal Poly, cited budgetary reasons and the House settlement as the reasoning for their moves.
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“It’s going to be the non-revenue Olympic spots that are going to pay the price,” Oberhelman said. “Until we’re able to change the financial structure of what the NCAA is looking like, I don’t see another way for us to do this.”
Following the cuts, the team worked toward reinstatement and put together a fundraising campaign. However, they fell short of the $15 million mark set by the university after raising $9 million.
Oberhelman said 22 sports is too many for the department.
“We were starting to see sports suffer because we have too many mouths to feed,” he said. “It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as an athletic director, but I 100% believe it was the right decision for our university, and we did not go into it lightly.”
He recognizes the pushback he and the athletic department have received.
“We knew exactly what this is going to look like,” Oberhelman said of the criticism he’s received. “But it doesn’t make it a bad decision. It’s going to benefit the rest of our student body and the rest of our student athletes.”
With the elimination of the swim and dive team and the upcoming roster limits, he estimates there will be around 100 fewer student-athletes.
“While that is not a great thing at all, it’s a very good thing for how we fund our program,” Oberhelman said. “It’s going to lead to greater success in our sports.”
Out of college, Oberhelman worked at a bank but didn’t enjoy his job. He had a friend who worked in public relations in the NFL and was recommended to pursue a master’s degree to break into the sports industry.
He then enrolled in graduate school at Florida State to get his master’s in athletic administration. His professor at the time offered him an internship, which he turned down.
That night, Oberhelman thought about the opportunity and changed his mind.
“The next day, when he came to his office, I was sitting outside his door, and he looked at me and said ‘I didn’t think I’d see you again,’” Oberhelman said.
From there, he worked his way up in Division I athletics working at Florida State, Texas A&M, Southern Miss and San Diego State with the ultimate goal of becoming a Division I athletic director.
Oberhelman loves the excitement of working in college sports.
“I love the energy of our hallway,” Oberhelman said. “There’s a reason there’s a hallway just like this in every athletic department in America.”
His office is located in the upstairs hallway of the Mott Athletic Center. The rest of the coaches for all sports can be found on the first or second floor.
“I love having my door open. I love hearing the student-athletes, hearing their banter and them talk about the school and practices,” Oberhleman said. “It keeps you young.”
He enjoys the opportunity to be a mentor and leader and help equip students with the skills to solve problems.
Additionally, he said working with the other coaches has made him better.
“We have some of the best leaders and educators I’ve ever been around,” he said. “ I learned something new from one of them every single day.”
Oberhelman has an education-first approach to athletics, but the same can’t necessarily be said for the rest of Division I. He predicts an incoming split at some point between the biggest schools and conferences and everyone else.
“We’ve lost our North Star, which is educating students,” he said. “Now it’s just about compensating students.”
With the amount of transferring, he’s worried graduation rates will tumble as credits don’t always transfer evenly between colleges.
While not official, it appears Cal Poly is leaning toward opting into the House settlement. The university won’t necessarily engage in direct revenue sharing, at least initially, but the newly established Players’ Trust will enable programs to provide scholarship supplements to athletes, which will exceed the cost of attendance.
The goal under the new rules will be to put as many players as they can on scholarship with no more limits on the amount. Regardless of how the university and the next athletic director tackle these problems, Oberhelman says the next person will need to be “a really good planner and change agent.”
“Change is coming at us so fast,” he said. “It’s got to be somebody who can really work through what that change means and get our organization to be able to adjust to that quickly.”
Oberhelman believes he’s built a strong framework to remain competitive. However, as has been demonstrated in recent years, the NCAA is an ever-evolving entity.
“I would say NCAA Division I athletics has been pretty constant for a very long time, and now all of a sudden it’s just all these changes coming at us,” Oberhelman said. “Everybody thinks now we have our structure. I disagree with that completely. We have our structure for today. We might have our structure for next month, but this isn’t the structure for the next year.”
After 15 years, Oberhelman is undecided about whether he has enough energy to continue leading the department through this next change. He wants to enjoy the precious time at home with his family, as he feels his father didn’t get enough of it.
“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t, but that doubt is enough to tell me I’m doing this at the right time,” he said. “Here’s the thing: I’d do this anyway. The timing of this is based purely on our family financial situation and what we want to do with our lives.”
But once again, Oberhelman paused and tried to find a way to explain what he meant. It isn’t purely a pursuit of more free time. It’s a move also for the betterment of the institution in his mind.
“With everything going on in the landscape, it’s not going to make me second-guess this in a couple of months, wondering if I did the right thing or not,” he said. “I believe I’m doing the right thing for me, but I also think I’m doing the right thing for this university.”
