LAWRENCE — As Kansas athletic director Travis Goff went through his opening statement last week, he expressed a gratitude about everything surrounding Nate Lie’s hire as the Jayhawks’ new head women's soccer coach.

Goff thanked his staff for their commitment to soccer, and members of Lie’s new team for showing up to Lie’s introductory press conference. Goff emphasized the diligent work of the search committee, which was chaired by Jason Booker — a deputy athletic director for external affairs and revenue generation. They strove to hire someone who’ll develop and mentor their Kansas athletes, and Goff highlighted an incredible pride for landing where they did.

But it’s the latest hire of a new head coach that’s been made since Goff took over the department in 2021, following the ones for football, women’s golf and baseball. It’s also the latest initiative that has seemingly renewed confidence in the direction of the department, which is also pushing forward with its Gateway District project. And it’s the latest opportunity Goff has had to have a hand in shaping the future of the department that’s so valued at his alma mater.

“When you do get the chance to layer in new perspective, outside perspective, new head coaching leadership, again as I tried to allude to in my comments it’s so important for us to bring people in who are going to add value beyond their sport,” Goff said. “And I think that’s when I looked back on the last two and a half years at the forefront, as of the excitement I have around football, women’s golf or baseball, and now soccer, it’s knowing that those three and soon to be four have made a difference for the department more broadly.”

When Goff talks about making a greater difference, he’s setting the table for a discussion about how those new head coaches have enhanced the culture they’ve joined at KU. He’s setting up to talk about how those coaches have embraced the local community, making it a better place to live and work. He believes in the notion that really good people, who give of themselves and to others, are going to have the highest likelihood of success.

Lance Leipold (football), Lindsay Kuhle (women’s golf), Dan Fitzgerald (baseball) and Lie all also joined a department with established head coaches who’ve been around for years. Goff mentioned women’s volleyball’s Ray Bechard, men’s basketball’s Bill Self and track and field/cross country’s Stanley Redwine, while leaving the door open to the possibility he could talk about more. Goff highlighted how the group has embraced the evolution of college athletics, and noted it is one of the many reasons they’ve been able to enjoy the success they have.

Lie’s opportunity to join that group came from a process Goff said was very similar, if not precisely the same, as to how they ran the football, women’s golf and baseball searches. The first move was to look inward, and discern if they are doing everything they can to demonstrate their commitment to a championship level soccer program. The answers to those questions included yes a number of times, and some chances for growth, and in Lie they found someone who is aligned with the vision for the future and appreciative of Goff’s leadership.

“The takeaway was, we’ve got a great foundation, we’ve got some really exciting assets and attributes that not every soccer program in the country has, and we are more committed than ever to championship level soccer at Kansas,” Goff said. “Our estimation — there’s just no reason why this wouldn’t be one of the top programs in the country, but rest assured that starts with me, our entire department. And bringing Nate here really feels like kind of the icing on the cake to ensuring that’s exactly the pathway that we head down.”

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas AD Travis Goff continues to shape the future of KU Athletics