Daron K. Roberts is a former NFL coach and author of, “Call an Audible: Let My Pivot from Harvard Law to NFL Coach Inspire Your Transition” (Greenleaf 2017).
Roberts serves as founding director of the Center for Sports Leadership and Innovation (CSLi) at the University of Texas. He created CSLi in the fall of 2014. The Center is the first university-based institute dedicated to developing leadership and character curricula for high school, collegiate and professional athletes. In January of 2018, the Center received the commitment and financial support of NBA All-Star, Kevin Durant. Roberts is also a lecturer in the Liberal Arts Honors Program and his research focuses on issues of resilience, rejection, failure management and leadership.
He also developed a course – A Gameplan for Winning at Life – that he teaches to incoming freshmen student-athletes at the University of Texas. During the course of each academic year, Roberts teaches nearly 300 students.
After graduating from Harvard Law School (2007), Roberts served coaching stints with the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, West Virginia Mountaineers and Cleveland Browns. He holds a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government from the University of Texas (2001) and an M.P.P. from Harvard’s Kennedy School (2004). Roberts served as Student Body President during his tenure at the University of Texas. Before entering graduate school, Roberts worked as an aide to Senator Joe Lieberman.
In 2010, Daron launched a nonprofit football camp – 4th and 1, Inc. 4th and 1 provides free SAT prep, life skills development and football training to at-risk youth in Michigan, Texas and Florida. The camp has served nearly 500 student-athletes since 2010.
Roberts has been featured in ESPN the Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek and Sports Illustrated and is a contributor to Forbes.com. His articles have appeared in The Dallas Morning News, Fortune, Houston Chronicle, and Time.Roberts is the host of an industry-leading podcast – A Tribe Called Yes (available on iTunes and Stitcher).
Our Plática series is open to the UT community. Please join us this Monday, March 19, 2018 in SAC 1.106 (Student Activity Center), from 5:30-7:30.
