Chad Peters oversees day-to-day operations while helping bring to life the strategic vision of Executive Director of Athletics Robert Coleman. 
 
Peters (B.A. ’06, M.B.A. ’22) is an experienced athletics administrator with nearly 14 years of service in higher education, including the last seven in his current role as a member of the St. Mary’s University Athletics Department’s executive administrative team. There, he has established a proven track record as a servant leader, expert communicator and committed community builder passionate about infusing faith formation through the Catholic and Marianist mission into the holistic student-athlete experience.

As Associate Athletics Director for External Operations, Peters works closely with Coleman to enhance the program's visibility and brand identity, increase revenue through calculated fundraising measures, and build an inclusive, values-driven culture aligned with the University’s mission to create student-athlete development and preparedness for life after sport. In that capacity, he helps develop and refine Athletics policies and procedures to enable broad-based program management that promotes student-athlete success in their athletic, academic and faith formation.
 
He also maintains sport oversight of the Volleyball, Esports, Sports Medicine and Sports Performance programs, in addition to supervising the Communications and Marketing staff.
 
Recently, he worked with the Provost’s Office for SACSCOC reaccreditation and partnered with University Advancement to begin a feasibility study for the Athletics Department’s readiness to begin a comprehensive campaign.
 
This year, he launched the program's most effective crowdfunding campaign, Adopt-a-Rattler, which fundraised nearly $104,000 over four months. The annual venture has generated nearly $200,000 over three years — yielding a 77% revenue growth in Year 2 and 71% in Year 3. In 2023, he also organized a “Battle of the Saints” fundraising challenge against rival St. Edward’s University that raised more than $30,000 in two weeks. In addition, he and Coleman recently began planning a series of sport-specific casino nights that have generated between $15,000-$30,000 per event — highlighted by the first-ever Softball Casino Night that raised $33,000.
 
Peters, who oversees the Rattlers’ licensing agreement with Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), also manages the Buddy Meyer Golf Tournament and oversees donor relations of more than 700 donors from the last fiscal year. In addition, he recently executed a new ticketing pricing strategy and set of procedures that generated more than $40,000 annually and increased revenue by 51%. He also oversees the Rattler Network live streaming of home Athletics events, which raises more than $20,000 annually.
 
Collaborating with Coleman and University administration, Peters helped plan and execute facilities expansion projects, including redesigning the Bill Greehey Arena floor, opening the Spectrum Esports Arena, and renovating the Rattler Refuel Nutrition Center and Rattler Network Production Room.
 
Last year, Peters implemented new budgeting software and processes that controlled spending from the department’s unrestricted budget.
 
He has also built corporate relationships with vital partners in recent years, including OK Tours, LCTV, Raising Cane’s and Pizza Patron. On campus, forging similar relationships has supported events critical to the new and current student experience, such as Midnight Breakfast, Homecoming Week, Fiesta Oyster Bake and Rattler Experience.
 
Peters serves on the Equity Dispute Resolution Panel (EDRP) and Title IX Committee, playing an important role in protecting the campus community from sex-based discrimination, harassment and/or violence. He also joined the Homecoming Court Selection Committee this year, in addition to being recently appointed Vice Chair of the External Operations Committee within the Lone Star Conference.

Locally, Peters has worked closely with non-profit entities such as Eva's Heroes and Urban Soccer Leadership Academy to allow the St. Mary's University campus to shine a light on the surrounding neighborhood. The Eva's Heroes Baseball Clinic, which is hosted at the Rattlers' Dickson Stadium annually, brings the game of baseball to individuals with intellectual special needs. The Urban Soccer Leadership Academy, founded by former San Antonio Mayor Ed Garza, aims to develop servant leaders through the soccer experience. Peters helped secure bringing the educational organization's summer immersion program to St. Mary's University in the summers of 2018 and 2019. He also helped connect the St. Mary's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to the Valero Texas Open, whose Birdies for Charity program allowed SAAC to raise a record $3,000 in the 2018-2019 school year. 
 
In Peters’ six-plus years working under Coleman’s leadership, the Rattlers have expanded the program by strategically adding the sports of STUNT and Esports, adding nearly 100 student-athletes.

During his time at St. Mary's, Peters (B.A. '06) has used his award-winning experience to promote the exceptional work of St. Mary's student-athletes and share the story of an institution where its Marianist values drive its daily pursuit of excellence. In 2023, Peters completed his formation to become a Marianist Educational Associate (MEA), which is defined by the Association of Marianist Universities as a member of the professional community intentionally committed to strengthening, developing, and advancing the Catholic and Marianist mission and identity of Marianist Universities.

Prior to being promoted to his current role, Peters oversaw the department's strategic communications efforts as an award-winning Assistant Athletics Director for Communications. In that role, his forward-thinking, progressive approach helped revolutionize the department's communications standards, developing and implementing strategies that have produced dramatic results in enhancing the program's brand, enlarging its reach online and through social media, generating media coverage, and creating revenue-producing platforms centered on engaging multimedia content. 

Such content helped St. Mary's Athletics consistently land in the Top 25 of the Division II Social Media Index and produce a peak of nearly 1.3 million annual web hits on RattlerAthletics.com. 

In 2015, he was named the Heartland Conference SID of the Year. He also served on numerous committees within the Heartland over the years, including the league’s 20th Anniversary Committee, Championships Committee and Branding Committee. 

Born in Bristol, Tennessee, Peters began his work in athletics as an intern with the Dallas Cowboys’ media wing from 2002-2006, witnessing legendary coach Bill Parcells change the franchise's culture first-hand as Peters worked training camp, the NFL Draft, preseason games and select regular-season games. From there, he continued to work around athletes of all levels — from high school to professional — as he further honed his communications skills as a journalist on the San Antonio Express-News’ sports staff from 2006-2010.

Peters received his Bachelor of Arts in English Communication Arts from St. Mary's in 2006. He later returned to school to receive his Master of Business Administration degree from St. Mary’s, with a concentration in Data Analytics, in 2022.

He is married to the former Ana Lopez, who also graduated from St. Mary's in 2006. They have two children, Austin and Ariana. They are active members of St. Matthew Catholic Church, where Peters serves as Vice President of the St. Matthew CYO. There, he also volunteers as a coach for the sports of basketball, soccer and baseball.