Clay Pfeifler joined CSA Search & Consulting as Director of Operations in 2018 and has directed all analytics and research efforts for CSA while supporting operations and managing CSA’s candidate database. Since joining CSA, he has supported over 120 executive searches and more than 30 different consulting projects. In Spring 2024, he took on an expanded role as Senior Consultant supporting CSA Sports’ Search & Consulting practices and in the fall of 2026 was promoted to Senior Director, Athletics.
Recent search and consulting projects Clay supported include:
- Sport sponsorship study at University of Michigan
- Head Football Coach at Tennessee Tech University
- Strategic planning and gap analysis at George Mason University
- Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Cornell University
- Strategic planning at Clemson University’s IPTAY.
In 2021 Clay took on a leadership role for the then-startup Collegiate Sports Connect while continuing to support operations for CSA. He helps guide the vision, strategy and operations for the growing tech platform, which is reinventing the way college athletics departments identify and recruit administrative talent.
Prior Experience
Before joining CSA, he served as an administrative graduate assistant supporting the Athletics senior staff at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also previously worked in a research and analytics role at IMG Academy and is passionate about using data to help athletic departments make better decisions.
Education
In addition to his Master of Arts in Sport Administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and an MBA from Florida State University, where he worked with the Women’s Tennis program.
Personal
Native Floridians, Clay and his wife, Hannah, now reside in Denver, CO with their son, Banks.