Santa Monica College

Thomas "Tom" Briskey serves as the Interim Athletic Director at Santa Monica College, where he leads the SMC Athletic Department with a focus on academic achievement, competitive excellence, whole-student development, and a strong department culture. He is committed to helping SMC Athletics serve as a source of pride, connection, and community for the college, the city of Santa Monica, and the greater Los Angeles area.

 

His leadership philosophy is grounded in the belief that athletics is an extension of education. Across his coaching and administrative work, Briskey emphasizes positive coaching, transformational leadership, strong relationships, and the intentional development of student-athletes as competitors, scholars, teammates, and people. He believes sport should challenge students to pursue excellence while also helping them develop discipline, resilience, leadership, accountability, and a sense of purpose.

 

Briskey brings experience as a former collegiate student-athlete, coach, educator, and athletic administrator. Since joining SMC, he has served in both coaching and administrative roles, including Assistant Athletic Director and coach for water polo and swimming from 2023 to 2026. As Assistant Athletic Director, he supported department operations, student-athlete success, compliance, eligibility, event management, and coach support.

 

A native of Orinda, California, Briskey competed in water polo at UC Berkeley and Pepperdine University. He was recruited to Berkeley for the 2009–2010 season before continuing at Pepperdine from 2010 to 2012, where he completed his collegiate career as an attacker with the Waves. Briskey also trained with the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team from 2008 to 2010 and the U.S. Junior National Team from 2007 to 2009, winning a gold medal at the Pan-American Championships.

 

Briskey entered the college coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Diablo Valley College and later rejoined the Pepperdine men’s water polo program in August 2022 as a volunteer assistant coach. He also served as head coach with Lamorinda Water Polo Club from 2009 to 2015.

 

Briskey earned his bachelor’s degree in advertising from Pepperdine University in 2013 and his master’s degree in coaching and exercise science from Concordia University Irvine in 2022. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Leadership and Organizational Change at Pepperdine University, where his dissertation focuses on athlete identity development in elite sport. His broader research interests include personal values in sport, sport sustainability, and the philosophy of play and games. His academic work informs his approach to athletic leadership, particularly his interest in how sport shapes identity, values, belonging, and long-term growth.

 

As Interim Athletic Director, Briskey hopes to serve SMC Athletics by supporting the coaches and staff who make the department successful, creating meaningful opportunities for student-athletes, and helping build a department that reflects the best of Santa Monica College. He is excited to contribute to a future where SMC Athletics continues to grow as a place of excellence, belonging, and community.