Jim

Inskeep bleeds blue and gold

Helmets clash together in a tackle. Feet spring off the block and into the water. A
goalie dives to block a shot. Whistles blow. Crowds roar. Sweat glistens under the stadium
lights.
For most, this is reminiscent of their high school athletics experience. For Jim
Inskeep, this is his life story.
Inskeep spent a majority of his 41 years at high school athletic events. His father
was the athletic director at North Central High School for 23 years. Inskeep said he
remembers spending most Friday nights following North Central athletics, even though he
grew up and attended school in Carmel.
That was what really got me to the point where I really knew what I wanted to do,
Inskeep said. I wanted to be an athletic director.
And that is what Inskeep did. He has been Carmel High Schools athletic director for
the past 15 years.
His fathers career, coupled with the rest of his extended familys career choices in
education and athletics, foreshadowed Inskeeps future to a T.
He remembers Thanksgiving meals. Four athletic directors, three head football
coaches and numerous assistant coaches sat around the table sharing a meal, DNA and a
love for athletics.
Inskeep is the youngest of three brothers. His oldest brother, Bruce Inskeep, said he
knew his brother was going to follow in his fathers footsteps. He recalls Inskeep building
intricate, miniature stadiums out of shoeboxes and keeping detailed statistics of a football
video game he would play on his Nintendo.


Bruce Inskeep said his brother is almost a carbon copy of their father.
There are times when I come back to Carmel, and Jim is setting up for an event
where, literally, the hair will stand up on the back of my neck because Jim will say or do
something that is like my father reincarnated, he said.
He is absolutely dedicated to that job. He loves it, he lives it and I think the program
record speaks for itself.
In the past 15 years, Carmel athletics have won more than 60 state titles.
Jen Marlow, science teacher at Carmel high school, was on the interview committee
that hired Inskeep as athletic director. The next year, he hired her to be the girls high
school basketball coach.
He bleeds blue and gold, Marlow said. I think he has brought the passion for
Carmel and the passion for athletics together to be a really effective athletic director. He
never settles. Hes never happy with just being the best, he wants to be better than the
best.
Andrea Dixon, Inskeeps assistant, was one of his classmates at Carmel. She said she
was not surprised when he became Carmels athletic director.
It was what he was meant to do, she said. He loves Carmel through and through.
Inskeep was class president at Carmel High School. Dixon said Inskeep was a great
fit because of the way he got along with teachers and the student body.
Everybody loved him, she said. Everybody loves Jimmy. Hes super witty, super
funny. He energizes people. He was just that person. Doesnt know a stranger, and makes
you feel welcomed.


After graduating from high school, Inskeep studied education at Purdue University.
He taught sixth grade English in Carmel right out of college.
Thats definitely not what I thought was going to be my career path, Inskeep said.
I think they felt like I read at the sixth grade level so that was probably a good fit for me. I
had a lot of fun with it.
Inskeep coached various teams, worked scoreboards at high school events and did
anything else he could to immerse himself in Carmel athletics while he taught. Less than
four years later, the athletic director position at the high school became available.
Since then, its kind of been a lifestyle, Inskeep said. If you like popcorn, dont
mind having all of your Friday and Saturday nights taken up and working 60 to 70 hours a
week, then this is the job for you. I think its a fun job, it really is.
Bruce Inskeep said a lot of people thought his brother was too young to be an
athletic director for such a large program.
I tell people that Jim couldve been athletic director at 13 years old, let alone 23
years old, he said. He just has an inherent knowledge of how to do that job. I think that
year that he became the athletic director was a defining moment for him.
Bruce Inskeep said another defining moment that characterizes his brother
happened when they were young and visiting Disney World. He said most kids favorite
rides are ones like Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain, but not young Jim Inskeep. He
loved a ride where you sit in a chair and are asked survey questions.
One of the funniest moments for me, not for him, was when the survey experience
was closed, and he literally went into a meltdown, Bruce Inskeep said. Theres Jim
absolutely deprived of his Epcot survey experience.


The Inskeeps nearly annual trip to Disney was a huge part of the three brothers
childhood, Bruce Inskeep said. Jim Inskeep said he wants to be a Disney Jungle Cruise tour
guide when he retires.
Jim could probably do it now, Bruce Inskeep said. And he probably wouldnt need
the script to do it verbatim.
Inskeep values time with his family and athletics. He has three sons, ages 10, 12 and
13. Inskeep stays busy coaching their athletic teams.
When his boys grow up, Inskeep said he potentially would look for other athletic
opportunities in Indianapolis or elsewhere.
Im excited, he said. I still have a lot of energy and things I want to do.