When an old family friend called Christian Carter in February to ask if that was him who had been featured in Sports Illustrated, the 2016 Seton Hill graduate had to ask for a link to the article to understand what was happening. 

In fact, Carter was featured in an article that highlighted the 20 most influential Black figures in college football among names like former NFL star and Colorado Coach Deion Sanders and Penn State Head Coach James Franklin.

Carter knew a Sports Illustrated reporter was going to feature him in some way in the magazine, but he had no idea it was going to be at that level. 

“It’s nice to be recognized especially when you’re not thinking about that type of stuff and when you’re just trying to do a good job,” Carter said.  “It’s a nice healthy validation to where you feel you’re on the right path and you’re doing the right thing.”

The Sports Illustrated article said “Carter is a young agent for the firm Coaches Inc. and is carving out a name for himself representing players and coaches including Baylor running backs coach AJ Steward, Arizona State receivers coach Ra’Shaad Samples and former college coach Thomas Brown, who interviewed for multiple NFL head coaching jobs while an assistant for the Los Angeles Rams. The college coaching agency landscape is dominated by a small number of firms, but Carter is carving a niche for himself in particular representing Black coaches who are often under-represented with skills that are under-leveraged as many Black assistants, especially on offense, don’t get coveted roles as QB coaches or play calling offensive coordinators that are seen as the most direct pipelines to a head coaching job.”

Carter’s path to carving a niche representing coaches actually began when he was a student at Seton Hill studying Sports Management and playing football. 

Carter’s coaches asked him if he wanted to be a coach someday, but he let them know he wanted to be an agent. One of them set up a meeting with his agent in Lowe Dining Hall, and he eventually landed an internship with an agent who focused on representing college coaches. 

But it would take him a few years to refocus his work in that area.

After graduating from Seton Hill, Carter earned an MBA in 2018 in marketing and entrepreneurship from William & Mary College. 

In his day job, Carter serves as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, which helps companies with analytics, digital solutions, engineering and cybersecurity, serving a range of industries. But over the last few years, he began dipping his toes into the waters of being a sports agent and became a certified contract advisor for the NFL Players Association. 

“I started working with coaches two years ago,” Carter said. “It was a necessary pivot as I hadn’t had a ton of success representing traditional players.”

Through a contact at William & Mary who owned an agency, he had the opportunity to represent a former Seton Hill coach. From that first coach, his client roster has grown to about 30 coaches, including five of his former Seton Hill coaches. 

“Some of the coaches I work with now their next step is the head coach of a place like Penn State or Pitt or their next step is a head coaching job in the NFL,” he said. “Most of that growth has happened in the last 12 to 14 months. I can’t believe how it’s come together.”

“It literally sparked from one conversation at Seton Hill in Lowe Dining Hall,” he added. “Without Seton Hill I wouldn’t be an agent, I wouldn’t be on that (Sports Illustrated) list, and I wouldn’t be successful.”