The Reese’s Senior Bowl is coming off back-to-back sellouts and had more than 100 players selected in the most-recent NFL draft, so Drew Fabianich said he knows he’s not going to be part of any rebuilding job.

The Senior Bowl’s new executive director met with the media for the first time on Thursday, a day after he was officially hired to head up the annual Mobile-based college football all-star game and NFL draft showcase. A long-time NFL scout who has also worked in front-office positions at Auburn and West Virginia in recent years, Fabianich promised to enhance and build upon what he believes to be an already strong foundation.

“The biggest thing I can tell you is I’m going to embrace this city; I’m going to embrace this game,” Fabianich said. “… I’m going to come in with some enthusiasm that you’ll see works. I mean, I roll hard. And I’m going to try to enhance this game, and build this game, and keep this tradition going, and make it even better than it has been.

“This is far from broken. I’m here to improve things. And that’s what I’m going to try to do every single day.”

Fabianich replaces Jim Nagy, who left in February to become general manager at Oklahoma. Like Fabianich, Nagy came from a scouting background, having spent nearly two decades as a talent evaluator for a number of NFL teams prior to taking over the Senior Bowl in 2019.

Fabianich began his career as a high school and college assistant coach, then worked 18 years as a scout for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. He was general manager and director of scouting at Auburn in 2022, and held the same position at West Virginia the last two years.

“Today is an exciting day for the great City of Mobile and the great Senior Bowl,” said Scott Cooper, president of the Mobile Arts & Sports Commission, which owns and operates the Senior Bowl. “The draft starts in Mobile; we have the premier collegiate all-star football game in the country.

“And today marks an exciting new chapter in that proud tradition. We are honored to introduce a leader who brings not only deep experience in football operations and scouting, but a passion for the game and a vision for its future. … His time as a national scout and his networks across collegiate and professional sports gives him a unique perspective, one that will elevate the Senior Bowl’s mission as the premier showcase of NFL talent.”

During his time as a college coach and NFL scout, Fabianich worked for and with such legendary names as Johnny Majors at Tennessee and Bill Parcells in Dallas. Though he’s originally from Colorado and lived in Alabama only a few months during his time at Auburn, he said he and his wife, Heather, are “Southerners by proxy.”

Moreover, Fabianich added, the Senior Bowl executive director position was one he sought out the moment he learned it was open. The game’s reputation within NFL circles speaks for itself, he said.

“I think everybody in the NFL knows why,” Fabianich said. “… This is the premier all-star game in the nation. It always has been and it always will be. So why would I not want to be part of this? … This city embraces this game, and that’s important for me.

“I think my skill set is built for this. And the past that I’ve brought, anything from coaching, from recruiting, from sales, from fundraising — I know it’s all part of this. And I’m quite capable of that.”