Before he joined the Detroit Lions’ C-suite, helping steer the team to its first playoff win in 32 years in January 2024, as well as a franchise-best and NFC-leading 15-2 record this season, Mike Disner ’07 was a student at the College. Disner majored in economics, played baseball, and wrote awkward papers as a first-year — all while trying to figure out what was next.
What came next, it turns out, was the NFL.
Disner, who has been the Chief Operating Officer for the Detroit Lions since 2022, credits much of his career trajectory — from interning with the New England Patriots to working with the Arizona Cardinals, and now helping rebuild the Lions into a powerhouse — to the College’s culture and community. One relationship in particular changed everything.
“President [Morton] Schapiro, when he was here, [was] extremely influential,” he said. “I got to know President Schapiro a little bit… He asked me what I wanted to do as a career, and I told him that I wanted to work in sports. Ultimately, he introduced me to Jonathan Kraft [’86], the president of [the] Patriots.”
When Kraft was visiting Williamstown for a Board of Trustees meeting, Disner met him for a 5:30 am breakfast at Pappa Charlies’s. Soon, this turned into an NFL internship. “[I] had a good meeting with him, … he introduced me to the Patriots’ Director of Football Research Richard Miller, and I ended up getting an internship with him after my sophomore year,” Disner said.
“I ended up interning for the Patriots for a couple years, and then getting a full-time job,” Disner noted. “That’s how the career started.”
Despite his later success with the NFL, Disner’s undergraduate career began with a humbling trip to the Writing Center as a first-year student, as he wrote his first paper for an introductory anthropology course. “The tutor asked me if I was a native English speaker,” he laughed. “That kind of put me in line to say, ‘Okay, you’re not in high school anymore’ … And that was probably a catalyst.”
“By the end of my time at Williams, I actually felt like writing was one of the things I had gotten pretty good at,” he said.
During his time at the College, Disner also played baseball, making the NESCAC all-academic team in the spring of 2006 and 2007. “Playing a sport at Williams is unique,” Disner said. “It’s Division III, so it’s not your full-time job, but you’re trying to balance your schoolwork with your sport and the camaraderie with your teammates. I think it’s huge and teaches you time management and [how] to excel in multiple things.”
Now, after helping lead the Lions to a historic season, Disner is channeling the same mindset he developed at the College — one emphasizing growth and improvement. “Every season is unique,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of work in the off season to improve, and that work has just begun … There are some great people here that are rowing in the same direction, and we just hope to continue to build upon the last few years and do something special.”
Now entering his 18th season in the NFL and sixth with the Lions, Disner oversees the team’s football operations and administration, as well as leading the strategy and revenue teams. According to a biography from the Lions, “Disner’s leadership has helped establish a supportive and efficient working relationship between the football and business operations that has led to more creative opportunities to enhance the Lions brand.”
Though his career has taken him far from Wiliamstown, Disner remains closely connected to the College. “My best friends in the world are people I went to school with,” he said. “We all live throughout the country … but we all do a good job of talking and seeing each other once or twice a year, which is great.”
He still pays it forward, making time to speak with students and offering advice to those curious about careers in sports. His message — to current students and his first-year self — is simple: “You’re there for a reason,” he said. “They chose you for a reason, embrace every aspect of it … Work hard, have fun, and create those relationships — the relationships that you make at the school will set you up for future success.”
