JJ Murray ('21, '24 M.B.A.) showed his Mean Green pride in the development of Callaway Golf's limited edition AI Smoke Tactical Driver.
During his time at UNT, Murray played for the university's men's basketball team, where he was a member of three Conference USA championship teams and and even got to compete in March Madness, helping secure the first-ever NCAA tournament win in the school's history. Now, the engineering major has carried his experiences and lessons learned from basketball over to his career as a development engineer at Callaway Golf.
"Playing basketball really influenced me to pursue a career in sports in some capacity," Murray says. "The camaraderie and being in a team environment to me is unmatched. I wanted to keep those same experiences as a professional in my career after basketball."
Murray may be designing for the green now, but his time at UNT and passion for basketball played a large part in his journey to becoming an engineer for Callaway Golf's Woods team.
"I got my associate degree from Eastfield Junior College while a member of the basketball team," Murray says. "There, I discovered I wanted to pursue my bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. UNT had a reputable mechanical engineering program, plus former men's basketball coach Grant McCasland and current head coach Ross Hodge recruited me to the basketball program, so everything lined up perfectly."
Alongside basketball, his experiences in STEM courses at UNT and previously working retail at the Nike store at NorthPark Center solidified what path he wanted to take for his career. While pursuing his master's degree, he secured an internship at Peterbilt Motors Company and discovered a way to connect his love for sports and engineering.
"During my internship at Peterbilt, I got a call from Callaway Golf about an internship opportunity," Murray says. "I decided it was a good opportunity for me to reconnect my passion for sports and see if I was a good fit. I never thought my career would lead to golf, but I had more interest in engineering for sports products than for heavy duty motor vehicles."
After interning with Callaway Golf for eight months, Murray accepted a role in the company's Operations Leadership Program, which consists of six-month assignments across various departments, to gain exposure to various business functions while preparing for future leadership roles. With the rigorous student-athlete schedule demands that prevented any career internships or co-ops, the program was the perfect way for him to get a better idea of what he wanted to pursue long term.
"As a product engineer, I've been rotating across different functions of the business, and getting a good variety of experience, learning from talented people and leading meaningful projects," Murray says. "It's been very beneficial for me and I'm fortunate for the opportunity from Callaway."
That led to the design of the tactical drivers, which featured a green, smoky design and an AI Smart Face welded onto the driver's body. The clubs, released over Father's Day weekend, sold out within a few hours and received rave reviews.
"Typically, clubs have an even thickness across the face, which doesn't support consistent golf shots at any impact location on the face," says. "The AI Smart Face technology is designed with a variable face thickness across the fact, which helps control ball flight and tightens shot dispersion to give golfers better accuracy on an off-center hit."
As lead product engineer for this "tactical" themed project, Murray found it fitting that his first product would be green, which is symbolic of his time at UNT and which he directly contributes to the position he is in today.
"I sampled and prototyped a lot of different cosmetic finishes," Murray says. "I was able to have my hands and fingerprints on pretty much every part of the development process -- from the decals, manufacturing, component qualification, all the way down to the selection of the matte finish. I took pride in making sure that the green finish really connected with the customers."
Even as he soars to new heights in his engineering career, Murray remains a loyal eagle by giving back the best way he knows how: through basketball.
"We put together a North Texas alumni basketball team that competed in The Basketball Tournament for a million dollars this summer. It's a nationally televised tournament so, at the very least, we get exposure for the university and we get people talking about UNT," Murray says. "Living in California makes it difficult, but I support UNT Athletics as much as I can."
