Higher Ed Athletics

There have been 245 D1 AD hires at 211 unique institutions since January 2020. The Deputy AD position is by far the most popular immediately prior job with 84 of those hires and another 70 were previous ADs moving to a different chair. In this video I update my thoughts on the remaining 15 D1 AD jobs still available after a handful of hires were made in the back half of September. Bookmark my D1 AD Hiring Trends + TrackerVisit www.HigherEdAthletics.com

There were plenty of clues about institutional alignment in the Rob Higgins hire at USF. I break down why I accurately predicted him getting the job months in advance as a case study in institutional fit and how boards/presidents operate. College athletics is a copycat industry. The Danny White AD tree branches continue with Utah State's hire of Cameron Walker. I explain why more presidents will hire to replicate the UT model than automatically looking at candidates outside the industry.

www.HigherEdAthletics.com

Conversational data catches what numbers alone cannot.

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If you’re ready to move beyond assumptions and make smarter, more confident decisions, visit higheredathletics.com or email me directly at [email protected] fora conversation and to get locked in to the low pilot price.

Maisha Kelly joins Higher Ed Athletics for a conversation about Drexel athletics in a post-House era. We talk about her start as a 6th grade teacher and how she built her career over time in 10 years at Bucknell leading to becoming Drexel's AD. Kelly is working with a new president and she shares how the department put together a 25-page document to help onboard him to the current and future positioning of the Drexel Dragons. I asked Maisha if it's still just as important to win in men's basketball if your team is going to be ripped apart the following year.0:00 Introduction0:20 Teaching Career Before Athletic Administration Career4:35 Comparing Normative Career Patterns of ADs to Maisha's Career9:45 Did 10 Years at One Stop Help or Hurt AD Search?12:00 Keeping in Touch with Other ADs15:40 Assessment Document to Onboard New President23:30 Drexel Athletics Strategy in the Post-House Settlement28:30 Athletic Department Aspirational Peers - Who are Drexel's? How to Study Them?36:25 Do Non-Football D1 Schools Look at Men's Basketball The Same Importance Today?

www.HigherEdAthletics.com

Jason Penry absolutely lights up when you ask him to talk about fundraising.. A seasoned administrator in both athletics and university administration, Penry now spends his time consulting and teaching. He agreed to join me for a deep-dive episode about the topic of fundraising. I asked Penry what he would tell someone that has limited or no experience in fundraising and is on the track to be an AD.

Rutgers president called an audible to land Keli Zinn and Stanford's president recruits their "unicorn candidate" in former Nike CEO John Donahoe. In this episode, I share my thoughts and explain what both searches clearly had in common.

In this episode I break down my thoughts and predictions for every D1 athletic director opening as of July 31st (and about 20 minutes before Stanford chose their AD). This is the best way to force myself to put in the effort to study institutional situations and see how I did after the AD hires are announced. See the timestamps/chapters for the opening(s) you're most curious about. If you know a good search firm that might want me to do this for them, please put me in touch so I can stop making videos about every opening publicly.

• 0:45 - Listing out the 18 AD Openings
• 3:40 - Troy
• 5:28 - Stanford
• 8:22 - Cal
• 10:15 - South Florida
• 12:50 - Delaware
• 14:33 - New Mexico State
• 17:30 - Utah State
• 18:16 - Austin Peay State
• 20:49 - Bucknell
• 21:35 - Cal Poly
• 23:13 - Gardner-Webb
• 24:17 - South Carolina State
• 27:21 - Southern Utah
• 30:29 - CSU Northridge
• 31:40 - New Orleans
• 33:28 - UC San Diego
• 34:30 - UC Riverside
• 36:46 - Oklahoma
• 37:23 - Closing

This is a breakdown of Power, FBS, FCS and I-AAA athletic director hires since 2020 and a closer look at the AD hires since 2024. Since beginning my doctorate program in 2020, I’ve been closely tracking D1 athletic director hires, compiling data and identifying patterns. What started as a research interest has grown into a deeper focus on the AD position itself—and more recently, on the college presidents and chancellors who make the decisions to hire or fire.This post presents a few (but not all) key trends in AD hiring since 2020, marking the first in a series of studies I plan to write about in the weeks ahead. My goal is to provide leaders with insights to benchmark their institutions and help prospective athletic directors help forecast or course correct based on where they want to go next.

Marshall reportedly brought 5 AD candidates to campus last week, including 4 sitting ADs and a P4 executive via CollegeAD. The Rutgers search nears 1 calendar year. Reaction to Ryan Alpert and President Cabrera's press conference. Utah State is bringing in Sandy Barbour and, I think, Huron Consulting. Is this the next popular play call for interim presidents since we have so many recently retired ADs?

The AD Rundown is me sharing the thoughts and notes of what I studied in the last week. This is specifically athletic director news and interviews from various sources.

• Longest Tenure D1 ADs
• Cal Co-AD Model - Brilliant or Indecision?
• Upcoming Stanford AD Decision
• The Gene Smith-Ross Bjork Transition Playbook that UNC and Oklahoma are Deploying
• Danny White: Collective Bargaining Proposal, SBJ AD of the Year, Change Agency
• Georgia Tech Selects UT's Ryan Alpert
• Diana Sabau Leaving Utah State for Deputy Role at Maryland
• 3 Great Interviews: Troy Dannen (CALS), Dan Bartholomae (The Journey), David Harris (Connect)