GREENSBORO – Arguably the biggest piece of news emanating from Thursday’s second day of the University of Georgia Athletic Association at the Ritz Carlton at Lake Oconee was that athletic director Josh Brooks is receiving a six-year extension and raise.

After going into executive session, Georgia president Jere Morehead announced that his third-year athletic director will not only receive a six-year extension but have his salary bumped to $1,025,000 per year. The package will include a yearly raise of $100,000.

“He’s down to two years remaining on his current contract and all of his peers in the SEC have longer pending contracts,” Morehead said. “I thought it was important to show to Josh our collective confidence in his performance and our desire that he remain the athletic director at the University of Georgia for an extended period of time.”

Brooks still ranks no higher than 10th among SEC public school athletic directors, according to a USA Today Sports salary survey. Tennessee’s Danny White tops the list at $2.31 million.

“I’m extremely grateful. I got into this business 20-plus years ago as a student equipment manager with my first job making $20,000 a year.

I never got into this business to make money; I got into it to help student-athletes and college athletics. Athens, the University of Georgia, has been great to me. I want to spend the rest of my career here,” Brooks said. “I want to retire here. I think it’s a blessing. It’s extremely gratifying to see your hard work be recognized. But again, it’s not about the money; it’s more about the years and the guarantee that I’m going to be here a very long time.”

Brooks’ impact as a fundraiser has also been notable.

Thursday, it was announced that under Brooks, Georgia has reached new fundraising heights, raising a record $97.7 million as of last February’s spring meetings. The previous mark was $86.4 million, which was the previous high, also under Brooks.

Under Brooks, Georgia’s capital campaign goal of $300,000 is one-third of the way from being realized after raising $107.8 million thus far.

Brooks was one of six finalists for national athletic director of the year by the Sports Business Journal. He arrived in Greensboro from New York for the annual UGA Athletic Association board meeting at 2 a.m. Thursday morning.

Hired in January of 2021, Brooks received a salary increase last summer and his pay was due to rise to $940,000 on July 7 and $1.03 million in July 2024.

Brooks will also have incentive bonuses for top 20 or top 10 finishes in the Director’s Cup and other academic achievement ratings.