UGA Athletic Director Hot Board

Now that athletic director Greg McGarity has announced he will retire on Dec. 31, who will replace him?

In a press release to reporters, UGA president Jere Morehead announced that he has established an 11-person advisory board that will help him identify the Bulldogs’ next AD. “We have some highly qualified administrators at UGA who are ready and able to take on this role,” said Morehead, “and the advisory committee knows that to be true. However, the committee also will be free to consider sitting athletic directors at other major universities who have significant experience managing college athletic programs. I have asked the committee to move with deliberate speed to ensure a successor is in place and ready to lead in the near future.”

Senior Deputy Director of Athletics Josh Brooks will serve as the interim AD until a new athletic director is chosen.

Morehead stated in the release that the role of the athletic director at a major university has evolved substantially in recent years.

“Hiring outstanding coaches—while important—is just one part of the role today,” Morehead said. “In this day and age, an AD at a place like UGA must be able to negotiate media rights and complex contracts; raise private support; finance and lead major capital projects; promote the health, wellness, and academic success of our student-athletes; and work closely with the NCAA and SEC on a variety of difficult issues, such as name, image, and likeness.

“These responsibilities require someone with a broad skill set and background to effectively partner with me in continuing to advance our athletic program.”

• Rob Mullens, University of Oregon: The 50-year-old Mullens is currently in his 10th year as athletic director at Oregon and boasts a wide-range of success.

Football fans probably remember him serving as the Chair of the College Football Playoff Committee in 2018-2019.

Under his leadership, Oregon student-athletes have produced one of the most successful eras of broad-based excellence in UO history, winning 17 national championships and recording all-time best finishes for the Ducks in the NACDA Directors’ Cup of ninth place in 2016-17 and 10th place in 2015-16. This marked the only two top 10 finishes in Oregon history and a record point total in 2016-17. The Ducks finished in the top 25 nationally in a school-record seven consecutive years from 2012-18, and have been a top 30 school in each of Mullens’ first nine years in his role.

Word is that Mullens would like to get back South.

Prior to working at Oregon, Mullens worked at Kentucky, where he served as deputy director of athletics and managed day-to-day operations for Kentucky’s 22-sport athletics department.

• David Benedict, UConn: Benedict has served as the athletic director at UConn since March of 2016. During his time with the Huskies, Benedict has helped orchestrate one of the most important decisions in UConn athletic history over the past year, finalizing UConn’s move to the BIG EAST Conference, which has been nationally heralded as a change that will provide a dramatic boost to UConn athletics. The complicated details of the move included Benedict’s bold decision to have the UConn football team play as an FBS independent.

Before the pandemic put a stop to sports in the early spring, UConn had enjoyed a solid year under Benedict’s leadership in 2019-20, led by a resurgence by the men’s basketball team, which enjoyed its first winning season in four years, and was on a five-game winning streak heading into the conference tournament when the season ended. Women’s basketball was likewise on a roll, compiling 29 wins and a seventh straight American Athletic Conference championship.

Prior to UConn, Benedict served as the Chief Operating Officer for the athletics department at Auburn University for two years. Benedict is a highly-experienced athletic administrator who served as the Deputy Athletic Director at Minnesota (2012-14) and in leadership positions at Virginia Commonwealth (2010-12), Long Beach State (2007-10), and Arizona State (1996-2006).

Described as a “free thinker” and open to new ideas, Benedict directed all the day-to-day operations of the Auburn athletic department, with particular emphasis in operational planning, resource allocation, budget development, and strong financial management. He led the department in developing strategic long-range plans for a $120-plus million budget, facilities, staffing, and accomplishing strategic goals.

He coordinated a five-year strategic plan for Auburn athletics, which featured initiatives for strategic priorities and goals. Benedict directed a team of staff members and coaches in creating a facility master plan and the initiation of a game-day master plan.

Benedict also led a feasibility study to make renovations to Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium that initiated a $150-$180 million project. He negotiated a unique nine-year extension with Under Armour that included both product, cash, and $10 million worth of stock.

• Whit Babcock, Virginia Tech: Babcock has served as the AD at Virginia Tech since January of 2014.

At the school, Babcock has made his mark on all facets of the athletics department, from fan engagement to facilities to fundraising and coaching hires. In fact, he received national acclaim for his work as an AD during the 2017-18 academic year, as he was named one of four FBS recipients of the Under Armour AD of the Year. The previous year, Babcock was one of five finalists for the AD of the Year honor handed out by SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily.

The 2017-18 academic year was another successful one for Virginia Tech under Babcock’s leadership, as the Hokies came in 28th in the Learfield Directors Cup competition—VT's best finish ever. The previous best finish was 35th in 2014-15, which marked Babcock’s first full year as the AD.

Like Benedict, Babcock also previously worked at Auburn. According to the official school website, Babcock has displayed an acumen for making great coaching hires during his relatively short tenure in Blacksburg, which has led to much of the Hokies’ recent successes. Justin Fuente earned consensus honors as the ACC Coach of the Year in 2016 after guiding the football team to 10 wins. Buzz Williams has led the men’s basketball program to two NCAA Tournament appearances in four years, and Kenny Brooks has guided the women’s basketball program to back-to-back postseason appearances in his two years.

• Carla Williams, Virginia: A Georgia graduate who played on the Lady Bulldogs basketball team, when news of McGarity’s retirement broke, Williams’ name was one of the first names mentioned by fans wondering who might be in line for the job.

There’s no doubt about Williams’ qualifications.

During her short tenure as UVA’s athletics director, Williams has witnessed a revival of the Cavalier football program and a history-making performance by the men’s basketball team. Under coach Bronco Mendenhall, UVA’s football program has gone from a two-win season in 2016 to winning the ACC’s Coastal Division in 2019 and playing in the ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl

The Virginia men’s basketball team won the program’s first NCAA Championship in 2019, finishing the tournament with a run of three dramatic come-from-behind victories to cap an epic storyline after UVA exited the championship a year earlier as the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed.

In the classroom, UVA student-athletes have set record numbers (496 in 2020) for placement on the ACC Honor Roll, achieved highest grade point average totals in program history, and been recognized by the NCAA for outstanding achievement on academic progress reports. A total of five UVA student-athletes were named their sport’s respective ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2019-20.

Williams’ appointment at Virginia in October of 2017 made her the first female African-American athletics director at a Power Five conference institution. At the time, she was the fifth active female athletics director at that level.

In her role as deputy director of athletics at Georgia, Williams was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the department and its $127 million budget. She served as administrator for the Bulldogs’ football and Lady Bulldogs’ women’s basketball programs and also had supervisory responsibility for academic support services, business operations, compliance, event management, external operations, facilities and new construction, human resources, sports facilitators, sports medicine, strength and conditioning, student services and ticketing. She helped to oversee what was $162 million in facility additions, upgrades, and improvements for the UGA athletics program.

Despite her ties, it's unclear if Williams would want to come back to Athens, as she seems to have found the perfect fit for her career at UVA.

• Josh Brooks, Georgia: If Georgia looks to stay in-house, look no further than Brooks, a Georgia graduate.

Brooks returned to UGA in 2016 after serving as Director of Athletics at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., then working as Deputy Athletics Director at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Prior to his time at Millsaps and ULM, Brooks served at UGA as Director of Football Operations and the Assistant and Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations. Currently at UGA, Brooks oversees Internal Operations & External Operations. Brooks leads the Athletic Department’s planning for facility expansion and construction, including the $65 million improvement to the West End Zone of Stanford Stadium. He also serves as the liaison with the Office of University Architects. Brooks directly oversees the game-day operations for football and continually integrates data and research to help improve the game-day experience. Administratively, Brooks serves as the sports supervisor for football, track and field and cross country.

In his first stint at UGA, Brooks’ responsibilities at UGA included overseeing the departments of facility support, graphics and design and turf management and he served as the sport facilitator for football.

Brooks was in charge of scheduling future games as well as overseeing bowl game operations. In addition, his responsibilities included assisting with the development and management of facilities, new construction projects for the UGAAA, and planning the 2013 Jason Aldean concert in Sanford Stadium. He also served as director of football operations at the University of Louisiana-Monroe beginning in 2004. In 2007, ULM became bowl eligible for the first time in school history after beating Alabama.

Brooks is known for his innovative thinking, accessibility and dedication to improving the fan experience in all venues.

Chris Welton (Former Bulldog who is a sports marketing executive)

Mark Ingram (UAB athletic director)

Arthur Johnson (Georgia graduate, former associate AD at Georgia, who is currently an associate AD at Texas).