Today’s guest columnists are professors John Cairney and Rick Burton.
In the last 12 months, something big changed in U.S. college athletics—and not solely because of the long-awaited House settlement.
In fact, nothing short of a seismic shift is taking place at bedrock NCAA institutions.
No, not millionaire college athletes raking in NIL endorsements and leveraging their unrestrained free agency. We’re talking about university presidents hiring sophisticated business experts to wrangle the fundraising that will allow their schools to keep pace in a fast-moving arms race
It was a relative rarity when Notre Dame brought in Jack Swarbrick (a seasoned lawyer and sport industry influencer), Michigan tapped Dave Brandon (former CEO at Dominos) or Syracuse brought back alum and former ESPN executive John Wildhack to run their multimillion-dollar intercollegiate ecosystems.
Those hires came across as outliers in a system where athletic directors worked their way up to the big schools by earning their stripes in D-II, D-III and mid-majors. That model may not work in the Power Four much longer.
Increasingly, universities are reaching beyond traditional pathways and looking to professional sports for roles long held by career college administrators. Jim Smith (ex-Braves and Falcons) at Maryland, Andrew Luck (NFL alum) at Stanford, and Pete Bevacqua (NBC Sports) at Notre Dame show there’s been a clear shift toward professional fluency.
The skills needed to lead in this space are no longer found solely within the NCAA system.
These aren’t just splashy hires. They represent a recalibration of what business leadership looks like in college sport.
Athletic directors have always juggled multiple responsibilities—managing budgets, overseeing compliance, handling delicate media situations, and supporting the development of and graduation rates for NCAA student-athletes.
As of 2024, the demands have shifted.
Today’s AD must lead through complexity. Consider the soundbites: The House lawsuit settlement. Title IX. NIL deals and free agent agreements. Athlete branding. Mental health support. Conference media rights negotiations. Facilities upkeep or new construction. Looming legal battles over revenue sharing.
The job now resembles that of a pro sports CEO—with added layers of de-accelerating academic mission, feverish public scrutiny and government oversight.
It means universities aren’t just hiring managers who might’ve previously coached or run programs at smaller schools. Today’s major players are hiring change agents.
The short version of what every Power Four (plus the plucky Big East) athletic director faces is this: They’ve done it before—at scale, under pressure and in an unsparing spotlight. But here’s the longer version.
Contemporary athletic directors must bring ready-made relationships—with sponsors, broadcasters, leagues and investors. That network is a revenue-generating asset from day one, particularly as universities seek new media partners and corporate sponsorship opportunities.
Managing a $125-300M athletic department isn’t far off from running an MLB team with a dedicated farm system and year-round scouting. The big pro league execs know how to allocate capital, build infrastructure, manage risk, mitigate lawsuits and deliver operational results. They’ve led teams through expansion. Or built stadiums. Negotiated naming rights deals. Or scaled operations for national audiences.
When scandal hits (a common reality in pro and college sports), established reputations are on the line. Veteran administrators have managed player misconduct, labor disputes, agent demands and high-stakes PR battles. That kind of experience is increasingly valuable in college environments dealing with NIL collectives, ongoing lawsuits and shifting public expectations of what college sports represents. The difference, to be fair, is that college athletics often involves more than 20 different teams and cringe-worthy parents trying to protect or advocate for their newly minted heirs.
Pro sport GMs and CEOs are familiar with building high-performing environments for elite athletes commanding significant paychecks. In the pros, league and team executives understand how to lead diverse, competitively driven teams—and how to create alignment around shared goals. They know how to invest in sports science, data and culture to drive sustainable success.
High-level college sport is already professional sport, and that means the new order is about being a content engine and emotional touchpoint. University ADs must tell their stories and position their programs as competitive brands in saturated sports-entertainment markets.
Hiring someone from the NFL, MLB or the PGA isn’t just a choice—it’s a statement. It signals that the university president or chancellor sees athletics as a strategic asset. It tells donors, fans, and recruits: We’re serious about winning—on the field and in the boardroom.
It also makes clear that a diploma (the quaint academic value-add) is no longer the main selling point for recruits. Academic heritage is great (as are landscaped campuses), but as Barrett Strong sang, the new refrain is, “Give me money (that’s what I want). Oh, lots of money (that’s what I want).”
This is more than a hiring trend—it’s a structural shift. The old guard of compliance experts, internal lifers and seasoned NCAA insiders still matter. But they’re now part of a broader leadership mix that must also include dealmakers and visual storytellers.
NIL and the transfer portal (not to mention ongoing litigation) has made college athletics a professional enterprise. The $2.8 billion NCAA antitrust settlement, now finalized, obliterates the line between amateur and pro sport by allowing schools to directly compensate athletes. What was once a sideline is now a battleground for media rights, legal reform and market influence.
Universities understand this shifting of the tectonic plates, and most are adjusting accordingly by recruiting leadership seasoned enough to navigate ambiguity, build enterprise value and balance highly scrutinized performance with mission.
The new athletic directors won’t just manage a collection of intercollegiate teams. They’ll shape an industry’s next era.
John Cairney is head of the University of Queensland’s School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. He also serves as deputy executive director for the Office of 2032 Games Engagement and Director of the Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies. Rick Burton is the David B. Falk Emeritus Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse University, a consultant for XV and Endava as well as co-author of The Rise of Major League Soccer (Lyons Press, 2025).
