AD Short Lists for Toledo, Kentucky, Oregon State and Wisconsin Openings

To continue demonstrating how I think about AD openings as I work to break Higher Ed Athletics into executive search, here are my short lists for Toledo, Kentucky, Oregon State and Wisconsin.

I try to base these names off reality, contracts, institutional fit, hiring trends and situational needs of the institutions. I do not use sources for these names and no one has influenced me to mention their names. These are not predictions but instead the names I would reach out to and measure their interest if Higher Ed Athletics was leading the search.

By the way, if you’re a search firm reading this or an AD looking to hire a deputy, contact me if you want me to help you with a search. I maintain high-level research on candidates and know how to be confidential (10 years in compliance) and quiet despite hosting a podcast.

Toledo

CollegeAD reports that candidates were being interviewed remotely this past Tuesday and Wednesday before moving on to in-person interviews in Detroit next week. If you’re reading this and you’ve already interviewed, best of luck!

I was surprised when Toledo named senior associate AD Brian Lutz the interim instead of deputy AD/COO Nicole Harris. I get the impression based on the speed of the search and neither Harris or deputy AD/CRO Connor Whelan being named interim, that the next AD of the Rockets will be an outside hire. Before this I was leaning heavily towards Dr. Whelan being a top candidate as he is a former MAC athlete, has the academic credentials to bring credibility to the faculty/administration, and fits the trend we’ve seen of young ADs being hired.

The most likely top candidates I’d reach out to would be Nebraska deputy AD/COO Haven Fields Sr, Cincinnati deputy AD/CRO Anthony Di Fino, and Montana State AD Leon Costello. Fields has a strong background in fundraising earlier in his career and has ties to the MAC from his time at Ball State. Di Fino has helped UC become one of the most innovative schools in the country and has played a large part in its success. Costello has had an impressive decade tenure at Montana State and I just think at some point he will want a challenge at a FBS school to experience something new.

My wildcard candidate to contact would be New Mexico deputy AD/CRO Jalen Dominguez. The connection here is that Toledo’s president came from UNM where he was the provost for several years. It was no secret at UNM that Dominguez has been a huge part in the success the Lobos have had in recent years. The New Mexico native did not get the recent AD jobs at either of his alma maters – UNM or New Mexico State. Parker led the searches at both UNM and NMSU. Perhaps he’s on their radar as a good candidate.

Kentucky

I fully expect Mitch Barnhart to still be involved in advising President Capilouto on the AD hire out of respect for him and his expertise. The names linked to this position from the beginning have never made much sense to me. Since this is being drawn out a bit I don’t think Marc Hill or anyone internally will be selected. If they were I feel like we would have seen a hand-off already. The direction college athletics is going makes this a great opportunity to find new leadership.

The most likely candidates I’d reach out to for this opening would be Auburn executive deputy AD Jared Benko, LSU executive deputy AD Julie Cromer, and Boise State AD Jeramiah Dickey.

Benko is the previous AD at Georgia Southern and spent a decade at multiple SEC schools earlier in his career. Having been in the chair and set fundraising records at Georgia Southern, as well as his expertise in finance and strategic planning at the SEC level, Benko seems like he would be a top contender for President Capilouto to consider.

Cromer is the former AD at Ohio and has previous expertise at Arkansas earlier in her career. The job she thought she was taking at LSU under then-AD Scott Woodward seems much different than what she’s doing now. Is this an opportunity to remediate that situation and lead her own P4 department? She has been heavily involved in governance changes at the NCAA and I think both Barnhart and Capilouto would see that as a positive.

Dickey is in my opinion one of the best ADs in the country. He has experiences at Baylor, Houston and Minnesota prior to Boise State. He has had football success at Boise State and seems to be well-respected by his staff and deeply connected to Broncos supporters. The energy he’d bring to the position would be welcomed by the BBN fan base. The uncertainty surrounding the presidency at Boise State triggers a $250,000 buyout in Dickey’s contract despite signing an extension that lasts through June 2029. The president that hired and extended him left for another university and now the interim president is leaving for another presidency. The uncertainty may be an opportunity for a Kentucky (or Wisconsin – see below) to grab a great sitting AD like Dickey where many are locked into contracts with lucrative buyouts.

My wildcard candidate would be FAU AD Brian White. At what point does he look to leave FAU for a P4 job? He has previous high-level experiences as deputy AD at Mizzou and fundraising roles at both Tulsa and Louisiana Tech. White is under contract through June 2029 and has a buyout north of $600,000, something UK could definitely pay if they want, but I’m not sure he leaves right now.

Oregon State

The Oregon State job will be an interesting one to watch as they will be tasked with stabilizing the department as it heads into the renovated Pac-12. One sitting AD that will be linked to this job is Western Michigan AD Dan Bartholomae because of the success he’s had at WMU and his ties to Oregon State where he was once deputy AD. However, Bartholomae seems happy at Western and he also has a new contract that goes through 2031 and comes with a gigantic buyout number.

If I were tasked with generating a short list for the president and her committee I would look at Minnesota executive deputy AD/COO Dusty Clements, Montana State AD Leon Costello or Oregon deputy AD Valerie Johnson. I think Oregon State would be well-served with any of these three leading them into the new Pac-12.

Clements has been at UM since 2017 and might be ready to run his own department. He is a Wyoming native and former Wyoming staffer, and also came to UM via Boise State so maybe Corvallis would be a good next stop for him at this point in his career. Costello would be for the same reasons I mentioned above. He has had a great decade tenure leading a top FCS program and might be ready for the challenge of a FBS program. Johnson is of interest because of her strong ties to the state. She has been the AD at Willamette (DIII) in Salem and was more recently the Portland State AD for five years.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is going to be an interesting decision. If I were to create a short list it would be heavily influenced by successful sitting ADs and deep roots to the university. The first person I’d reach out to would be Ricky Sandler, founder and CEO of Eminence Capital, a global asset management and investment company. Him and his wife are Wisconsin alums and he has held strong ties and deep commitment to the school of business. He might be the outside hire with deep roots that the board and interim chancellor look at to measure interest in the position. The worst case scenario is he says no but offers up advice on the direction of college athletics and the B1G for them to consider in who they hire.

I do not see Marcus Sedberry as being the permanent AD but he made the most sense to be named interim AD. His background up to this point does not fit the traditional model of the P4 AD or the trending direction of P4 ADs. I also think he will unfairly be tied to the lack of success to football.

In addition to Sandler, my short list would still include Sedberry, Boise State AD Jeramiah Dickey, Cincinnati AD John Cunningham, NIU AD Sean Frazier and current Wisconsin deputy AD/CRO Mitchell Pinta.

Dickey would be a great hire and is likely to be highly sought after by both Wisconsin and Kentucky. Cunningham has had a successful tenure at Cincinnati and has previous deputy-level experience in the B1G at Minnesota. This could be an opportunity to reunite him with football HC Luke Fickell and see if that jumpstarts the program. Cunningham would demand a large buyout that is north of $3 million through June and drops to about $1.5 million in July.

Frazier would be my wildcard pick. Frazier would certainly bring a stable hand to the AD position as the university searches for its next chancellor and system president. He is one of the most vocal ADs in the country and has strong Wisconsin ties with a master’s degree and working as deputy AD under former AD Barry Alvarez before taking the AD job at NIU. Frazier also is not against change and I think he would build out a strong leadership team that would give each sport the attention and focus it needs.

Pinta would be an interesting hire because we haven’t seen the young, first-time AD trend necessarily at the P4 level yet. He is a Wisconsin alum and has been in the department as deputy AD/CRO since February 2022. Pinta spent almost 15 years in the NFL rising in the external/business side of the league and that would definitely be a plus for the evolving role of the AD position in the Big Ten. A Pinta hire would bring a lot of energy to the position and you could build the rest of the senior leadership team around him to fill in any gaps you might see with his age or time outside of college athletics.

This short list wasn’t that short so if I had to pick three names I’d recommend to the interim chancellor it would be Ricky Sandler, Jeramiah Dickey and Mitchell Pinta.

Final Thoughts

I certainly hope I do not offend anyone on the inclusion or exclusion of these lists.

Thank you to HEA sponsor AD Vantage for providing me access to AD contract information that assisted me in this post. Next week I will write about additional AD openings like South Alabama, Old Dominion and Saint Joseph’s. Don’t forget to bookmark my D1 AD Hiring Trends + Tracker as we now have 20 open D1 AD positions.

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