January 9
Directors of Athletics- Stonehill has accepted the resignation of Brendan Sullivan, director of athletics, who has been hired as the associate director of athletics for finance & business at Holy Cross. Sullivan has guided Stonehill athletics through a period of unprecedented success. The Skyhawks have finished in the top three of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents’ Cup, given to signify overall success in all Conference sports, all six years under his direction, enjoying a run of three-straight Presidents’ Cup titles from 2009-10 through the 2011-12 academic year. Sullivan has enjoyed an overall affiliation with Stonehill for 13 years, the last 12 within the athletic department … Joan McDermott has accepted the position of director of athletics at Cal State- East Bay. McDermott has spent the past 20 years at Metro State, serving as head volleyball coach for three seasons before taking over as athletic director in 1998. During her tenure as Athletic Director at Metro State, the intercollegiate athletic program won 71 Rocky Mountain Conference Championships, and her teams have made 114 NCAA postseason appearances in 14 sports. Under her guidance, Metro State claimed two NCAA National Championships each for the men's basketball and women's soccer teams, two NCAA Division II individual champions in men's track, and 196 All-Americans. She has also overseen 16 Academic All-Americans … Greg Seitz has been named as interim athletic director at Jacksonville State. Seitz has been with JSU since 1993, when he began working as assistant sports information director. In 1999, he became sports information director, and then promoted to associate athletic director in 2002. He was then promoted to senior associate athletic director in 2011, and he also handles game day operations for football, basketball and baseball … McNeese State Athletics Director Bruce Hemphill announced that he will begin a medical leave of absence and Associate Athletics Director Bridget Martin will have signatory authority in his absence. Hemphill said he recently was diagnosed with tonsil cancer and he is scheduled to begin receiving treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Martin is in her 10th year as associate athletics director and she also serves as the compliance coordinator and senior women's administrator … After a brief and successful stint leading Crusader Athletics, Bill Rapp announced this week he is stepping down as Northwest Nazarene’s director of athletics. During his time leading Crusader Athletics, NNU student-athletes twice finished second in the GNAC All-Sports Academic race and competitively won GNAC Championships in men's golf (2014) and volleyball (2014). Associate Athletic Director Kelli Lindley will serve as acting director of athletics for NNU … Keli Cunningham, executive senior associate athletic director for West Virginia has been assigned the responsibility of interim director of athletics. For the past year Cunningham has worked closely with Oliver Luck on the day-to-day administration and management of the athletic department as his top senior administrator. The Petersburg, West Virginia, native has had a key role within the athletic department for the past four years since first arriving in 2010 to administer West Virginia University’s compliance operations. Prior to that, Cunningham served as associate athletic director for governance and compliance at Maryland where she oversaw the day-to-day compliance initiatives for a Terp athletic program that sponsored 27 sports and provided support for more than 700 student-athletes per year … Dickinson Director of Athletics Les Poolman has announced his retirement. Arriving at Dickinson in 1988 from a similar position at Mount Holyoke College, Les has served nearly three decades as the head athletics administrator, overseeing the most successful years in Dickinson athletics history. This is evidenced by a pair of national champions in track & field, 48 Centennial Conference championships in 12 different sports, postseason championship play in 18 sports and a national ranking of 41 out of 450 Division III schools in the 2013-14 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, a nine-place improvement from the previous season.
Associate Athletics Directors -- Abilene Christian promoted Cory Driskill from associate director of athletics for operations to senior associate director of athletics. Driskill – who served as the interim director of athletics for a couple of months earlier this fall – will take on oversight of the athletics budget, as well as daily operations and overall management in the absence of the director of athletics. He'll still have a hand in development and fundraising, as well as facility and event management … DePaul has announced that Kathryn Statz has been promoted to senior associate athletics director. Statz is in her 13th year at DePaul after joining the staff in August 2002 as Associate Athletics Director. She is responsible for the administration of DePaul's varsity sports, oversees NCAA compliance, and is responsible for all contractual matters within the athletics department. She is also a liaison to the DePaul Captains' Council and Athletics Board. Statz also manages Big East championships hosted by DePaul … Dusty Clements was named associate athletic director for development at Boise State. Clements joins the Bronco athletic staff after spending the past seven years at Oklahoma. He joined the Oklahoma staff in February of 2007 working in the Sooner Club and was promoted to his current position of assistant athletic director for development in 2011 … Troy Wainwright was promoted to senior associate athletics director of stewardship and alumni relations at Maryland. In his expanded role, Wainwright will oversee the stewardship of all major donors, Terrapin Club Scholarship Fund supporters and current and former student-athletes. Wainwright will also continue to serve as the athletic department’s major gift fundraiser, working with Senior Managing Director for Alumni Relations and Athletic Development Gary Williams on the development of the new Cole Field House.
Assistant Athletics Directors – Abilene Christian promoted Grant Boone from director of broadcast and sales to assistant director of athletics for external operations. Boone has been moved into a new role to keep his broadcast expertise. Aside from continuing to broadcast ACU athletics events, Boone will write a weekly column for acusports.com, promote all ACU social media platforms, serve as the liaison between ACU athletics and the ACU Lettermen's Association, and direct all three ACU fund-raising golf tournaments (Byron Nelson, Homecoming and Don Smith) … Abilene Christian promoted Ray Garvin from director of compliance to assistant director of athletics for compliance. Garvin – in his second year at ACU – will continue to handle all aspects of ACU compliance, working with Barnier in that capacity. Garvin's main responsibilities are to manage the preparation of compliance reports, research and update compliance policies, and other jobs related to compliance and eligibility issues … Bridgeport has announced that Marushka Eddy has joined the Purple Knights' staff as the new assistant athletic director for compliance. Eddy comes to Bridgeport after serving in the compliance office at Merrimack since February of 2011, and she has served as the Warriors' assistant director of compliance since June of 2013 … Vassar hired Mike Callahan as the assistant director of athletics for sports and recreation.
Coaches
Baseball -- South Carolina has approved a two-year contract extension for head baseball coach Chad Holbrook. The contract extension puts Holbrook under contract through the end of the 2019 season. Holbrook is in his third year as head coach of the South Carolina program after directing the Gamecocks in 2014 to a 15th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. His SEC winning percentage of .593 is the highest of any South Carolina coach in the first two seasons of the league and his overall winning percentage of .696 is the second-highest of any South Carolina coach in his first two seasons at the helm of the program … NJCU announced that baseball strength and conditioning coach Justin McGhee and assistant baseball pitching coach Connor Medler will not return for the 2015 season.
Women’s Basketball -- Molly Miller is now the full-time head coach of the Drury Lady Panthers basketball program. The 29-year-old former Lady Panthers standout had her squad off to a 7-2 start at the time of her promotion. Miller, an assistant coach at DU the past two seasons, assumed the interim position last spring after the resignation of coach Steve Huber. She had served as an assistant under former coach Steve Harold during the 2012-13 campaign … Joe Tartamella has received a contract extension through the 2019-20 season. Tartamella, 35, has been an integral part of the St. John's (New York) women's basketball program's resurgence over the last decade. Beginning as a graduate assistant for the 2002-03 campaign, Tartamella has been a part of six NCAA Tournament berths and eight postseason appearances overall. He served as an assistant coach from 2005-08 before being elevated to the position of associate head coach for the 2008-09 season. In his four seasons as the number two coach on the staff, Tartamella's teams never failed to miss the postseason, earning a WNIT berth in 2009 before beginning a stretch of five-straight NCAA Tournament berths the following season. As a head coach, Tartamella has taken the Red Storm to the NCAA tournament in each of his two seasons.
Men’s and women’s Cross Country – St. Edward's (Texas) hired David Chandler as men's and women's cross country coach. The Hilltoppers are adding both cross country teams to begin competing in fall 2015.
Men’s and women’s cross country assistants -- Hofstra has named Ryan Sheridan as the Pride’s new volunteer assistant cross country coach. Sheridan, the former Monroe head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach in 2012-13, comes to Hofstra from Iona where he served as an undergraduate admissions counselor during the 2013-14 academic year. At Iona, he helped recruit, manage and evaluate a prospect pool of over 3000 students for admission.
Football -- Alabama State has named Brian Jenkins head football coach. In five seasons as head coach at Bethune-Cookman (2010-14), Jenkins' Wildcats won more than 76 percent of their games (46-14), winning or tying for four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles, earning three FCS playoff berths and two HBCU national titles. Jenkins began his career as wide receivers coach at Western Kentucky (1994), before coaching both receivers and running backs for five seasons at Eastern Illinois (1995-99). After a one-year stint as running backs coach at Bowling Green (2000), Jenkins coached one season as running backs / special teams coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 2001. Jenkins also worked in the dual role of coaching running backs and special teams at Louisiana-Lafayette for seven seasons (2002-08), and had a one-year stint as receivers coach at Rutgers (2009) prior to being named head coach at Bethune-Cookman … Delaware State announced that the contract of head football coach Kermit Blount will not be renewed for the 2015 season. Blount compiled a 16-29 overall record and a 13-19 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in his four years as head coach of the Hornets. DSU was 2-10 overall and finished 10th in the MEAC with a 2-6 league record this past season … Norfolk State hired Latrell Scott as the Spartans' new head football coach. Scott becomes the 17th head coach in NSU football history. Scott comes to NSU following an outstanding two-year run as head coach at Virginia State. Scott directed the Trojans to a 19-4 record and two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Northern Division regular-season titles in his two seasons in Petersburg. The Trojans never lost to a CIAA team under Scott's direction, going a combined 15-0 … Willie Simmons has been selected as the 32nd head football coach in Prairie View A&M history. Simmons comes to Prairie View A&M after an impressive three-year stint as the offensive coordinator at Alcorn State, which recently won the SWAC and SBN Black College National Championships. Prior to Alcorn State, Simmons spent five seasons at Middle Tennessee State and was a part of history as MTSU had its most successful run during his tenure … Texas A&M-Kingsville hired Daren Wilkinson as the 10th Javelina head football coach. Wilkinson is in his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Colorado State University-Pueblo. Wilkinson joined CSU-Pueblo after nearly four seasons as the quarterbacks coach and assistant recruiting coordinator for NCAA Division I program and his alma mater, Colorado State. Serving under Rams coach Steve Fairchild from 2008-12, he helped lead Colorado State to the New Mexico Bowl championship in 2008 … Named the 2014 Frank Broyles Award winner as the nation's top assistant coach last week; Tom Herman was named the 13th head coach of the Houston football program. Herman has helped develop record-setting and explosive offenses in each of his 10 seasons as an offensive coordinator, including his three seasons in the position of offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Ohio State. Herman, who was named the 2013 Rivals.com Big Ten Recruiter of the Year and national Top 25 recruiter, arrived in Columbus after spending three years as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Iowa State … Bob Stitt has been selected to serve as Montana's 36th head football coach. Stitt has been the head coach at the Colorado School of Mines the past 15 seasons, where he has compiled an overall record of 108-62 and has a conference mark of 83-44. His 2014 Orediggers team went 10-2 and qualified for the NCAA Division II football playoffs … Bo Pelini, was named the football coach at Youngstown State. He becomes the seventh head coach in the program's storied history that features four FCS national championships and seven overall title-game appearances. He has an impressive 21 years of coaching experience with 12 as either a head coach or collegiate coordinator and nine as a defensive assistant in the NFL … Paul Chryst, who served the past three seasons as Pittsburgh's head football coach, has accepted the same position at his alma mater, Wisconsin … Benedict has named James "Mike" White as its new head football coach. White comes to Benedict after serving as the head coach at Albany State for the past 15 years, winning six SIAC championships and advancing to the NCAA Division II playoffs seven times. His record at ASU was 112-51, a 68.7 winning percentage. White has been named the SIAC Coach of the Year five times in his career … Boston College announced that it has extended the contract of football coach Steve Addazio through the 2020 season. Hired in December, 2012, Addazio took over an Eagles program that had suffered back-to-back losing seasons for the first time in 14 years (including a 2-10 mark in 2012). The 2013 Eagles won seven games en route to their first bowl game appearance in three seasons. He oversaw renovations and overhauls to BC's football facilities and implemented new programs and traditions to bond the student-athletes with the student body and fans … Jacques Chapdelaine, Simon Fraser football head coach, is off to pursue other career options, almost a year after taking over the SFU football helm … Western Michigan announced an extension of head football coach P.J. Fleck’s contract through the 2020 season … Albany State announced that ASU football assistant coach Dan Land has been named the interim head coach for the program. Land has served as an assistant coach for Albany State since 2002. During that time, he has coached the defensive backs and has been a part of six SIAC championships and 11 NCAA Division II playoffs appearances. Land has also coached numerous defensive backs who have been named to the SIAC all-conference and NCAA South Regional teams … Tennessee State head coach Rod Reed agreed in principle to a contract extension. Reed led the Tigers to a 6-6 mark in 2014, capping off a run of three straight non-losing seasons – a feat that had not been done at Tennessee State since 1984-86 … Toledo and football coach Matt Campbell have agreed to a contract extension that will run through the 2020 football season. Campbell, in his third full season with the Rockets, has a 25-13 record as head coach. He has led the Rockets to an 8-4 record this season, including a 7-1 mark in Mid-American Conference games. Campbell served three seasons as UT’s offensive coordinator under former head coach Tim Beckman from 2009-11. He was named head coach for the Rockets on Dec. 12, 2011, becoming the 26th head football coach in school history and the youngest head coach in the NCAA Division I FBS at the time by more than three years … Timm Rosenbach was hired as the new football coach at Adams State. Rosenbach, 48, begins his tenure with the Grizzlies after most recently serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UNLV … Terry Sims was named football coach at Bethune-Cookman Sims has spent the previous five years as an assistant coach for the Wildcats, responsible primarily for safeties and special teams. He was also the assistant head coach, handling some of the day-to-day duties of the program. Under his tutelage, the Wildcats secondary has ranked amongst the national top 25 statistically in several categories since 2010 … Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo was named football coach at Colrorado State.
Men’s and women’s golf -- Trevecca Nazarene hired David Head as the director of golf with the Trojans, coaching both men's and women's programs. Head has been serving as the assistant golf coach for the men's and women's programs at his alma mater Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. The former Blue Raider letterman was in his first season as an assistant for the women's program and his third season as an assistant for the men's program.
Men’s Soccer -- Ken Bovell, an assistant coach for MIT for the past two seasons, has been named the head coach of the men’s soccer team … Former Duke associate head coach Billy Lesesne has been named the fifth head coach of the Georgia soccer team. Lesesne comes to UGA following 14 seasons in Durham, North Carolina. He helped lead the 2011 edition of the Blue Devils to the NCAA College Cup and was named the Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year that season …Chattanooga announced Gavin McKinney as the new head coach of the Mocs’ soccer program. A two-time Mid-South Conference coach of the year, McKinney just finished his fifth season as the head of Cumberland’s nationally-ranked program. McKinney had a 71-26-3 (.725) record in five seasons at Cumberland, including three straight trips to the NAIA round of 16 ... McMurry hired veteran coach Chris LeFevre as the university's new men's head soccer coach. LeFevre is the fifth head coach in the history of the War Hawks' men's soccer program. LeFevre brings more than 10 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level with him to Abilene, six of which has been at the NCAA Division III level. He spent five seasons as the head coach at Adrian (2009-13). His team had the school's best-ever finish in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (finishing third in 2010), produced 12 all-conference and three all-region.
Women’s Soccer – Canisius hired Todd Clark as the fifth head coach in Canisius women’s soccer program history. Clark, who has eight years of Division I head coaching experience, comes to Canisius after serving as the head coach at Division II Barton in 2014, where he helped lead the Bulldogs to an 11-5-2 overall mark and a 6-4-1 record in Conference Carolinas play… Akron has named Noreen Herlihy, who has 250 career wins and 19 consecutive winning seasons, as its women's soccer coach. Herlihy joins the Zips after 20 seasons as the head coach at Slippery Rock where she led the program to 19 consecutive winning seasons, which ranks as the eighth-best in Division II history, and 18 seasons with 10 or more wins. With a record of 250-113-30, she is one of just 11 coaches in NCAA Division II history to record at least 250 career wins … Illinois State head coach and Michigan State alumnus Drew Roff has been selected as the new head coach of Purdue women's soccer. Roff led the Redbirds to six Missouri Valley Conference regular-season titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances while serving as the ISU head coach since 2007. He also spent two seasons as the head coach at Indianapolis before moving on to Bloomington-Normal. Roff becomes only the second head coach in the history of Purdue women's soccer.
Women’s Soccer Assistants -- Tobias Bischof was promoted to associate head coach of the Hofstra women's soccer program. Bischof spent the previous four seasons an assistant coach, where he helped the Pride win the 2012 Colonial Athletic Association championship and earn two appearances in the CAA Tournament finals. Since arriving on campus, Hofstra has compiled a 44-30-6 record and has notched a winning season in every campaign.
Softball -- Jim Maier has been named head softball coach at Cal State San Bernardino. Maier spent 2001-13 as head softball coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he led his teams to 12 winning seasons, an average of 35 victories a year for a 460-273-2 overall record (.627). The Toros received seven NCAA tournament berths in his tenure. After stepping down from his previous post following the 2013 season, he returned to St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs, California, where he became the dean of students. He also continued his coaching career and helped the school win the 2014 CIF and state softball championships and was named California's Coach of the Year in his only year at the helm.
Women’s volleyball -- Chris Wells has been named the head volleyball coach at Chadron State. Wells, who served as the interim head coach in 2014, is the 14th coach in the program's history. In 2014, Wells guided the Eagles to a 3-24 record and a 2-16 mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Among the conference victories was a four-set triumph over Western New Mexico, marking the first time CSC had ever defeated the Mustangs … Following a Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship and the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, Director of Volleyball Giovana Melo is receiving a contract extension with Cal State Bakersfield. The extension will add an additional year on the original four-year contract Melo signed when she was named director of volleyball in March of 2014. With the extension Melo is under contract through the 2018 season. Along with serving as head coach of the volleyball team, Melo also has an oversight role over the sand volleyball program which will be entering its third season in the Spring of 2015 … Mallori Gibson has been named head coach of the Cal State Stanislaus women’s volleyball program. Gibson becomes the volleyball program’s fifth head coach. Gibson spent the last four seasons on the Fresno State staff. As the team’s recruiting coordinator, Gibson worked with the Bulldogs’ outside hitters and defensive specialists. Her other duties include scouting, community service, summer camp coordination, travel operations, equipment and academic support …UNC Pembroke announced that Ellen McGill, an eight-year college coaching veteran, has been named the school's ninth volleyball head coach. McGill treked to Pembroke from Trinidad, Colorado, where she has been at the reins of Trinidad State Junior College. She also served a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Western Carolina … Longtime York women’s volleyball coach Sue DuMars is stepping down as head coach effective at the end of the fall semester in 2015. DuMars, who recently completed her 19th year at the helm of the program, has accumulated a school-record 345 wins during her tenure in York.
Staff
Equipment Managers -- Moravian named Josh Baltz, a 2008 Moravian graduate, as its new equipment manager. He will supervise all aspects of athletic equipment operations for the 20 Greyhound athletic teams. Baltz returns to his alma mater after spending the last five years working at Muhlenberg as an assistant baseball coach and an assistant equipment manager.
Conferences
Big South -- The Big South Conference hired Julie Kindinger as assistant director of multimedia. Kindinger joins the Big South in a new position created to increase and enhance the conference’s digital and video presence. She will be responsible for generating expanded content for the Big South Network, including highlight packages and additional video projects. She will also assist with the league’s growing social media efforts. Kindinger comes to the Big South after spending the past four years at Bradley. She served as coordinator of creative production where she handled arena video board productions and athletic video streams … The Big South Conference promoted Sherika Montgomery to assistant commissioner for compliance. Montgomery is in her fifth year with the Big South Conference office and now serves as the league’s Senior Woman Administrator. She previously served the conference as director of compliance & administration and assistant director of compliance, and spent the 2010-11 season as the conference’s administrative/compliance Intern. Montgomery oversees all compliance activities related to NCAA and Big South Conference rules and regulations, including rules education. She is responsible for coordinating the certification of eligibility for member institutions, and manages the conference governance and legislative processes and agendas. Montgomery also serves as the coordinator for the Big South Conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee … The Big South Conference promoted Stephanie Roe to director of administration. Roe is in her second year with the Big South Conference when she joined as administrative assistant. In her new role, she will continue to oversee the financial resources, internal operations and event planning of the Conference, in addition to serving as the sport administrator for volleyball and softball. Roe joined the Big South after a successful career in collegiate coaching at Davidson and executive management with Target Corporation … The Big South Conference promoted Matt VanSandt to director of championships. VanSandt is in his fourth year with the Big South, having served the previous three years as assistant director of marketing. In his new role, VanSandt oversees all aspects of the Big South Conference championships. He is the administrator for men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s indoor/outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s tennis. VanSandt joined the Big South in 2011 … The Big South Conference promoted Fletcher Jones to assistant director of marketing. Jones was elevated to assistant director of marketing after serving as the Big South’s marketing assistant since July. In his role, he is responsible for assisting with the implementation and execution of the Big South’s marketing program. He will serve as the League liaison for the Big South marketing directors and will assist with growing the Conference’s Collegiate Partner Program. In addition, he will handle the marketing and promotion of the annual Big South 5K Road Race. Prior to joining the Big South, Jones spent the 2013-14 academic year with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as a Sports Marketing Assistant.
Deaths -- Wendy Nasmyth, facilities coordinator for intercollegiate athletics at Cal Poly Pomona, passed away on December 25, 2014 … Dr. George Fisher, who was associated with the Austin Peay athletics program from 1946-77 as a star Austin Peay player, standout coach and later as athletics director, died December 20th, 2014. He was 90 years old. Born July 9, 1924, the Greenbrier native came to Austin Peay in the mid-1940s and really never left, being involved with APSU and APSU athletics literally for the rest of his life. How important was Fisher to Austin Peay? He was the first recipient of the Joy Award as the most valuable senior athlete in 1947. Fisher also was selected to succeed the legendary Dave Aaron as basketball coach (1962) and Athletics Director (1972). He was part of the first APSU Athletics Hall of Fame class in 1978 and was inducted into the OVC Hall of Fame in 1988. Fisher was Athletics Director and was instrumental when APSU chose to honor the University's outstanding athletes with the initiation of the Athletics Hall of Fame. Aaron was the only in the Hall of Fame's first year in 1977. A year later Fisher was part of the initial Hall of Fame seven-person class. In 1988, Fisher became only the third APSU inductee-following former APSU President Joe Morgan and Aaron-in the OVC Hall of Fame. After leaving as Athletics Director after the 1977 school year, Fisher remained at the University in the physical education department as an instructor into the 1990s. However, he continued his association with the Athletics Department. He became chairman of APSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993 and served in that capacity until the early 2000s … Dennis Stark, Notre Dame's first swimming and diving coach, a 27-year veteran of that position and a longtime Special Olympics advocate in the community, died December 22, in South Bend. He was 91. Stark founded the men's program, served as the Irish men's swimming and diving coach beginning in 1958 and spent almost three decades in that role until he stepped down in 1985. His teams produced a 27-year record of 167-137 (.549) in dual meets. At the time he joined the Notre Dame staff, the university sponsored only 10 men's varsity sports. He also coached the Irish women's team in the first four seasons of its existence from 1981-85 and compiled a 31-14 record (.689) in dual meets. His final Notre Dame women's squad finished 11-1 and won the 1985 North Star Conference title for the second straight season--and he twice was named league coach of the year (1984 and 1985). His first Irish women's team finished 21st at the 1982 Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women Division III Championships.
