Edition #1815
October 28, 2026
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The DII Executive Board reelected UT Permian Basin President Sandra Woodley and Walsh President Tim Collins as chair and vice chair, respectively, for one-year terms. Winona State AD Jen Flowers will serve as the next DII Management Council, starting at the end of the 2027 NCAA Convention, with Georgian Court Asst. AD for Compliance & Student Welfare/SWA Kristina Ortiz to serve as vice chair. The council also formally approved close to $4.2M in championship enhancements that will see championship fields in women’s golf, men’s soccer, track & field and men’s wrestling expand, among other improvements. Other council electees…
➤ Presidents Council: D’Youville President Lorrie Clemo and independent member/Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston President/CEO Ed Hjerpe.
➤ Management Council: Cal State Monterey Bay AD Kirby Garry, Daemen AD Traci Murphy, Wisconsin-Parkside Deputy AD/SWA Hayley Treadway, Walsh FAR Jackie Novak, Lee AD John Maupin, Missouri Southern AD Rob Mallory, Adams State AD Katelyn Smith, Dominican (NY) FAR Jim Crawley, Findlay VP for Student Affairs and Athletics/SWA Brandi Laurita and Rogers State AD Chris Ratcliff. (link)
NCAA President Charlie Baker appeared on The Hoops HQ Show with Seth Davis and Andy Katz to discuss legal battles over the five-in-five eligibility rule, upcoming TV negotiations and more. Key takeaways…
➤ Preparing early for upcoming media rights negotiations: “The big thing we need to do with respect to both the ESPN deal and the Skydance deal … is we need to start thinking about that now, because there are all kinds of deals that are coming up over the course of the next five years or so that involve all sorts of sports. The world associated with this is way bigger than it was when this thing was originally negotiated. ... I think you can expect us to probably put together a working group to start talking about how this should work certainly in the next 12 months, even though it's very far away.”
➤ Drawing audiences to Olympic championships and projecting record volleyball sales: “We had better attendance and better viewership across just about everything in the championship portfolio we've got, and not just in Division I, also in Division II and Division III. I think our fan database is helping with that. ... Our open rate on our emails to people about whether they'd be interested in buying tickets to one of our championships is 55%. That's pretty much unheard of. ... We've sold an extraordinary number of seats already for the volleyball championship, which is in San Antonio. … I think we're probably going to sell more than 30K tickets a night for that Final Four.”
➤ On the June timing of the age-based eligibility policy and subsequent lawsuits: “If you waited until now, there's no doubt in anybody's mind that we would've been sued long before now by people looking for an extra year, simply because the whole idea of an age-based eligibility system with five years of hard eligibility was going to get challenged in the court anyway. ... This idea that there was some magic time at which the membership should have made a decision to move forward on this, I think they probably did the right thing, which is they said, ‘We're probably going to get sued by somebody somewhere anyway for changing the rule. We should probably just make the decision at the point in time in which we decide we actually know what it looks like and how it's going to work and make sure that every class to the extent possible gets what they were promised when they started.’” (link, link)
SBJ’s Ben Fischer takes a look at the growing popularity of women’s flag football, noting the NCAA “will likely vote in January to make it an official championship sport … with the first championship awarded in spring 2028, weeks before the Olympics.” Here’s what you need to know…
➤ NCAA SVP Inclusion, Education and Engagement Felicia Martin confirms that “the demand is real, and you can measure it. It’s being pulled from the high school level, where the participation has grown so much. It’s almost explosive what we’re seeing on the high school level.”
➤ NFL Senior Director of Collegiate Flag Football Development/former Michigan State (DI) AD Alan Haller believes that even larger institutions who are inclined to spend more on tackle football should start flag programs now because “it grows your football ecosystem. It grows your football engagement on campus. This investment can help your tackle football piece and it goes hand in hand.”
➤ Nebraska (DI) AD Troy Dannen believes the Huskers’ flag team will soon be joined by other Power 4 institutions: “Maybe we broke from the gate, but I can tell you just from my conversations with my peers at other Power Four schools, we are not going to be the only one. It’s just a matter of whether it’s a year or two … but this is on a lot of radars right now.” (link)
The YES HBCU Football Classic on November 7 and YES HBCU Basketball Classic scheduled for December 3-5 have been cancelled. “The difficult decision follows months of extensive planning, collaboration, and discussions with Bahamian government representatives regarding the financial support necessary to successfully host the two collegiate sporting events.” The football game between Kentucky State and Morehouse will move to KYSU. (link)
People & Places…
➤ Northwest Nazarene elevates Athletics Office Manager Jen Felvus to Assoc. AD for External Relations. (link)
➤ Chowan promotes Interim Compliance Director Scott Parker to Asst. AD of Compliance. (link)
➤ NACDA names Summit Racing Equipment Search and Discovery Engineer Eddie Mitchell as VP, effective November 9. Mitchell will be working primarily in the database, membership and event registration space, eventually replacing 31-year NACDA veteran Brian Horning, who announced plans to retire following the convention in June. (link)
UT Permian Basin partners with Podium X to provide student-athletes with career development and personal marketing tools. (link)
Coaches Corner…
➤ Oklahoma Christian Men’s Golf HC will chair this year’s DII Men’s Golf Committee. (link)
➤ Sonoma State selects former Regis Women’s Basketball HC Molly Marrin as its new HC to lead the upstart Seawolves program. (link)
➤ West Texas A&M has placed Women’s Volleyball HC Terry Gamble on administrative leave. (link)
Regular youth sports participation reached a 12-year high of nearly 41% in 2025, propelled by post-pandemic surges in tennis and golf alongside continued flag football growth, per data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association and the Aspen Institute's Project Play initiative. From 2019 to 2025, core tennis participation rose 72% among kids ages 6-12 and 46% for ages 13-17, while core golf play increased 33% [ages 6-12] and 36% [ages 13-17]. On the other end, core participation among 13-17-year-olds fell 41.7% in wrestling, 39.3% in team swimming, 23.6% in track & field and 22.7% in lacrosse. Data shows retention challenges for soccer and baseball, with participation for both peaking at six years old and following a consistent downward trend as kids age, citing early sport specialization. Rising costs widened the household economic divide with those boasting higher average household wealth statistically more capable of absorbing rising youth sports expenses, even amid economic downturns or cuts to public sports programming. Core participation for children ages 6-12 in households earning $25K or less dropped by 7% in 2025, expanding the participation gap between high- and low-income tiers to 24.8 percentage points, up from 14.5 percentage points in 2022. Full report. (link)
Fort Hays State is reversing course on its decision to close the Sternberg Museum of Natural History after receiving a $1M matching gift from the Bob and Pat Schmidt Foundation and $638K in gifts and commitments. FHSU was set to save $850K in annual expenses by closing the museum. (link)
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(Posted from most recent over the last 30 days)
Director of the Adams/Wyche Center for Academic Success (Frostburg State University / Frostburg, MD): Director of Athletic Academic Center. Responsible for Student-Athlete success, development, and well-being. More details HERE.
Senior Associate Commissioner for Institutional Services (Mid-American Conference / Cleveland, OH): The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is seeking an experienced, collaborative, and strategic leader to serve as Senior Associate Commissioner for Institutional Services. (DI) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Cleveland? Click HERE.
Assistant Director of Sports Medicine/Athletic Trainer (Adams State University / Alamosa, CO): Assistant Director of Sports Medicine/Athletic Trainer. More details HERE.
Assistant Athletic Trainer (Adams State University / Alamosa, CO): Assistant Athletic Trainer at Adams State University. More details HERE.
Executive Associate Athletic Director/Director of Athletic Development (Fairfield University / Fairfield, CT): Seeking a dynamic, accomplished, and highly motivated Executive Associate Athletic Director/Director of Athletic Development to lead its athletic fundraising program. (DI) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Fairfield? Click HERE.
Assistant Athletic Director for Business Operations (Albany State University / Albany, GA): Help shape the future of Golden Rams Athletics by leading financial operations, strengthening fiscal accountability, and supporting the continued growth of our 12 NCAA Division II programs. More details HERE.
Director for Athletic Communications (West Texas A&M University / Canyon, TX): Media/public relations. Record books, releases, previews & feature articles. Maintain Athletics website, historical records & stats. Supervise press box/scorer's table staff. Submit nominations. More details HERE.
Assistant Athletic Trainer (Frostburg State University / Frostburg, MD): Full Time Assistant Athletic Trainer. More details HERE.
Men's Assistant Coach (Swarthmore College / Swarthmore, PA): Swarthmore College Men's Lacrosse is hiring an assistant coach. Duties include recruiting, logistics and on field coaching. Send resume to [email protected] (DIII) More details HERE.
Head Coach – Men’s & Women’s Swimming and Diving (Roberts Wesleyan University / Rochester, NY): Build a competitive NCAA Division II swimming and diving program at Roberts Wesleyan University through strategic recruiting, dynamic coaching, and transformative student-athlete development. More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Rochester? Click HERE.
Internal Operations/Facilities and Event Management Graduate Assistant (Fort Hays State University / Hays, KS): Fort Hays State University seeks a graduate assistant for internal operations and event facility management for the athletic department. More details HERE.
Deputy Athletic Director/Chief Development Officer for Athletics - (ATH00000504) (Southern Methodist University – SMU / Dallas, TX): The Deputy Athletic Director serves as the Chief Development Officer for SMU Athletics, providing strategic leadership for all philanthropic efforts supporting Mustang Athletics. (DI) More details HERE. What would it cost to move to Dallas? Click HERE.
Associate Director of Development - Major Gifts (Purdue University / West Lafayette, IN): Build meaningful relationships, inspire transformational giving, and help shape the future of Purdue Athletics through philanthropy, alumni engagement, and major gifts. (DI) More details HERE.
Associate Athletic Director for Sports Analytics (William & Mary / Williamsburg, VA): The Associate AD for Sports Analytics leads the department's strategy for data, analytics, and artificial intelligence across all 23 varsity sports. (DI) More details HERE.
Director, Governance and Compliance (Mountain West Conference / Las Vegas, NV): The Director, Governance & Compliance will serve the Mountain West Conference and its member institutions supporting the day-to-day aspects of the Conference’s governance and compliance services. (DI) More details HERE.
Assistant Softball Coach (Quincy University / Quincy, IL): Quincy University, an NCAA Division II institution and member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, invites applications for the position of Assistant Softball Coach. More details HERE.
Coordinator of Internal Operations (Kutztown University of Pennsylvania / Kutztown, PA): The Coordinator for Internal Operations, Athletics position is a full-time 10-month position within the Department of Athletics. More details HERE.
Aquatics and Facilities Coordinator (Black Hills State University / Spearfish, SD): This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated professional who enjoys leadership, event operations, facility management, and collaboration in a dynamic collegiate athletics environment. More details HERE.
Deputy Director of Athletics, Title IX Coordinator (California State University – San Marcos / San Marcos, CA): Come join an amazing NCAA DII institution competing in the CCAA conference who values the student-athlete experience, academics, athletics, and the holistic development of our student-athletes. More details HERE. What would it cost to move to San Marcos? Click HERE.
Assistant Vice President, Licensing & Trademarks (University of Houston / Houston, TX): Lead the University of Houston System's licensing & trademarks strategy, protecting institutional brands and driving revenue through high-impact partnerships and innovative licensing programs. (DI) More details HERE.
Faculty | Athletic Training/Kinesiology (University of Mary / Bismarck, ND): The Assistant Professor is responsible for teaching assigned courses, advising students, advising research projects, maintaining/obtaining contemporary expertise, and other duties as assigned. More details HERE.
IPP Strength and Conditioning Program Specialist (University of North Georgia / Dahlonega, GA): This position directs and coordinates the University's strength and conditioning program to support the physical readiness and tactical durability for the Corps of Cadets. More details HERE.