Search to replace Mizzou athletic director must include Black, women candidates
Mizzou is looking to make a splash in its quest for a new athletic director, a field dominated by white men. A nine-person committee will lead the nationwide search. The school will most likely at least entertain the idea of hiring a non-white male to replace outgoing Athletic Director Jim Sterk.
With an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion, the Southeastern Conference strongly encourages member institutions to consider candidates from historically underrepresented minority groups for senior-level athletic leadership roles.
When they do consider diverse candidates, they must let the league know, but no list of those under consideration was available this week.
Will leaders follow the new conference bylaw, designed to help widen the pool of minority and women candidates to lead Power 5 institutions? The high-powered search committee featuring wealthy Mizzou donors will certainly have its say.
A desire to make a splash hire is understandable. But the search for a new leader of the athletics department should not come at the expense of minority or women candidates. University higher-ups are placing their bets on a sitting Power 5 conference AD to replace Sterk, who abruptly retired last week.
Parker Executive Search firm has been hired to aid the nationwide search. Sterk is being paid more than one million dollars to go away. The school and Sterk amicably agreed a change was needed. He will remain at the helm until a replacement is found. His parting gift was a near-$1.5 million separation agreement.
“We’re excited to launch this national search,” MU Chancellor and system President Mun Choi said in a news release. “We’re seeking to hire a proven AD with a track record of visionary leadership, business acumen, fundraising successes, high integrity, effective management skills and a focus on the well-being of our student-athletes. Our new AD must radiate a winning and innovative approach.”
Mizzou’s search could yield a known entity that could command a seven-figure annual salary. The university could reach back in time to pick from former AD Mike Alden’s administrative tree. The school is in a great position to hire the first African American or woman AD in school history.
Whoever takes over for Sterk as the head of Mizzou Athletics is anyone’s guess at this time. Several candidates other than white males exist. Some have Mizzou ties and experience leading a Power 5 athletic department. They include:
▪ Mark Alnutt, the AD at Buffalo University. He is a Kansas City native and Mizzou grad. He should be among the first interviews. Alnutt played football at Mizzou, worked as a senior associate under Alden, one of the more successful athletic administrators in school history, and was a deputy director of athletics at Memphis before taking over Buffalo’s athletic department three years ago.
▪ Northern Illinois AD Sean Frazier is in his ninth year leading the MAC program. Frazier is an avid fundraiser - any candidate must be - and has helped orchestrate the school’s first NIU Athletics Facilities Master Plan since 1991. Frazier is an outsider and longshot but deserved consideration to interview with the Mizzou search committee.
▪ Nicki Moore is a former athlete at Mizzou and current AD at Colgate. She has worked in the athletic department at Oklahoma and was a senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at the University of North Carolina from 2015-18. Her background in counseling and sports psychology is a major plus. Moore was a four-time captain on the track and field and cross country teams while at Mizzou.
▪ Allen Greene is one of the youngest ADs at the Power 5 level and one of the lowest paid. He would make an excellent choice to lead Mizzou Athletics. The 44-year-old is in his third year at Auburn and was AD at Buffalo before that. He is co-chair of the Black AD Alliance with UMKC AD Brandon Martin.
▪ Martin is the ultimate dark horse candidate for the job. He is vice-chancellor and AD at UMKC and is already in the MU system. Some may question if Martin has the experience to lead a football-powered SEC Conference School. But his background suggests he has the chops for the job. He was a deputy and senior associate AD at tradition-rich football institutions USC and Oklahoma respectively before leading the athletic program at Division I Cal State-Northridge. Martin directed the Roos’ logo rebrand and identity makeover. Athletic teams at UMKC are now referred to as Kansas City or KC Roos. Let’s not forget Martin was instrumental in the Roos’ move from the far-flung Western Athletic Conference to a return to the more proximate Summit League.
Representation matters. Mizzou has never had a Black AD. Nor has a woman ever led the department, though more women than ever are playing college sports. Black student-athletes make up the majority of Division I football players. Division I basketball players are overwhelmingly Black. Yet, the leaders of these money-generating athletic departments don’t often reflect the players that drive revenue.
It’s a new day in the SEC with the pending arrival of Oklahoma and Texas. College athletics is changing by the day with athletes being able to profit off their name, likeness and image. Mizzou felt the need for what Choi described as a “bold” and “visionary” new leader for its athletic department.
But will the state’s flagship university hire a Black person or woman to navigate the new landscape in college sports?
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
