KU’s search for a new AD has been mostly quiet. Here are seven potential candidates
From early indications, Kansas chancellor Douglas Girod will be running a tight-lipped search for the school’s next athletic director, while also receiving feedback from an outside firm along with four alumni advisors.
It will be an important hire. Girod likely will seek someone with athletic administration experience, as KU will soon be facing a football coaching search, the resolution of an NCAA case that alleges major violations, a pandemic-related budget crisis that has led to $30 million in lost revenues, and the potential of conference realignment (again) when the Big 12 TV deal expires in four years.
This isn’t a position for the light-stomached ... or for someone who has no familiarity with KU’s situation. While school ties likely would be preferred — especially given that fund-raising will be a major objective in the years ahead — Girod has to balance more than that desire, as the next KU Athletics leader won’t have much time to settle in before being expected to make major decisions.
In the spirit of speculation, here’s a list of some names that could emerge in the upcoming search for Jeff Long’s replacement.
Terry Mohajir, Central Florida athletic director
Mohajir, a Shawnee Mission South graduate, would seemingly be a top candidate if not for the timing.
A former KU football assistant coach and athletic department employee, Mohajir just accepted a new job as Central Florida’s athletic director last month after spending nine years as AD at his alma mater Arkansas State. As part of his new contract, according to the Orlando Sentinel, Mohajir’s buyout would be 55% of the remaining balance his five-year, $4.3 million deal if he left — an amount that would be somewhere around $2.3 million.
Mohajir also seemed to shoot down rumors he’d be interested in KU’s opening during a recent interview with The Sentinel.
“It’s a compliment when people mention your name for anything, but at the end of the day, I’ve been Knighted,” Mohajir told The Sentinel. “I’m excited to be here. Look at my track record. The only thing I’m worried about is getting my family settled down here fast enough to get to work and learn all the nuances.”
In the early 2010s, Mohajir spent 16 months as KU’s senior associate AD and chief marketing officer in charge of the Williams Fund. He was in charge of market strategies for proposed football stadium renovations at KU.
From 1993-96, Mohajir also was a graduate assistant, assistant offensive line coach and game-day special teams coach on Glen Mason’s KU football staff.
Banks Floodman, Sunflower Development Group director of business development
Floodman seems to have a lot of donor momentum and definitely would emphatically check the “ties to KU” box.
Now the director of business development for a Midwest real estate developer, Floodman previously was a linebacker, three-year captain and four-year letter-winner for KU while playing under Mark Mangino from 2002-05. After graduating, the Wichita native also worked 10 years for KU Athletics, serving as the associate AD for development before leading the Williams Fund as senior associate AD for revenue development.
Experience would be the biggest question with Floodman, who has worked with Sunflower Development Group since 2016.
Travis Goff, Northwestern deputy athletic director
Goff’s name has picked up some buzz recently and, as one would expect, he has some past links to Kansas.
A Dodge City native, Goff graduated from KU in 2002 and briefly worked for the school’s athletic department before taking a position at Tulane.
Goff has spent the last nine years as an upper-level decision-maker with Northwestern, while also being named to a pair of prestigious lists. In 2018, he was one of 11 College AD “Next Up” honorees, which goes to administrators who are projected to be ready for their own athletic director jobs. The next year, he also was named to Sports Business Journal’s list of “Power Players in College Sports.”
Jason Booker, Royals’ senior director of corporate sponsorship and broadcast sales
Booker, a KU graduate, has experience with the athletic department after spending seven years as executive director and general manager for Jayhawk IMG Sports Marketing. Booker, who has worked in sports marketing for 24 years, has been with the Royals since 2014. If he doesn’t get KU’s top position, he could be in the running for a top-level associate AD position as well.
Rick Hart, SMU athletic director
Hart was a major candidate last time KU had an athletic director opening, so it’s only natural to include him here again. Hart has been SMU’s AD since 2012, and he’s the rare person on this list without any direct connection to KU.
Missy Conboy, Notre Dame senior deputy athletic director
Conboy, who earned her doctorate from KU’s school of law in 1985, played women’s basketball at Notre Dame from 1978-82 and joined Notre Dame’s staff in 1987. She was Notre Dame’s interim AD for a brief time in 2008 and also has served on a number of committees, including the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.
Hunter Lochmann, Monumental Sports & Entertainment chief marketing officer
This might be a new name to some, but Lochmann — a 1994 KU graduate — has an extensive professional sports marketing background. He’s currently chief marketing officer for an sports entertainment group that owns six teams, which includes the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals. In 2018, Lochmann was named one of Adweek’s “24 Rising Brand Stars” in DC.
