With Damon Evans heading to SMU, here's who Maryland could hire as its next AD
The University of Maryland abruptly finds itself without an athletic director, just as the men's and women's basketball teams enter NCAA Tournament play, and days before the transfer portal opens. It's a poor time to lack a leader, sped by Kevin Willard's successful play to push out Damon Evans. Who replaces him?
The University of Maryland abruptly finds itself without an athletic director, just as the men's and women's basketball teams enter NCAA Tournament play, and days before the transfer portal opens. It's a poor time to lack a leader, sped by Kevin Willard's successful play to push out Damon Evans.
"He wanted to stay," a source close to the situation said of Evans.
But he isn't staying. As reported by InsideMDSports, Evans will head to SMU after a decade in College Park.
John Talty of CBSSports wrote:
"A deal has not been finalized, but sources expect Evans to accept the role. He would replace Rick Hart, who helped guide SMU into the Atlantic Coast Conference last year. Evans, who was previously the Georgia athletic director, has been at Maryland since 2014 and has worked as the school's AD since 2018. He was recently named to the College Football Playoff's selection committee.
"SMU recently hired away Jay Hartzell from Texas to be its new president. Hartzell is believed to have made a run at Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte, who brushed away those rumors in February."
So where does that leave Maryland? The situation escalated so quickly that there's been no time for school president Darryll Pines or others in the administration to form a wish list or plan the search for the next AD. Maryland hasn't had the best luck with athletic directors and will need to break that trend. Several names have surfaced on that front.
Other names will likely emerge, but he's a first look at some who've been mentioned.
Dominique Foxworth: There might be no more impressive prospect for the job and I'm hearing he'd be interested if approached. The former Terps star and longtime NFL standout checks a lot of boxes. He's a Maryland alum who loves the school. He's personable and has a ton of polish and experience in front of cameras. He's been the head of the NBA and NFL players associations. And he has a Harvard Business degree.
"He's not a football or basketball guy, he's just a Terps guy," a source said.
Tom McMillen: I'm told McMillen would love to have the job. A Maryland basketball legend and former NBA player and U.S. Congressman, he's had multiple stints on the Board of Regents and has been very active in the NIL space. And he knows school president Pines well.
Sasho Cirovski (Interim): Cirovski, Maryland's legendary men's soccer coach, has decades of institutional knowledge and understands how relationships with Locksley, Willard and Pines, whose son he coached. He's also popular with Maryland's other non-revenue sport coaches. None of the candidates on this list have those sorts of relationships with the key figures involved. It sounds like he'd do it if offered.
Jeff Purinton: Purinton, the AD at Arkansas State, worked with Locksley at Alabama and is widely respected in the business.
Harry Geller (Interim): I don't know if Geller (Q&A here) would be interested, but he's been a lifelong Terp, a high-ranking professor at the business school and a successful entrepreneur. More importantly, he launched Turtle NIL and has been pivotal in the basketball program's NIL operations, so he understands the ins and outs of NIL and revenue-sharing.
Gary Williams (Interim): This might sound crazy, but there's a contingent that would like to see him consider the job on an interim basis. Now 80, he'd need a strong staff to handle a lot of the day-to-day tedium of the job and wouldn't do it for long but could unite the fans until a full-time AD is hired. Longshot, but there are some people pushing for it and I think he'd consider it.
Kirby Mills (Interim): Mills, the fundraiser behind those recent eight-figure donations, is a strong communicator who understands the landscape. But the jump to AD would be a massive one.
Colleen Sorem (Interim): Sorem, Evans' No. 1 lieutenant, probably has seen firsthand more of how the job works than anyone on the list. But there won't be a groundswell of support, and it seems unlikely they'll hire someone so closely affiliated with Evans. A fresh start might be needed.
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