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D1.jobs... New opportunities at Boston College (x2), Northeastern, Pitt, Shorts Travel Management, Towson and Yale, below. One small upgrade for 2023 is the new format of our job listings, which you can find at the bottom of the email. No more endless scrolling. Just another way to help you efficiently stay informed of opportunities in your field of expertise. Click HERE to post your openings for tens of thousands of administrators to see.

D1.dossiers... As noted below, Towson has posted a Deputy AD for External Operations & there’s already a dossier ready to rock for the Tigers for those of you interested in the opening. $249 for an entire year of subscription. Colgate’s dossier is set to be complete soon, with Prairie View A&M & Hawaii up next. (link)

Outgoing Hawaii AD Matlin reflects on his forthcoming retirement: “I love the fact that we play an impact on the state of Hawai‘i, that we make a difference, that we can inspire. Being a part of that… I never planned on being an athletic director, but that’s been the thing that I really like. That our student-athletes go out in the community and make a difference, and our coaches — so many of them, they want to be here and they want to make a difference. I’ll miss that.” Matlin notes he did discuss the possibility of signing an extension but “didn’t want to extend if [he] wasn’t committed to staying.” A UH spokesperson has indicated a timeline to name Matlin’s successor will be determined within the next two weeks, and the goal is to have a new AD in place by the time Matlin retires on June 2. (link)

Yahoo’s Wetzel reports the NCAA is “set to allege numerous violations against Michigan football, including a Level I violation against Jim Harbaugh for failure to cooperate with investigators.” Wetzel notes there are also “potentially four Level II violations for recruiting during a COVID-19 dead period, watching player workouts over a video feed and using analysts to coach practice sessions.” (link); ESPN’s Rittenberg and Schlabach further specify the allegations include the use of a defensive analyst for on-field coaching activities. (link)

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new rule that would prohibit employers from requiring employees to sign noncompete clauses and attempting to enforce them. UCLA/UCSB law professor Salzman tells Sportico’s McCann that noncompetes are particularly problematic in restricting athletes' opportunities: “The two strongest arguments offered for noncompetes are that it protects the ‘investment’ employers make in training employees. Why spend lots of money to train hires if they can quickly jump to competitors who weren’t willing to make similar investments in their workforce? And noncompetes protect employees from jumping to competitors to share trade secrets and firm client lists. These are legitimate concerns for certain industries, particularly those that are tech-based or service-based. But athletes? Noncompetes there are far harder to justify.” The FTC argues noncompete clauses “block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand.” It also believes that in an economy without these clauses, wages would rise by nearly $300B and about 30M Americans would see expanded career opportunities. (link)

It’s Personnel…

+ Utah AD Harlan, San Diego AD McGillis, Air Force AD Pine and Eastern Michigan AD Wetherbee join the 10-member DI Baseball Committee, per D1Baseball’s Rogers. (link); Rogers also notes the NCAA has announced that the home team in every level of the postseason will be the higher seeded team moving forward. (link)

+ CollegeAD has DePaul Assoc. AD for Event Operations & Special Projects Pope exiting the Blue Demons department for a role in the President’s office on campus. Her LinkedIn profile indicates her new role is that of Director of Presidential Protocols & Engagement. (link)

+ CollegeAD also indicates UIC AD Lipitz has added Navy Director of Multimedia Bergman as Assoc. AD for Creative Services & Broadcasting. He is listed as such on the Flames staff directory. (link)

Coaches Wire…

+ Denver Men’s Lacrosse HC Tierney announces he will retire following the 2023 season, which marks his 49th year of coaching. (link)

+ Longtime Oakland Swimming & Diving HC Hovland announces his retirement, effective May 7, after 42 seasons leading the program. (link)

Legal & NCAA Matters…

+ Houston Christian and former Track & Field AC Figueroa face lawsuits from two former Huskies T&F student-athletes who allege that “grooming [by Figueroa] escalated to sexual assault.” The plaintiffs have retained lawyer Buzbee, who represented 24 women in sexual assault lawsuits against former Houston Texans QB Watson. Buzbee’s statement, in part: “Houston Baptist University (now HCU) needs to come clean. Although the University ultimately terminated the alleged perpetrating Head Coach, its so called ‘investigation’ was nothing but a rubber stamp absolving the University of responsibility.” (link)

+ Michigan State FB student-athlete Crump pleaded to misdemeanor charges for his role in the fracas which occurred inside the Michigan Stadium tunnel in October. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Crump’s felony charge was dropped, and his record will be scrubbed if he stays out of trouble while on probation, according to his attorney. (link)

+ Former Kentucky/current Baylor WBB student-athlete Edwards says Wildcats HC Elzy has not signed off on a final waiver that would grant her immediate eligibility for her senior season. In a statement, Edwards explains: “Entering the portal, I knew that I would not be eligible right away because this is my second transfer. The NCAA has other rules in place that could help me see the floor this year with Baylor if I met the requirements and Kentucky would allow me to play. My first requirement was to make sure I was eligible academically by making sure I am continuing progress towards my degree. I didn’t qualify as a grad transfer, but I have been working extremely hard in the classroom and I was able to rally 33 credit hours in the last six months, ending the fall semester with a 3.6 GPA … I was hopeful Kentucky would sign off to let me compete this season, as they have told me before that they hope nothing but the best for me. But instead, they will not sign the waiver.” Kentucky has responded by explaining that “we were asked by Baylor to sign an NCAA No Participation Opportunity form, certifying that Dre’una Edwards would not have had an opportunity to participate if she had stayed at Kentucky. That would not have been correct; Dre’una would have had the opportunity to participate if she had stayed. Dre’una transferred with the understanding that she would have to sit out unless she graduated, which she did not do.” (link)

Tulane is already reaping the benefits of its Cotton Bowl victory, as Fear the Wave Co-Founder Comarda tells Front Office Sports’ Christovich the collective has “more than quadrupled” its war chest since the beginning of the season. Christovich notes the collective had amassed roughly $100K at the start of the campaign, suggesting Green Wave student-athletes now stand to benefit from over $400K. Comarda says Fear the Wave collected 70 donations in November and December alone and notes the windfall from football is also helping to support student-athletes in MBB, WBB and baseball. (link)

Basepath’s software is now powering the backend of at least 16 collectives, which includes tasks like contract facilitation, task tracking, payment processing, 1099 & W-9 fulfillment. Basepath CEO Thomas Jr.: “We’ve done a lot of work managing student-athlete contracts and money out, and it only made sense for us to help these organizations with the money in, as well. We’ve created a brand new membership & subscription management platform that allows our partner organizations to manage their end-to-end value chains within one system.” (link)

Also Noticed…

+ ESPN has released its plans for the College Football Playoff National Championship megacast. The main broadcast will once again be called by longtime booth partners Fowler and Herbstreit with veteran sideline reporters Rowe and McGrath on the sidelines. ESPN2 brings back Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show from the semifinals, ESPNU will air the Command Center broadcast, which includes “a multi-angle presentation with player and team statistics,” and ESPNEWS has the all-Skycam SkyCast feed. The All 22 feed will be available via the ESPN app. (link)

+ McNeese will name its basketball court in honor of former player and NBA hall of famer Dumars. (link)

+ Utah State and UTEP ink a home and home series in 2025 (Logan) and 2028 (El Paso). (link)

Business & Society…

+ Former WWE Chairman/CEO McMahon plans to return to pursue a sale of the company, per the Wall Street Journal. (link)

+ Delta Airlines plans to offer free Wi-Fi starting February 1. (link)

+ Bed Bath & Beyond is preparing to file for bankruptcy within weeks after sales came up short over the holiday season, per the WSJ. (link)

+ OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, is in talks for a sale of existing shares that would value it at $29B, making OpenAI one of the most valuable startups in the U.S. (link)

+ After 11 votes, the U.S. House of Representatives has yet to elect a speaker. As every teenager in America knows, this marks the longest it has taken the House to elect a speaker since the Buchanan administration. The House cannot act on any other legislative business until a Speaker is chosen. (link) 

+ St. Louis Fed President Bullard says interest rates are getting closer to being high enough to bring down inflation, noting that while inflation is still too high, some measures have declined. (link)

Yesterday's Evening Standard...

The DI Council is scheduled to vote on several proposals from the 2022-23 legislative cycle at its meeting Wednesday, including: changing rules for official and unofficial visits, including removing limits for the number of schools at which a recruit can take an official visit (with a limit of one per school, unless there is a coaching change); and adjustments to athletics personnel definitions and limits, including potential increases to coaching limits for baseball, softball and ice hockey. The Council also will consider a proposal that would eliminate test score requirements for immediate eligibility for incoming freshman student-athletes. Another proposal under consideration by the Council would add STUNT to the Emerging Sports for Women program in Division I and establish legislation related to membership, financial aid and playing and practice seasons. (link)

West Virginia AD/NCAA EVP Luck will begin immediately as the executive director of the new ASUN and WAC FB partnership. Luck's role as a consultant will begin as the league is hoping to begin in 2024. (link); Luck: “Together, with WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton and ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart, we are going to build and execute a game plan for success. The NCAA is in a transformational stage and now is a great time to build a new football conference." (link)

Texas parts ways with MBB HC Beard, and Longhorns AD Del Conte says in a statement: “This has been a difficult situation that we've been diligently working through. Today I informed Mr. Beard of our decision to terminate him effective immediately. We thank Coach Rodney Terry for his exemplary leadership both on and off the court at a time when our team needed it most. We are grateful he will remain the acting head coach for the remainder of the season.” (link) UT has also released a statement in response to claims by Beard’s attorney that Del Conte “repeatedly reported to our team that he is certain that Chris Beard did nothing wrong – and is innocent." From UT: “Chris Beard engaged in unacceptable behavior that makes him unfit to serve as head coach of our university. Instead of immediately terminating Mr. Beard, the university exercised thoughtful restraint to allow time for additional material facts to emerge. Mr. Del Conte supported Mr. Beard and the program by supporting this pause before action and by presuming his innocence while the facts unfolded. But that support was not a determination regarding Mr. Beard’s conduct. … Whether or not the District Attorney ultimately charges Mr. Beard is not determinative of whether he engaged in conduct unbecoming of a head coach at our university.” Full statement. (link)

CBS’ Dodd notes that if the College Football Playoff bracket had been expanded to 16 teams this season, four Pac-12 teams would’ve made the cut. Rather than a purely academic exercise, Dodd brings up this point after citing several stakeholders, including outgoing Mountain West Commissioner Thompson, MAC Commissioner Steinbrecher and TCU FB HC Dykes, among others, as advocates for a 16-team CFP. Dodd continues: “One powerful industry expert wondered: How do you create eight unique TV windows without stepping on the NFL or creating another programming conflict? … That expert has thought deeply about the concept. He concluded there is a ‘good chance’ of eventual expansion to 16 teams if the initiative is truly about access.” However, further expansion must take into account player safety, as Dodd points out a 16-team bracket ensures two teams will play 17 games, which is equivalent to a full NFL regular season. “Perhaps a saving grace could be time off between games. The CFP modeled a 12-day break following conference championship weekend for first-round playoff games. Using last month's calendar, the playoff would have begun around Dec. 15. There would then be a 15-17 day break before the quarterfinals begin around New Year's Day.” More from Dodd. (link) 

Georgia AD Brooks and Classic City Collective CEO Hibbs join UGA broadcaster Dantzler to discuss the important role NIL plays for the department. Brooks: “It’s every sport we’re recruiting right now, it’s very important for us to show there’s NIL opportunities here in Athens because that’s one of the things recruits are bringing up in each and every sport. They want to know that if they come to Georgia there will be opportunities here. That’s why it’s so important for us to be able to provide resources and help the collective raise those resources so we can provide opportunities for our current student-athletes.” (link)

Southern Indiana AD Hall and Evansville AD Siegfried tell the Courier & Press’ Kristensen that beyond competition the one thing they find themselves talking to one another about most is NIL. Hall explains: “We’re with two different institutions, but we’re doing similar-type jobs. (Siegfried’s) definitely going to be somebody that (I can say), ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’” Siegfried adds: “We’re in competition. Having said that… where I’m coming from is that Jon Mark’s an AD who actually does care and is willing to work together.” On NIL itself, Hall remarks that it’s “maybe one of the most interesting things because you feel like you want it to have a few more guidelines to help. I know that may sound corny because sometimes people want less. (But) sometimes you’re like, ‘I wish there was a little bit more.’” Siegfried, meanwhile, hopes a federal NIL solution is something incoming NCAA President Baker “jumps in the trenches on pretty early,” adding: “We could all be upon the same rules. At some point, we got to make sure we have rules. … I think, ultimately, we all want rules that everyone is going to abide by.” Moving forward, Hall believes that “we’ll be in a much better space in two months, and I think we’ll be in a much better place in six months. Then, probably within the next year, you’re really comfortable within that space.” (link)

Money Matters…

+ USF has received a $5.1M donation from J.D. Porter and the Porter Family to name its new Indoor Performance Facility as the Porter Family Indoor Performance Facility. The new facility will officially open on January 10. (link)

+ Fordham and Nike have agreed to a new multiyear apparel, footwear and accessories partnership, effective July 1. The deal was established with assistance from Turba Sports. (link)

LSU Executive Deputy AD/COO Zinn talks with WAFB’s Doucet about a number of topics, including the possibility of updating the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Zinn says renovations to both the interior and exterior could be in the works, but the process is still in its early stages. “I think you’ll see a pretty significant overhaul inside, but you’re also going to see some things on the exterior as well. No doubt, you can make the argument that the whole thing needs to have some upgrades to it, and you’ll see that. That’s where [Tigers AD Woodward] is great because he’s a gas pedal, and he knows how to push and get things done. … Right now what we’re doing is trying to work together to identify some of those revenue opportunities so we can be in position to be something forward in the near future to be able to see that through.” Zinn also talks about Tigers gymnast Dunne’s NIL success and says a “lot of the feedback surrounding that was unfair. Look, everybody has an opinion on what they believe is right and/or wrong, but I think when you look at what she’s been able to do from a social media standpoint and how she’s done it, it’s tasteful and not anything I believe should create that much of a concern. So, unfortunate to have that narrative out there, but again, everybody’s entitled to their own opinion.” Full interview. (link)

Leadership Wire…

+ South Carolina names former Missouri Deputy AD for Administration Humes as Senior Assoc. AD for Compliance Services. (link)

+ Michigan FB HC Harbaugh in a statement acknowledges the news surrounding his purported interest in the NFL and reiterates: “As I stated in December, while no one knows what the future holds, I expect that I will be enthusiastically coaching Michigan in 2023. I have spoken with President Santa Ono and Athletic Director Warde Manuel and appreciate their support of me and our program. Our mission as Wolverines continues, and we are preparing for the 2023 season with great passion and enthusiasm.” (link); The Athletic’s Auerbach reports the Michigan football program has been under NCAA investigation and expects to receive a Notice of Allegations by Friday. “Source says it’s relatively minor infractions but investigation also centers on the program’s response.” (link)

+ St. Bonaventure taps Niagara AC George to take over as Women’s Soccer HC. (link)

+ Richmond MBB HC Mooney voices his support for expanding the NCAA Tournament, saying after last night’s victory over George Washington: “With the addition of all the teams (to a 360-member Division I), with how every other NCAA tournament has expanded. … I don’t see why we wouldn’t. I don’t see the drawback.”(link)

The Buffalo Bills share some good news about current safety/former Pittsburgh student-athlete Hamlin, who has shown “remarkable improvement” over the past 24 hours, according to the physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. From the Bills statement: “While still critically ill, he has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact. His lungs continue to heal, and he is making steady progress.” (link); In a further update from UC, Dr. Knight says the workup on the cause of the injury to Hamlin is ongoing. "We do not have definitive answers as to the etiology of the arrest at this time." Hamlin is moving his hands and feet, and the next big step is for him to begin breathing on his own. Dr. Knight says it’s too early to talk about a possible return to football and also says Hamlin is learning about all the love and support that has flooded in over the past several days. Our best wishes remain with Hamlin and his family. (link)

Oklahoma State softball student-athlete Wynne tells SBJ’s Karp that NIL is a “blessing and a curse,” explaining that the male stars have more lucrative opportunities while women student-athletes have “smaller scale” opportunities. Wynne goes on to explain that when viewing NIL deals that support an entire roster, “it’s great, but then when you start to look at some of the disparity on the teams where it’s just the top two highest-performing… I think kudos to the people who have been able to really market themselves and use their name and their image to get $25K deals, but that’s not the case for everybody.” Wynne also remarks that if she could change anything about college athletics, it would be to “figure out a way to instill some protections against student-athletes who go into [the transfer portal] and never find a home again. The transfer portal is large… and you can drown in it if you don’t market yourself or send those emails, get your name out to recruiters to different schools.” (link)

The FTC is proposing a new rule that would ban noncompete clauses. From the commission: “By stopping this practice, the agency estimates that the new proposed rule could increase wages by nearly $300 billion per year and expand career opportunities for about 30 million Americans.” Director of the Office of Policy Planning Wilkins adds: “Research shows that employers’ use of noncompetes to restrict workers’ mobility significantly suppresses workers’ wages—even for those not subject to noncompetes, or subject to noncompetes that are unenforceable under state law. The proposed rule would ensure that employers can’t exploit their outsized bargaining power to limit workers’ opportunities and stifle competition.” The FTC is asking for comments on the proposal and will make any changes based on these comments which are due in the next 60 days. (link, link)

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(NEWEST!) Assistant Athletic Director, Ticket Operations (University of Pittsburgh / Pittsburgh, PA): The University of Pittsburgh is seeking a qualified professional who will serve the Athletic Department in the position of Assistant Athletic Director, Ticket Operations. PI200745820 More details HERE.

(NEW!) Deputy Athletics Director, External Operations - (220000R0) (Towson University / Towson, MD): The Deputy Director of Athletics for External Operations serves as a critical member of the Athletics Leadership Team. More details HERE. There’s already a D1.dossier ready to rock for the Tigers for those of you interested in the opening. (link)

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