Green Wave set to add to athletic department
June 24, 2008
Green Wave set to add to athletic department- NOLA.com
Alumnus Macneill to be associate AD
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
By Nakia HoganThe Tulane athletic department continues to take shape as Athletic Director Rick Dickson is expected to announce today the hiring of Brandon Macneill as the school’s executive associate athletic director.
Macneill, a Tulane graduate who is currently an assistant AD at Kansas, will serve as Tulane’s No. 2 athletic administrator, a position Dickson said will be needed as Dickson embarks on a massive $65 million fund-raising campaign.
“I could not be more excited to come back to this great university with my family to be a part of the athletic department,” said Macneill, whose first day of work at Tulane will be July 11. “I have tremendous respect for Rick Dickson and am very appreciative of this opportunity. I look forward to furthering the mission of Tulane athletics and will work tirelessly to do my part to put our student-athletes and coaches in a position to be successful in both the classroom and on the fields of play.”
While Macneill, 37, is familiar with the landscape of Green Wave athletics, having graduated from Tulane in 1993, Dickson said he selected Macneill because of his vast experience in helping run several different athletic departments.
Before spending the past five years at Kansas, Macneill was an associate AD for development at Princeton for three years. He also spent a year as the director of collegiate marketing for Steinberg, Moorad and Dunn, where he was responsible for soliciting and servicing corporate partners, and served as assistant AD for marketing and promotions at Dartmouth College (1998-2000).
“We had close to 100 applicants for this thing, and as we narrowed it down, we had multiple (applicants) with some tie to Tulane,” Dickson said. “But I think the key part was just the skill set and then the blend of experience at both private and state universities have given him (Macneill) a broad view of the athletic landscape out there. And that was important.”
This latest hire brings the Green Wave athletic department staff to 106, just four shy of the 110 it had before Hurricane Katrina.
Last week the Green Wave selected Lena Guarriello as its women’s swimming and diving coach. And Dickson said he will add a men’s tennis coach, director of marketing and an assistant sports information director in the coming weeks.
Under the new Tulane athletic department structure, Macneill will handle the day-to-day operations of the department and oversee the continued growth of the Green Wave’s external programs (marketing, public relations, the Tulane Athletics Fund and ticket sales), as well as coordinate with the athletic director toward successfully completing Tulane’s reinstatement plan.
Macneill’s chief lieutenants will be Maria Woods, a senior associate AD/senior women’s administrator, Travis Goff, associate AD for development, and Vince Granito, associate AD for internal/facilities.
“This marks another forward step in solidifying Tulane athletics, along with the completion of coaching hires, to restore our department, which had evolved to one of the model programs in both Conference USA and in the country,” Dickson said. “Brandon and his family are a welcome addition.”
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