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Columbia Daily Tribune
4 things that will be at the top of the new Missouri athletic director's to-do list
- Story byColumbia Daily Tribune
- 4 things that will be at the top of the new Missouri athletic director's to-do list
Externally, people who closely follow the University of Missouri and its athletic department were hit with a shockwave this week.
Desiree Reed-Francois, who had been Missouri's athletic director since August 2021, accepted the same position at the University of Arizona on Monday . This leaves the university with a massive position to fill in a quickly evolving landscape of college athletics.
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Whoever the new AD is, here are the three things they will have to focus on after assuming the job.
Ever-changing Missouri state laws on NIL
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As the sport keeps changing, so do the rules.
Missouri has arguably the most program-friendly laws over Name, Image and Likeness in America. That'll probably change in the coming years.
The next AD will need an extensive understanding of how NIL works and how to properly navigate those changes, because the underlying belief within the MU athletic department is that those changes are a matter of "when" and not "if."
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Rebuilding facilities
Reed-Francois leaves behind a string of positive decisions and announcements at Missouri.
The biggest is the upcoming upgrade to Faurot Field and Memorial Stadium , buoyed by a $62 million anonymous donation to the program earlier this year.
The next AD will need to lead the department through those renovations as well as future improvements to Missouri's athletic department facilities. What will they put at the top of the list, and how strong of a fundraiser will they be to get the money?
Rebuilding programs
Reed-Francois hired men's basketball coach Dennis Gates, extended the contract of football coach Eli Drinkwitz and also hired Dawn Sullivan, who was named Southeastern Conference volleyball coach of the year this past season.
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But the new athletic director will need to figure out what to do with a key coaching position.
Missouri women's basketball coach Robin Pingeton was publicly given the goal of making the NCAA Tournament. So far in the 2023-24 season, the Tigers are 11-14 overall, 2-10 in conference play and winless since Jan. 18. In Pingeton's defense, the Tigers have suffered injuries to key players down the stretch. The chances of the team making the Big Dance, however, are down to a miraculous SEC Tournament run.
But that demand was under the old athletic director. Would a new leader give Pingeton another season and evaluate the program from there? Or will that person hit the reset button immediately and search for a new coach?
Missouri athletics oversight cooperation
UM System President Mun Choi, left, greets Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz, right, after Missouri's 49-39 loss against LSU at Faurot Field on Oct. 7, 2023, in Columbia, Mo.
Reed-Francois ushered in a NCAA Tournament run in men's basketball and a Cotton Bowl football win in the same calendar year for Missouri. Yet, the success was met with pushback.
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The UM System Board of Curators voted unanimously in February to create the Mizzou Intercollegiate Athletics Special Committee . The committee will look into finances, progress of facilities renovations, name, image and likeness compensation and the future of the NCAA.
Reed-Francois may have potentially lifted Missouri onto the brink of a golden era of the 2020s, but it's hard not to think her departure outside of the SEC was spurred on by this in some capacity.
How will this affect the hiring process for a new athletic director, let alone affect the next AD's career in Columbia?
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: New Missouri athletic director's to-do list includes NIL, women's hoops
