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Stephen F. Austin will name Ryan Ivey the next Director of Athletics

May 31, 2018
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UPDATE (6:23 p.m.) - SFA has officially announced Ryan Ivey as Director of Athletics via social media and athletics website.

Ryan Ivey, Director of Athletics at Austin Peay, is expected to resign his position at the Clarksville, Tennessee school to claim the same title at Stephen F. Austin, a source told The Sawmill on Thursday morning.

Ivey has led the Governors for the past three years since authoring a wildly successful two-year revival at Texas A&M-Commerce that made him one of the industry's rising stars.

A former student-athlete at Memphis, Ivey has Southland Conference connections where he spent several years as an assistant (and later associate) AD at McNeese State University. According to his official bio at Austin Peay, Ivey created "a revenue generating master plan for the athletics department," at McNeese and "he led an initiative that saw the women’s basketball team have one of the largest NCAA attendance increases during the 2010-11 season."

Besides the East Texas connections while working in Commerce and his ties to the same league Stephen F. Austin competes in, the hire does come as a surprise to some who expected a "big splash."

The reality is, though, Ivey could be just that. He has been measurably successful in each of his past stints while dealing with (and increasing) marginal budgets. His legacy at Austin Peay may be defined by the facility upgrades he spearheaded that are continuing on the campus to this day. Focus on facilities has been a priority at SFA, too, where aging buildings and a failed athletic fee referendum have cast doubt on the university's ability to keep pace with their peers. 

Ivey will succeed longtime Lumberjacks AD Robert Hill who announced his retirement in January. A timeline for an official announcement and introduction has not yet been made clear.

This story is developing.

Stephen F. Austin will name Ryan Ivey the next Director of Athletics

23,694 Views | 25 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by SFAXE93
MasterAxe
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I think this is a good hire. Has track record of success at similar sized school.

Football went from 0-11 in 2016 to 8-4 last year, don't know what he had to do with it, but it looks good on his resume.
PurpleOut
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Staff
The fundraising/revenue generating pieces from his past positions immediately caught my eye.
TallTexan
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PurpleOut said:

The fundraising/revenue generating pieces from his past positions immediately caught my eye.

What immediately caught my eye is that their sports website is Letsgopeay.com which is pronounced let's go pee.

But the fundraising/revenue peice was definitely the second thing I noticed.

Also his experience in the area with Commerce & McNeese should be pretty valuable.
SFA Jack Fanatic
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TallTexan said:


What immediately caught my eye is that their sports website is Letsgopeay.com which is pronounced let's go pee.


Why am I not surprised?
BigJack85
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Looks like a good hire.
Axe 'Em Jacks - Class of 85'
SFAJack_76
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ACUCattitude
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Great Hire!!
When I saw he left AP, I hoped we got him.
nacluth
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I hope we hired him for his fundraising, not just because the football teams did better the years after he arrived.
Ryan
Kinnaird Guitars
SFAJack_76
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Perhaps I am looking at this hire through purple tinted glasses, but the resume' and everything I read tells me it is a very good move. Broad experience in a relatively short career. Knows the SLC. Spent some time in Texas. Great comments from folks he has worked for and with. A lot of positives around facility improvements and fund raising. It also feels positive that our administration has gone this direction rather than status quo.

Three to five years. His next move is at least an assistant AD at a P5 school, or AD at a G5. I think he needs to show one more success to have that opportunity. If he is at SFA more than five years either his family has absolutely fallen in love with Nacogdoches or he has not been that successful.

The first one hundred days are critical for a new leader in any job, and that is not different here. He has a staff to assess and get on board with a relatively young, high energy guy. There will be turnover, whether his choice or theirs. It always happens. He has a faculty and student population to make progress with that has been marginally supportive of athletics and has not understood the value a strong program can bring to their university. Hopefully sooner than later, we will learn the facility strategic plan. He will have to make personal contact with potential big money donors to have the funds to execute. If those men and women are not contacted in relatively short order, feelings get hurt and the task gets tougher.

I am excited about the potential. Ask me how I feel again in three years. We will know not later than that if we got a Patterson or a CDC.
SFA Jack Fanatic
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SFAJack_76 said:

He has a faculty and student population to make progress with that has been marginally supportive of athletics and has not understood the value a strong program can bring to their university.
This is a huge need!
nacluth
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Thankfully his first 100 days are in the offseason when there's less student distractions. Hopefully that allows him to get through coaching evaluations and goals and meet donors. If he gets a couple things rolling in the fall that would be huge.
Ryan
Kinnaird Guitars
BigJack85
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nacluth said:

Thankfully his first 100 days are in the offseason when there's less student distractions. Hopefully that allows him to get through coaching evaluations and goals and meet donors. If he gets a couple things rolling in the fall that would be huge.
Good point. I would not be surprised if that was part of Robert Hill's original plan. One thing everyone knows about RH is that he will put SFA in the best possible position to succeed!
Axe 'Em Jacks - Class of 85'
PurpleOut
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Staff
Good timing for this one:

SFAXE93
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Mr. Hill got to sleep in today.
nacluth
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Wow the new $500 level is essentially what the $1500 was last year. Trying to get people in!
Ryan
Kinnaird Guitars
TallTexan
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Anyone else updating their Linkedin to say they went to an Ivey League school, or is that just me?
Jacks4460
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TallTexan said:

Anyone else updating their Linkedin to say they went to an Ivey League school, or is that just me?
Texan lol!!! You talking about the current SFASU Ath dept.??
TallTexan
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Yep, we've hit the big time!
SFA Jack Fanatic
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Sometimes the Texan studies things a little too much. Just sayin'...
OldSchool
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Great hire. Now lets start the search for new football coach
TallTexan
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Any announcements on when he'll start or if they'll have an introductory press conference?
Jacks4460
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I read somewhere Texan his first day is July 1..
TallTexan
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Can't wait.
Jacks4460
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TallTexan said:

Can't wait.
go get on that chat function under premium then chat.
SFAXE93
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Here he comes.
"History has no rubbish heap." Louis Blake Duff
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