Photo credit: Charlotte Athletics
The news of Chartotte's Chancellor Sharon Gaber making the call to remove Director of Athletics Mike HIll from his post just 13 months after tacking on 4 years to his deal was quite a surprise to the alumni and fan base. The decision to move on will cost Charlotte approximately $2.2 million, and comes from the University via athletics funds, as opposed to the Athletic Foundation. From all the chatter I've heard, it sounds like the driving force behind the reason to move on at this time is fundraising, including NIL.
This decision was made after careful deliberation and in recognition that the rapidly evolving business, regulatory and competitive landscape of higher education athletics demands a new approach and renewed strategic foundation.
Based on the language in the press relase to announce Mike Hill's termination, its reasonable to connect the dots to NIL. There is a concerted effort to equip Tim Albin's program with American Conference level resources come mid-January 2026, and you can help. That link will show you $490 and $4,900 options, but if when you select "Give Now", you are able to enter a different amount, and also set up reoccurring donations, if you are so inclined.
Things I'd like to see in the next Athletics Director
Group of 5 experience. The G5 landscape is effectively a different ballgame from the Power 4 (but lets be real, Power 2) world. Driving donations to fund projects, and especially NIL, is not an easy task. NIL has to be at the forefront if you want to win in Football and Men's Basketball. X's and O's 100% play a part, but the days of soley building a program based on developing players for 2 or 3 years are all but gone. You have to be able to recruit and retain, if not retain, replace, and that takes money.
Prioritize revenue sports. Listen, I love the "Gold Standard", but Football and Men's Basketball are our revenue generators. One, or both, of those programs competing near the top of the American would drive more donations, gate revenue, etc., than all the other sports winning conference championships. Investing and succeeding there will yield the resources to help other programs. When was the last time Charlotte has Charlotte paid top of league money for a head coach in Football or Basketball?
Stop leaning on the youth of the football program. No excuses not to be competitive anymore. I want whomever is hired to look at Charlotte as a school amongst our peers in the American. We're not a young football program, we're a football program in the American, and it's time to operate as one.
Track record. if they are an existing AD, have they shown the ability to hire coaches that win at a high-level in Football and Basketball.
Fundraising. Obviously this is key, but fundraising is not linear. Raising money at an SEC school isn't the same as raising it at Charlotte. Charlotte's alumni-pool is what it is, we do not have a ton of "old money" within our alums. I'd venture that most CLT alums are 25-55 years old.
Stop operating the same way. Perhaps Athletics fundraising and the University fundraising arm needs better collaboration, or even consolidation. There's no reason for those to entities to have to fight over the same resources.
Corporate dollars. CLT must find a way to better connect with CLT businesses, as well as the movers and shakers in the 704. For whatever reason, Charlotte's never found a way to get in and successfully tap into those, outside of a one-off basis. I'd love to see Smoky Bissell lead group of 704-based big wigs, and use that as a vehicle to better connect Charlotte to the correct companies/individuals in our backyard. A strong Charlotte Athletics program benefits the broader community. Its fairly easy to look at our former peers: Houson, Louisville, Cincinnati and Memphis, to see how strong athletics programs can put their cities in the spotlight.
What are some characteristics you'd like to see in Charlotte's next AD? Comment below ( comments section is a work in progress).
I have been looking at potential ADs ever since the announcement and just getting my thoughts out on paper. I do not have sources or anything but these are some people I’d like Charlotte to target based on my research. Think salary will play a part so including current salary (if available) and if I think Charlotte could better it. These are in no particular order.
1. Kent Haslam – Athletic Director at Montana
Kent Haslam has been the AD at Montana since 2012 and has been with Montana since 2006. Haslam has had some great success leading Montana athletics. He secured the largest single private gift in Montana’s history ($7 Million) to build the $14 Million Washington-Grizzly Champions Center that was opened in 2017. Haslam also raised $10 Million in private funds to open Montana’s Indoor Practice Facility. Honestly, both facilities are nicer than anything Charlotte has in my opinion, which should be a feather in Haslam’s cap. Montana has also been one of the top FCS programs in the country under Haslam’s watch. Haslam brought Bobby Hauck back to Montana in 2018 after Hauck first left Montana in 2010 for UNLV and Montana has a multiple FCS playoff appearances and a conference title since Haslam became full time AD. On the Men’s Basketball side, Haslam hired Travis DeCuire who has led Montana to 3 regular season and 3 conference tournaments championships as well as 3 NCAA tournament appearances. Many of Montana’s olympic sports have also won conference championships under Haslam.
The case for Haslam is that he has experience as an AD already, albeit at a school at a lower level than Charlotte, but he has proven that he can fundraise for facilities and hire winning coaches in the two biggest sports. NIL/Rev Share will definitely be different at the FBS/American conference level but Haslam has proven he can do it at Montana. Based on public information, it appears Haslam has an annual salary of $240,000 and based on Mike Hill’s previous contract where he was making $400,000 – $500,000, Charlotte definitely could offer Haslam a raise but will that be enough to lure him away from Montana, a place he has been since 2006 and the AD since 2012?
2. Tom Kleinlein – Deputy Athletic Director at Ole Miss
Tom Kleinlein is the current Deputy Director at Ole Miss who oversees the external affairs and day-to-day football activities. He is also the former athletic director at Georgia Southern. Kleinlein oversaw Georgia Southern’s jump from FCS to FBS and the Sun Belt. Kleinlein was responsible for a lot of the upgrades done at Georgia Southern facilities during the 2010s. In Men’s Basketball, Kleinlein hired Mark Byington to some decent success but no championships and no NCAA appearances. Byington is currently the Vanderbilt Head Coach after a successful stint at JMU after leaving Georgia Southern. Kleinlein is a candidate who has G5 experience with ties to the state of North Carolina as a Wake Forest grad in 1992. The question with Kleinlein would be would he want to be an AD again? His Ole Miss salary is not easily findable but he was making around $265,000 in base salary around the time he left Georgia Southern. Charlotte could offer a competitive salary versus what he was making at Georgia Southern but is it enough for him to want to become an AD again?
3. John Daniel – Senior Deputy AD/COO (Sport Administrator, FB) at Cincinnati
John Daniel joined Cincinnati in March of 2022 and has led all financial operations for the Bearcats, while serving as the administrative oversight for the football program. At the start of 2025, Daniel was promoted to his current role as the Senior Deputy Athletics Director and COO. Daniel oversees all department business operations, including Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) initiatives, student-athlete revenue-sharing opportunities and ticket office operations, in addition to managing the equipment department and the football program. He is actively involved in department fundraising and revenue generation strategies, including the onboarding of Cincy Sports Partners, UC’s Athletics’ new sponsorship division. He also oversees the department budget and capital projects. According to Cincinnati’s website he is responsible for Cincinnati’s $134 million indoor practice facility and performance center project.
I am a fan of Daniel’s experience, especially around NIL/Rev Share, partnerships, and capital projects. It appears he has all the experience that a current AD would need in this money hungry college athletics world. Questions obviously would be his ability to potentially make any new hires but if raises the money the Charlotte needs and then some, the coaching hires could come easy. Daniel appears to have a salary of around $200,000 at Cincinnati, so I think Charlotte could make a competitive offer. Charlotte should have a goal to emulate a program like Cincinnati going forward, who of course, used to be a peer of the Niners and hiring Daniel could be a great step towards that goal.
4. Ryan Peck – Senior Deputy Athletics Director, External Affairs/Revenue Generation at TCU
Peck oversees all TCU external units, including communications, creative content, licensing, marketing and ticketing. Additionally, he serves as TCU’s liaison in the partnership with LEARFIELD and Horned Frog Sports Properties. He is the sport administrator for men’s and women’s tennis and oversees the Peck also holds secondary oversight for football, focusing on external revenue generation and NIL strategies. Peck previously served seven years in different capacities at UNT, most recently as Associate Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. UNT had its best fundraising years while securing the top four gifts in school history. Peck was previously the Mean Green’s Deputy Athletics Director for External Operations.
Peck is another hire that comes from the NIL/Rev Share side which if you’re going to hire someone who doesn’t already have experience as a successful AD, this is the branch of an athletics department you want to hire from. Peck also experience at UNT, which should be attractive to Charlotte. Salary is not available for Peck as TCU is a private university.
5. Tyler Jones – Deputy Athletics Director, Chief Strategy Officer and General Manager at Virginia
Jones leads UVA’s Front Office and revenue-generation efforts, and serves as CAP Manager for football, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball. He develops roster budgets, manages scholarships and revenue-sharing components, and works with NIL partners. In his GM role for football and women’s basketball, he collaborates with coaches on roster strategy, talent evaluation, negotiations, transfer-portal activity, and budget management. Previously, Jones led revenue and external-operations strategy at Northwestern, driving a 13% rise in ticket revenue and helping shape the school’s NIL framework. Earlier roles include deputy AD at Cleveland State, where he boosted attendance and fundraising, and six years at Ohio State leading fan engagement and marketing. He is also a former football player at Eastern Michigan.
Another strategy, NIL type hire, Jones has experience in the areas you’d want in a new AD. It appears Jones make $480,000 at UVA, so Charlotte would have to come with a very strong offer, maybe pay more than they ever have to get Jones to leave UVA and become the AD.