Lawrence
Only the search committee members figure to know for sure the names of potential athletic director candidates at the University of Kansas.
In the true spirit of speculation, here’s a list of some names that could emerge in the upcoming search for Sheahon Zenger’s replacement.
Terry Mohajir, Arkansas State athletic director: Mohajir, a Shawnee Mission South graduate, arrived at Arkansas State in September 2012 from KU, where he had spent 16 months as KU’s senior associate AD and chief marketing officer in charge of the Williams Fund. He was in charge of market strategies for proposed football stadium renovations at KU.
From 1993-96, Mohajir was a graduate assistant, assistant offensive line coach and game-day special teams coach on Glen Mason’s KU football staff. He left KU in 1997 for UMKC, where he supervised marketing and promotions, sports information, fundraising, radio and TV contracts, corporate sales, tickets, event operations, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and men's soccer. He’s currently fundraising for a football stadium at Arkansas State, his alma mater.
Ross Bjork, Ole Miss AD: A native of Dodge City and 1995 graduate of Emporia State (where he played football), Bjork has been at Ole Miss since March 2012. He also was AD at Western Kentucky and senior associate AD at UCLA. Bjork worked at Missouri from 2001-03 as assistant AD for development and 1997-2001 as athletic development officer. He also has worked at the University of Miami as associate AD. Bjork spearheaded the opening of the $94.5 million Pavilion at Ole Miss for men’s and women’s basketball. He also put $65 million into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Sean Lester, Kansas deputy AD: KU’s interim athletic director has been at KU since September 2003. He also was interim AD from September 2010 to February 2011 during the time frame between the resignation of Lew Perkins and the hiring of Zenger. The Mansfield, Conn., native spent eight years at UConn as senior administrator before heading to KU, where he’s been utilized in the areas of revenue generation, budget management, fundraising and capital projects. He worked in expanding KU facilities such as Rock Chalk Park, Hoglund Ballpark, the Rowing Boathouse, Anderson Family Football Facility at Kivisto Field and the 2009 renovations at Allen Fieldhouse, the Parrott Athletic Center and Anschutz Pavilion.
Jeff Long, former Arkansas AD: Athletic director at Arkansas for 10 years and formerly the chair of the College Football Selection Committee, Long was fired in November 2017. His hire of Bret Bielema from Wisconsin was popular when made; however, Bielema opened his tenure at Arkansas 29-32 in five seasons, including 11-27 in the SEC. After being hired away from Pittsburgh, Long led the $160 million renovation of Razorback Stadium. He was the 2015 SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily athletic director of the year. The former Ohio Wesleyan football and baseball player who is from Kettering, Ohio, worked as senior associate AD at Oklahoma and has worked at Michigan and Virginia Tech and been on football staffs at Rice, Duke and N.C. State. He had a contract at Arkansas that runs through June 30, 2022.
Joe Parker, Colorado State AD: Has completed three years as athletic director at CSU. He knows the Big 12, having served five years as deputy AD at Texas Tech as well as senior associate AD at Oklahoma and Texas. He’s also been senior associate AD at Michigan and Washington State. Parker is responsible for the construction of Colorado State's 41,000-capacity multipurpose stadium, which opened for the 2017 football season and hosted a school-record 32,062 fans per game. A three-time All-America swimmer at Michigan, he received his MBA from Texas.
Danny White, Central Florida AD: A 2002 graduate of Notre Dame, White, who also has degrees from Ohio University and Ole Miss, has been AD at UCF since December 2015. UCF's football program went from winless in 2015 to six victories and a bowl game appearance in 2016. The Knights went undefeated in 2017. He also was AD at Buffalo from 2012 to 2015. White played college basketball at Towson and Notre Dame. His father, Kevin, is AD at Duke. His brother Michael is the head basketball coach at Florida. His brother Brian was the senior associate athletics director for development at Missouri and is now the AD at Florida Atlantic. Danny White is one of the country’s most well-known ADs after publicly proclaiming UCF national champions in football in response to its undefeated season.
This story was originally published May 22, 2018 11:15 AM.