It is official, Scott Stricklin is gone and Mississippi State is now in need of a new director of athletics to carry the MSU brand into the future.
Stricklin was unanimously voted in as the new AD at Florida. He replaces Jeremy Foley, who announced his retirement this summer and it will take effect on October 1^st. Stricklin signed a six year, $500,000 base salary contract with incentives that push it to $1.076 million a year. Which is double the around $500,000 a year he made at MSU. Stricklin and Florida will have a press conference at noon today.
MSU and MSU President Mark Keenum announced in a news release Tuesday morning that MSU is starting a nationwide search for a new director of athletics. The new AD would be the 17^th in the history of MSU, and the fourth AD that MSU has had in the last 10 years.
Keenum announced that he will hire an executive search firm to assist him in finding the new AD. Keenum plans to follow the same plan used six years ago when Greg Byrne left MSU for Arizona and Stricklin was hired.
In the release Keenum said he plans to attempt to find an AD quickly.
“To find an individual with vision and leadership to meet the high expectations for success at Mississippi State,” Keenum said.
The last three of MSU’s AD hires have been from inside the university. Some potential in house candidates are Scott Wetherbee and Bo Hemphill who are currently senior associate athletic directors. MSU baseball head coach John Cohen is also a name that has been thrown around as he was recently given the associate athletic director tag in his new contract. Cohen and Hemphill are also MSU alums.
Outside the university MSU could look anywhere, with there being numerous qualified candidates across the country who could fit the bill. One thing is for sure, MSU athletics is in a much better spot now because of Stricklin than it was when he got here.
Also in the release Keenum thanked Stricklin for all he has done. Keenum said, “Over the past six years, Scott raised the profile of MSU athletics, improved facilities across the board and provided the resources for our student athletes to compete for championships.”