East Carolina Athletic Director Terry Holland announced his retirement today, after 8 years at the school. The move leaves a void at the top of the Pirates’ athletic department, and a national search is underway to replace him. ECU recently accepted an invite for their football program to the Big East, and have had some success under Holland’s leadership. While no candidates have been named, at least a couple of AD’s from nearby schools, including Liberty would likely be considered.
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| Holland will move to AD Emeritus role |
UNC-Wilmington Athletic Director Jimmy Bass would probably be the leading candidate. Bass worked for several years as Associate AD under Holland, before taking the UNC-W job in 2010. However, as of this evening, Bass has stated that he’s committed to Wilmington.
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| Nick Floyd |
East Carolina’s Executive Associate Athletic Director Nick Floyd could be the top choice though. He has been with ECU since 2001, and has worked closely with Holland, who will remain on staff at the university. Floyd was the interim AD in 2004 before Holland was hired. He has served as the associate commissioner and CFO of Conference USA.
Liberty AD Jeff Barber is a graduate of East Carolina, and did spend time in ECU’s athletic department in the late 1980’s. Since then, he has worked his way up to Senior Associate AD at University of South Carolina, and of course has been the Athletic Director at Liberty since 2006. Barber has the pedigree and connections to ECU to make him a candidate. Will ECU come calling? And perhaps the bigger question, will Jeff Barber answer that call?
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| Will Barber be a candidate? |
