COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich has been hired as Clemson's AD.
Clemson President James F. Barker said
Monday that Radakovich was the right person to build on the work done by
Terry Don Phillips, who announced his retirement in August.
"I watched from down I-85 as Clemson has
assembled a great collection of coaches," Radakovich said. "I look
forward to working with them."
Radakovich has spent six years with the
Yellow Jackets. He has also been an athletic administrator at South
Carolina and LSU. Radakovich takes over an athletic program on the rise,
led by the defending Atlantic Coast Conference football champions.
Before coming to Georgia Tech,
Radakovich spent five years as senior associate athletics director at
LSU and was there when the Tigers won a football national championship.
While at Georgia Tech, Radakovich
oversaw 51 teams who advanced to either NCAA team tournament play or
bowl games. That includes six sports -- football, baseball, women's
basketball, softball, women's tennis and golf -- that have made the
postseason every year he has been in Atlanta.
There are been 11 sports that have
finished in the final top 25 of at least one major poll 27 times in
those six years. That includes a national championship women's tennis
program in 2007, just the second NCAA team title in Georgia Tech
history. There have been 13 ACC championships celebrated in addition to
nine regular season conference or division titles.
Although, Radakovich was also there for
the school's NCAA transgressions that cost them the 2009 ACC football
championship where Georgia Tech defeated Clemson. The NCAA said
Radakovich wrongly informed the football coaches that some Georgia Tech
players were going to be interviewed.
Georgia Tech was fined $100,000, placed on probation for four years along and vacated the ACC title.
Barker said the three-month search drew
about 30 candidates and Radakovich was the person who stood out as
someone who could win, help raise money and lead a department with
integrity.
"We believe we've found that person in Dan," Baker said.
Radakovich said he was interested in
the opening when he heard Phillips was leaving. Radakovich said he would
spend the next two weeks or so closing Georgia Tech duties before
taking over at Clemson fulltime by the end of November.
