The next University of Memphis athletic director should be its first Black AD | Giannotto

Bill Hardgrave has heard a version of this column before.

The University of Memphis president heard it from the only two Black members of the Board of Trustees when his hiring was made official in November 2021, when he made personal commitments to them about diversity.

Hardgrave heard it again last year when the current president of the Tennessee NAACP chapter, the current president of the NAACP’s Memphis branch, and the former president of the NAACP’s Memphis branch met with him to ask about, among other things, minority staffing throughout the university, including sports.

So the departure of Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch for Missouri also represents a potentially historic crossroads for Hardgrave as his second full academic year comes to a close.

“How long will we continue to miss these opportunities to progress the institution into a place and posture that it needs to be, and here’s another opportunity. I just hope we don’t miss it,” said Rev. Earle Fisher, the senior pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Whitehaven who got his doctorate of philosophy and communications from Memphis.

Simply put, the next Memphis athletic director should be the first Black one.

It’s well past time given the demographics of the city, the university and the athletes that represent the school. It’s hard to look at the leadership of the university administration and the athletic department administration and argue it’s adequately representative of a student body that’s 58% minority in the largest majority Black city in the country.

But beyond that, the timing of Veatch’s exit coincides with a moment in which there are several sitting or former Black athletic directors with connections to Memphis or Hardgrave who are worthy candidates regardless of their race.

Allen Greene, currently the senior deputy athletic director at Tennessee, was the first Black athletic director at Auburn while Hardgrave served as provost and vice president of academic affairs there. Buffalo athletic director Mark Alnutt was previously the top associate athletic director at Memphis under former athletic director Tom Bowen. University of New Orleans athletic director Tim Duncan is a Memphis native and former teammate of Penny Hardaway with Tiger basketball. There’s also current Tennessee State athletic director Mikki Allen.

There are likely others who fit the bill, although it can be harder to identify them because not enough have been given the chance to prove themselves. The latest racial and gender report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (2022) stated that more than 78% of FBS athletic directors were white.

“It’s really about if you look at the majority of the athletes that you have in college sports, a lot of them are minority athletes, so it makes sense for us to consider an African-American athletic director for the University of Memphis,” said former Shelby County commissioner Deidre Malone, who was part of the contingent of NAACP representatives that met with Hardgrave in recent months.

Hardgrave said in a statement Tuesday that school officials “will explore our options in the coming weeks” after naming senior deputy athletic director Jeff Crane as the interim athletic director.

Veatch’s replacement is faced with an exciting, but extensive job, with the list of tasks all aimed at the university’s decades-long pursuit of the right conference affiliation.

Veatch wasn’t a match made in heaven with Memphis, but it was a good enough match to accomplish quite a bit, particularly over the past year or so. Alongside Hardgrave, Veatch helped shepherd the $220 million Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovation project to the construction stage, navigating several potential political land mines along the way. FedEx also announced a landmark $25 million NIL program with Memphis last week.

GIANNOTTO: Why FedEx's $25 million NIL push is 'massive step forward' for Memphis sports

How much of that fell in Veatch’s lap courtesy of donations from FedEx founder Fred Smith and his family is up for debate. But there’s also a certain skill in not allowing obstacles to get in the way of good fortune. Surely, given their financial commitment, Smith and FedEx will have a big say in who takes over for Veatch. There’s still fundraising to be done to match their contributions.

All of that, though, has the university better positioned for conference realignment than ever before. Veatch’s patience with football coach Ryan Silverfield appears to be paying off. He got the men’s basketball program through the arduous IARP investigation mostly unscathed. He helped oversee strong hires in baseball and women’s basketball as well.

What he couldn’t do, however, is get Memphis out of the American Athletic Conference. With the ACC showing signs of distress, and facing ongoing lawsuits from its own member schools, there’s a chance for Memphis to separate itself once more at a critical juncture.

“Does it have to be (a Black candidate)? Not necessarily. But there are some very qualified candidates that need to be vetted and given every opportunity,” said former Action News 5 sports anchor Jarvis Greer, who played football at Memphis State and still serves as Memphis football’s radio analyst.

“This would be big because this next AD is going to lead, hopefully, Memphis into a new league and new era of Tiger athletics now that everything is in place. The big NIL deal is done. You got all your coaches under contract. I would think that if they don’t consider those candidates, it would be a travesty. But I think that they will consider them and consult with a lot of people. They are excellent candidates.”

There’s a lot at stake with this hire, and there’s also a chance to make a statement about the core mission of this university. Memphis shouldn’t let the moment pass by, not when there’s a straightforward path to making history.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on X: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: The next Memphis athletic director should be its first Black one