Ole Miss Officially Launches Search for Next Athletics Director

OXFORD, Miss. – (Courtesy of Ole Miss) University of Mississippi Chancellor Glenn Boyce launched the search for a new vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics formally today (Oct. 30) by announcing the members of the search committee, scheduling the first committee meeting and setting expectations for the search.

The search committee will be chaired by Ole Miss alumnus and retired FedEx executive Mike Glenn, of Memphis, who served as a co-chair for the director of athletics search in 2012.

The committee includes representation from the faculty, alumni and the M-Club. Members of the search committee, all of whom are Ole Miss alumni, are:

• David Dellucci, a former Ole Miss All-American baseball player who enjoyed a 13-year Major League career and works as an analyst for the SEC Network. Dellucci lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
• Peggie Gillom-Granderson, legendary Ole Miss women’s basketball star and longtime coach, who lives in Oxford and serves as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ women’s chaplain at Ole Miss.
• Jesse Mitchell, former Ole Miss football player and past president of the University of Mississippi M-Club, who is founding partner of The Mitchell Firm PLLC in Ridgeland.
• David Morris, former Ole Miss football player and founder of QB Country, an athletic training and development company headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, that trains NFL, college, high school and middle school quarterbacks in 10 cities across the Southeast.
• Ron Rychlak, professor of law at the UM School of Law, where he has been on the faculty since 1987. Since 2007, Rychlak has served as the university’s faculty athletics representative and chair of the University Standing Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics. He also serves on the Athletics Diversity Committee and the Athletic Compliance Committee, which he chaired for almost 10 years.
• Wesley Walls, former Ole Miss football player, who went on to play 15 seasons in the National Football League and was a five-time Pro Bowler. Walls is a development partner at Collett, a commercial real estate firm in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ole Miss football legend Archie Manning has agreed to serve in an advisory capacity to the committee and the chancellor.

“On behalf of the search committee, we are honored to be involved in this process designed to identify the best person to serve the university in this key leadership role,” chair Glenn said.

Search Committee Chairman Mike Glenn

While a specific timetable for the search has not been established, the search committee will move forward expeditiously with its work. The committee will recommend a candidate to Boyce, who said a search firm will be retained to ensure a strong candidate pool and help the search committee move quickly.

“I have spoken to each of the search committee members, and they are ready to get to work in finding the right person to lead Ole Miss athletics,” Boyce said. “The entire committee is committed to ensuring that we have the strongest pool of candidates.”

Keith Carter has served as interim director of athletics since May 27, when Ross Bjork departed after seven years as UM athletics director to take the same job at Texas A&M University.

The vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics supervises a department with 18 NCAA programs, a $117 million budget, more than 250 employees and almost 400 student-athletes. The university is one of the founding members of the Southeastern Conference, the most competitive conference in collegiate athletics.