Feb. 22, 2006
ATLANTA – Dan Radakovich, formerly senior associate athletics director at Louisiana State University, is Georgia Tech’s new Director of Athletics, Institute President Dr. Wayne Clough announced at a Wednesday afternoon news conference.
Radakovich has nearly 20 years of experience in collegiate athletics management positions. He comes to Tech after six years at LSU, and he previously served as the athletics director at American University in Washington, D.C., in 2000-01. That followed stints as associate athletics director at South Carolina (1994-2000) and Long Beach State (1989-94) as well as two years as the athletics business manager at Miami.
Just the seventh Director of Athletics in Tech history, Radakovich takes over for Dave Braine, who is retiring after nearly nine years in the post, and he also follows in the footsteps of storied names such as John Heisman, Bobby Dodd and Homer Rice.
“I am pleased that Dan Radakovich has chosen to join Georgia Tech as our new Athletics Director,”said Clough. “He brings a unique combination of enthusiasm for sports, concern for student athletes, experience in athletic administration, business experience and communication skills that are needed in today’s complex world of intercollegiate athletics. It is my pleasure to welcome Dan and his wife, Marcie, and their two children to Atlanta.
“Our search has been thorough and complete,” continued Clough, who chaired a search committee that also included Dan Schrage, Faculty Representative for Athletics; Joe Irwin, President of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association; Chuck Easley, former Tech football standout and current member of the Athletic Board; and David Anderson, President of the Student Government Association.
“We have left no stone unturned and have considered candidates from around the nation, from a range of institutions and from non-traditional sources. I want to thank my fellow search committee members who worked long and hard to evaluate individuals with outstanding credentials who were interested in our AD position. I am gratified by the interest we saw by top members of intercollegiate athletics in our job, and I thank each one for their participation. This says a great deal about Georgia Tech and its strong position in intercollegiate athletics.”
In his position at LSU, Radakovich was responsible for the day-to-day operation of an athletics program with an annual budget of more than $50 million, encompassing 20 sports and more than 450 student-athletes. He directly supervised LSU’s men’s basketball and baseball programs.
A strong fund-raiser, Radakovich was instrumental in developing LSU’s football ticket donation program which resulted in more than $9 million in new annual revenue. He also participated in the most ambitious capital improvement initiative in school history, including a $90 million renovation of the Tigers’ football stadium. LSU athletics reached unparalleled heights during his tenure, highlighted by the 2003 national championship in football, as well as national titles in men’s and women’s track and field and top five national rankings in baseball, women’s basketball, softball and gymnastics.
In his stint as athletics director at American, he coordinated the school’s move into the Patriot League.
As associate athletics director at South Carolina, Radakovich directed financial operations for a $30 million athletics budget while supervising financing and logistics for $33 million in facilities improvements. He also worked closely with then-South Carolina athletics director Mike McGee in laying the groundwork for the new $70 million Colonial Center Arena in downtown Columbia, S.C.
At Long Beach State, where he served as senior associate athletics director from 1989-94, Radakovich managed a $5 million budget while reorganizing the fund-raising operations and coordinating the production and sales of radio broadcasting packages. He also supervised the men’s basketball and baseball programs.
Radakovich began his career in athletics administration as the athletics business manager at Miami from 1983-85. He then worked in the private sector for four years before moving to Long Beach State in 1989.
A native of Monaca, Pa., Radakovich, 47, was a football letterwinner and student coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1980 with a bachelor of science degree in finance. He added a master’s degree in business administration from Miami in 1982. He also completed the Sports Management Institute’s executive education program in 1992.
He is married to the former Marcie McDonald, and the couple has two children, Christian, 15, and Grant, 12.
Georgia Tech Directors of Athletics
John Heisman, 1904-1919
William Alexander, 1920-50
Bobby Dodd, 1950-76
Doug Weaver, 1976-79
Homer Rice, 1980-97
Dave Braine, 1997-2006
Dan Radakovich, 2006-
