Four Names That Make Sense as AD Candidates for West Virginia

Who will West Virginia hire as its next athletic director?

One week ago, West Virginia University made the decision to move on from Shane Lyons as its athletic director after eight years.

“I deeply appreciate Shane’s leadership over the past eight years and I wish him well,” President E. Gordon Gee said in a statement released by the university. “But with the ever-changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics, I believe this is an opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to our program.”

So, who could potentially be on the radar for West Virginia? Here are a few names to keep in mind.

Whit Babcock 

A familiar name to West Virginia fans to start things off. Babcock was the assistant AD under Ed Pastilong from 2003-07. Since his time at WVU, Babcock served as the assistant AD at Missouri (2007-11) and the athletic director at Cincinnati (2011-14) and Virginia Tech (2014-present). 

His football hires haven't been all that great, bringing Tommy Tuberville to Cincinnati (29-24) and Justin Fuente (43-31), and Brent Pry (3-8) to Virginia Tech. That said, Babcock has hit well on basketball hires Buzz Williams and Mike Young. Probably doesn't have the strongest resume, but his ties to the university make him a name to watch.

He graduated from West Virginia University with a Master's degree in sports management.

Matt Borman 

Matt Borman is currently the President and Chief Executive Office for Tiger Athletic Foundation (TAF) at LSU, a title has held since April of 2021. Prior to being hired at LSU, Borman served as the Deputy Athletic Director at the University of Georgia from 2017-21. Before that, Borman was an integral part of the Mountaineer Athletic Club as the lead fundraiser and the executive director. Borman helped lead the efforts of raising money for several of the facility upgrades WVU has seen over the last decade or so, including the new basketball practice facility, weight room and team room for the football program, and a women’s soccer practice facility.

Borman is a 2003 West Virginia University graduate with a master's degree in sport management. He also holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Lynchburg College.

Kevin Miller 

Kevin Miller currently serves as the Senior Associate Athletic Director at Georgia. He's a native of Wheeling and received a bachelor's and master's degree from WVU. He was an intern on the MAC staff from 2005-06 before becoming the Assistant Athletic Director for Annual Giving and then promoted to Associate Athletic Director for Annual Giving in 2016, where he was responsible for managing and overseeing the annual giving and priority seating and parking programs for WVU.

Rob Mullens 

Mullens, currently the Athletic Director at Oregon, has a knack for making quality hires and not just in football. He helped solidify the contract/hiring of men's basketball coach Dana Altman, who has won 301 games since taking the job. He has won 20+ games in each of his 12 seasons on the job and has made the NCAA Tournament in eight of those years. On the women's side, he hired Kelly Graves away from Gonzaga in 2014, who has completely turned the program around and into one of the very best in the country. 

Most importantly, Mullens has a high "hit rate" on football hires. After Chip Kelly bolted for the NFL, he gave the job to Mark Helfrich who went 37-16 across four seasons which included a national championship appearance. Then after a one-year stint from Willie Taggart, Mullens hired Mario Cristobal, who compiled a 35-13 record over five years. Cristobal left for Miami following last season and once again, it looks like Mullens made a terrific hire as Dan Lanning is 9-2 in his first year on the job. 

The West Virginia native earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in sport management from West Virginia in 1991 and 1993.

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