Southern Miss' deputy athletics director Jeff Mitchel has been named Ball State's next athletic director.
Ball State made the announcement on Friday, just after Pete Thamel of ESPN first reported the news.
"I am grateful to President (Geoffrey) Mearns and the leadership at Ball State University for affording me this exciting opportunity,” Mitchell said. “Ball State’s reputation as a world-class institution devoted to immersive learning and comprehensive student success is reinforced through its athletics department. I am impressed by the outstanding coaches, staff, and student-athletes who are consistently competing for conference championships and qualifying for NCAA tournaments while setting records both in competition and in the classroom. I look forward to building upon this tradition of excellence and also contributing to the vitality of the communities we serve.”
Mitchell will be formally introduced on Monday, Feb. 6.
"After conducting a thorough national search, what impressed me about Jeff, in addition to his extensive professional executive experience in intercollegiate athletics, is his character - a values-based approach to leadership that embodies our enuring values," Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns said. "I am confident that Jeff will help our university extend a legacy of excellence in Ball State Athletics - a tradition that instills pride and passion among our students, our graduates and our fans."
Mitchell has served as the Deputy Director of Athletics at Southern Miss since August 2018 with a directed focus on managing the daily operations of the Golden Eagle athletics department. Mitchell served as the school's interim athletic director during the 2018-2019 school year.
At Southern Miss, Mitchell utilized his extensive background in legal affairs, external relations, and revenue generation to manage the University’s relationship with multi-media rights partner LEARFIELD. Mitchell negotiated the partnership's new long-term, multi-million dollar agreement, which began in July of 2020. Mitchell also helped negotiate a new long-term agreement with ticketing partner Paciolan, which, with enhanced technology infrastructure, will lead to $100 million in revenue generation over the term of the deal. Mitchell also has assisted in the planning and development of $7.5 million in facility upgrades at Southern Miss including a new 18,000 square foot student-athlete academic center, a new synthetic turf baseball field and state-of-the-art LED lighting system, a new basketball court re-design and state-of-the art LED lighting system, and enhancements to the baseball locker room, the M-Club lounge and kitchen, and the athletics administration building.
For the Golden Eagles, Mitchell served as the sport administrator for men’s basketball and baseball in addition to serving as the administrator for football scheduling. During Mitchell’s tenure at Southern Miss, baseball has advanced to three NCAA regional appearances (‘19, ‘21, ‘22) and one super regional appearance (‘22) while men’s basketball played in the CBI post-season tournament in 2019 and football participated in the Armed Forces Bowl following the 2019 season and won the 2022 LendingTree Bowl.
Mitchell joined Southern Miss after a twelve-year stint at Santa Clara University where he most recently served as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations. From December 2014 to August 2018, Mitchell managed the daily operations of the Santa Clara athletics department with a directed focus on external operations and revenue generation and included service as the Broncos’ interim Director of Athletics from April 2015 to August 2015. From October 2006 to November 2014, Mitchell oversaw compliance, student services, and legal affairs at Santa Clara. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Mitchell guided the University through a successful NCAA re-certification process.
As the Broncos’ chief financial officer from 2014 to 2018, Mitchell led the department to three consecutive years of record financial growth with year-over-year increases in operating budgets and in revenue generation (2016-2018). Mitchell negotiated multi-million dollar deals with The Aspire Group to grow the department’s ticketing and revenue generation efforts and with Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment to develop a comprehensive corporate sponsorship and multi-media rights program valued at $5 million. Mitchell helped finalize the University’s first comprehensive apparel deal with Nike valued at more than $2.5 million and helped administer plans for $58 million in facility projects to include a new soccer facility, softball stadium, aquatics center, and upgrades to basketball locker rooms and a basketball court re-design. Before his departure from Santa Clara, Mitchell also assisted in the development of the Broncos’ new $38 million Athletics Excellence Center, which opened in the Fall of 2020.
Mitchell served as the sport administrator for the Bronco men’s basketball and baseball programs. Mitchell was a member of the WCC basketball cabinet and served a three-year term on the NCAA Division I Baseball Regional Advisory Committee for the West Region (2015-2017). During his time at Santa Clara, the Broncos secured 22 team NCAA tournament bids, 11 individual NCAA postseason invitations across eight different sports, and 7 WCC championships. The Broncos also claimed two postseason tournament titles in men’s basketball in 2011 (CIT) and 2013 (CBI).
Mitchell’s work is recognized nationally as a co-author of a textbook entitled Sport, Ethics and Leadership, which was published in July of 2017. Mitchell was selected as one of twelve senior-level administrators from across the country to participate in the prestigious NCAA Pathway Program for the 2021-2022 cohort. The year-long, experiential learning program is designed to elevate current senior-level administrators to the next step in reaching their goal of becoming directors of athletics or conference commissioners. Other national honors for Mitchell include his participation in the LEAD 1 Institute (2019) which identifies and educates top NCAA FBS administrators and participation in the inaugural TopConnect Leadership Institute (2021) which pairs leading Division I administrators and assistant basketball coaches in a 12-week leadership forum culminating in a leadership certificate presented by East Tennessee State University.
Mitchell is a 2001 graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a four-year member of the varsity baseball team and a four-year member of the athletic department’s sports information staff. After graduation, Mitchell began his professional career as the Director of Sports Information at Millsaps and served as an assistant coach for the 2003 Millsaps baseball team, which advanced to the NCAA Division III South Regional Tournament. Mitchell also earned an MBA from the Millsaps College Else School of Management in May of 2003 and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law in December of 2005. While at Ole Miss, Mitchell served as a graduate assistant in the external relations unit and worked with the Ole Miss football and men’s basketball programs.
