University of Memphis Athletics
Alnutt Named Deputy Director of Athletics
Jul 06, 2015 | General
Hire follows three-plus years as AD at Southeast Missouri
Mark Alnutt, who has been the Director of Athletics at Southeast Missouri State University for three-plus years, was named the University of Memphis' Deputy Director of Athletics on Monday. Alnutt will begin his new role at the U of M in August.
"We conducted a comprehensive national search for this position and received interest from a number of highly qualified and experienced applicants," Director of Athletics Tom Bowen said. "I am very pleased to announce Mark Alnutt as the new Deputy Director of Athletics at the University of Memphis. Mark is one of the best young athletics directors in Division 1 and brings a tremendous set of skills and leadership experience to our department. I am confident Mark will be a great resource and mentor to our coaches, student-athletes and staff and will continue the upward trajectory of our programs."
"I'm extremely honored and humbled to be named Deputy Director of Athletics at the University of Memphis," Alnutt said. "I've been privileged to follow the growth and recent successes of this Athletic Department during my tenure as Director of Athletics at Southeast Missouri State University.
Alnutt added, "It is an exciting time for the University of Memphis and this was validated when I visited with Dr. (David) Rudd and Tom Bowen and heard their vision for Athletics during the interview process. My family is eager and excited to join the Memphis family and I look forward to hitting the ground running when I arrive in August."
At Southeast Missouri, Alnutt had oversight of an NCAA Division I athletic department operating on three core values in its mission – Academic Excellence, Social Development and Competitive Success.
Under Alnutt's leadership, Southeast Missouri's student-athletes excelled in the classroom, recording a cumulative 3.15 grade point average during the 2014-15 academic year. The year marked the second straight, Southeast's overall grade point average for student-athletes was better than 3.1.
Eleven of Southeast Missouri's 15 athletic programs achieved a 3.13 or higher GPA during the 2014-15 academic year. Southeast Missouri had 195 student-athletes record a 3.0 or higher grade point average during the year. A total of 140 student-athletes made Southeast's Dean's List by earning at least a 3.5 GPA.
During the past year, 71 student-athletes received their degrees from Southeast Missouri.
In line with academics, Alnutt strongly encouraged coaches, administrators and student-athletes to be visible in the community during his tenure as Southeast's director of athletics.
This past year student-athletes, coaches and staff logged a record 4,100 community service hours. Five teams averaged at least 15 community service hours per student-athlete.
In the past two years, members of the Southeast Missouri Athletics community have registered better than 8,000 hours of community service.
The 2014-15 academic year began with 150 Southeast student-athletes lending a helping hand during move-in day in August and wrapped up in June when 50 student-athletes volunteered at the Summer Arts Festival. In the past two years student-athletes, coaches and staff have been a part of the Canned Food Drive at Wehrenberg Theaters, Feed My Staving Children, Read to Succeed, Special Olympics, Project Homeless Connect, Cape Girardeau Adopt-a-Street, Southeast Serves events and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee events including Halloween at Houck and Rowdy's Winter Wonderland along with outreach to local elementary schools.
Another valuable piece of Southeast's growth in athletics was Alnutt's Redhawks Road Trip.
The Redhawks Road Trip featured a series of outreach events to give fans, alumni, supporters and community members the chance to meet select coaches, student-athletes and administration from Southeast Athletics. Southeast coaches, student-athletes and staff made stops along the "I-55 Corridor," stretching between St. Louis and Memphis in an effort to enhance branding, recruiting and fundraising.
Over the last three years, Alnutt has made critical coaching hires for Southeast Missouri.
In April of this year, Southeast announced the hiring of former Mississippi State coach Rick Ray to head the men's program and later in the month announced the hiring of former Ball State associate coach Rekha Patterson as the head coach of the Redhawks' women's basketball program. Patterson was previously on the staff at Baylor.
Alnutt introduced Tom Matukewicz as the Redhawks' football coach in December, 2013, and last year Southeast quickly saw improvement from the previous season in posting a 5-7 record which included a 25-24 upset win over FCS No. 3-ranked Southeastern Louisiana.
He also introduced Mark Redburn as Southeast Missouri's softball coach in June, 2014.
Alnutt was the driving force behind securing the first-ever NCAA football game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Longstanding regional-rivals Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois met in the College Classic on Sept. 21, 2013.
Southeast Missouri has seen a 58 percent increase in overall football ticket revenue during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
During Alnutt's tenure, Southeast Missouri won back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular-season baseball championships in 2014 and 2015. The Redhawks' men's track and field team has also won back-to-back OVC indoor titles. Women's soccer also won an Ohio Valley title in 2014. Southeast's men's and women's track teams swept the outdoor championships in 2013.
Also while at Southeast Missouri, Alnutt focused on fundraising initiatives. After taking over as Director of Athletes on April 19, 2012, total giving to athletics has increased by more than 26 percent to the Redhawks Club. He also renegotiated a team apparel contract with Lids Team Sports resulting in a 40 percent annual increase in product allowance and additional allowances for various sport uniforms.
Prior to accepting his first job as Director of Athletics, Alnutt served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director at the University of Missouri.
Alnutt was the administrative liaison for football; supervised track and field, cross country, gymnastics and golf; spearheaded the department's project management team; served as the primary point person for the Athletic Department, overseeing all aspects of facility project master planning, development, management and implementation; and was involved with external department operations, including development, game operations, marketing, media relations, Mizzou Sports Properties and ticket operations.
Alnutt also managed postseason travel arrangements for each of the University of Missouri's 20 intercollegiate sport programs. He oversaw Missouri's Nike contract, the Big Wheels and Flying Tiger programs and the department's relationship with Old Hawthorne Golf Club. In 2009, he managed a $5 million video board project through the University of Missouri Sports Complex with the centerpiece being a new board at Faurot Field. He also oversaw the design and construction of the new Golden Girls/Gymnastics practice facility in the fall of 2011. Alnutt was actively involved in the solicitation and stewardship efforts of capital gift giving, as well.
Alnutt spent six years at the University of Missouri as director of football operations, adding an assistant athletic director title prior to the 2005-2006 season. In that role, his duties included coordinating the team's travel plans, overseeing the football budget, handling compliance issues, scheduling of facilities, assisting with recruiting operations and managing the day-to-day operations of the football program.
He coordinated public relations and community service events for football, and oversaw all organizational aspects for the University of Missouri's trips to the 2003 and 2005 Independence Bowl games played in Shreveport, La. He also represented the football program as part of the design team that planned the $16 million expansion and renovation project which turned the Tom Taylor Building into the Missouri Athletics Training Complex.
Alnutt was a three-year letterman for the University of Missouri as a linebacker and tight end from 1993-1995 and was voted the team's champion of the year as a senior. He earned a degree in sociology in 1995 and went to work for Major Brands as a senior salesman in Kansas City from February 1996 to August 1997.
He returned to the University of Missouri to pursue a master's degree in public administration with an emphasis on sports psychology. He joined the Missouri football staff in 1998 as an administrative/video graduate assistant. Alnutt completed his master's degree in May 2000 and took over as director of football operations that August.
A native of Kansas City, Alnutt served as president of the board of directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Boone County and was selected to participate in the 2002-2003 NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males. In June 2005, he was recognized by Columbia Business Times as one of the Columbia's 40-Under-40 business leaders for his work in the community.
He has participated in the Division I-A Athletic Director's Institute, attended the NACDA Mentoring Institute and chaired the NCAA Women's Gymnastics committee. In 2010, he was the recipient of an Outstanding Chancellor's Staff recognition and the Barbara S. Uehling Award for Administrative Excellence at the University of Missouri.
Alnutt will begin this fall his third year of a four-year term on the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee.
The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (MOIC) was formed by the Association in January 1990 to review issues related to the interests of ethnic minorities and women. These issues focus on the education and welfare of minority student-athletes, as well as the enhancement of opportunities for ethnic minorities and women in coaching, athletics, administration, officiating and the NCAA governance structure.
He was also appointed to serve a four-year term on the NCAA Football Playing Rules Committee which began last September.
The mission of the NCAA Football Rules Committee is to govern the playing rules of collegiate football by: Acknowledging the traditions of sport; Soliciting input from various college constituencies; Examining existing regulations and making necessary modifications to create safe, practical, concise and enforceable rules; and influencing the long term vision and direction of NCAA football.
Alnutt and his wife, the former Kate Hankins, are the parents of four children, Jaren, Kinleigh, Mason and Aidan.
What others are saying about Memphis' Deputy AD Mark Alnutt ...
"When I arrived in 1998, Mark was already part of our team at Mizzou in a graduate assistant role. Mark accepted an entry level administrative role in football and his exceptional skills were obvious from the outset. I told (Missouri football coach) Gary Pinkel that Mark really has some talent and I may want to bring him over to my staff. And we did. As an administrator at Missouri, he added responsibilities advancing from Assistant Athletics Director to Associate Athletics Director to Senior Associate Athletics Director. Tom Bowen has done an excellent job recruiting a Deputy Athletic Director who has a strong work ethic and tremendous values. Having worked at a Power Five conference school as well as leading a program such as Southeast Missouri, Mark has seen college athletics from a lot of different angles. Mark has a wonderful family and I know they are excited to move to Memphis and be a part of great things at the university."
– Mike Alden, Former Director of Athletics, Missouri
"Hiring Mark Alnutt is a great move by Tom Bowen and the University of Memphis. I've had the opportunity to be a friend and colleague with Mark since he started working at Mizzou in 1998. He has established himself as one of the best athletic administrators in the country and is highly respected by his peers. His experience in the 'chair' as an athletics director and at the highest level of athletics will be of great benefit to Memphis. Bottom line is Mark is a great person and is passionate about students who compete in athletics. I'm happy for Mark and Memphis."
– Ross Bjork, Director of Athletics, Ole Miss
"I know and respect both Mark and Tom Bowen. Very good hire for Memphis and a very good fit for Mark and his family. Mark is a leader, he is well trained and has a strong breadth of knowledge in our industry. Exciting times at Memphis."
– Whit Babcock, Director of Athletics, Virginia Tech
"Mark Alnutt is one of the finest, most forward-thinking individuals I've worked with in over 20 years in college athletics. Public opinion of Southeast Athletics has never been higher, thanks to Mark. He left SEMO far better than he found it. The University of Memphis got better today."
– Tom Matukewicz, Head Football Coach, Southeast Missouri
"Mark is a tremendous leader that has always had a great vision and plan for success. He provides a platform for the staff and student-athletes to have an opportunity for success in all areas. His values as a person will shine through and lead Memphis to great, continued success."
– Barry Odom, Defensive Coordinator, Missouri
"We conducted a comprehensive national search for this position and received interest from a number of highly qualified and experienced applicants," Director of Athletics Tom Bowen said. "I am very pleased to announce Mark Alnutt as the new Deputy Director of Athletics at the University of Memphis. Mark is one of the best young athletics directors in Division 1 and brings a tremendous set of skills and leadership experience to our department. I am confident Mark will be a great resource and mentor to our coaches, student-athletes and staff and will continue the upward trajectory of our programs."
"I'm extremely honored and humbled to be named Deputy Director of Athletics at the University of Memphis," Alnutt said. "I've been privileged to follow the growth and recent successes of this Athletic Department during my tenure as Director of Athletics at Southeast Missouri State University.
Alnutt added, "It is an exciting time for the University of Memphis and this was validated when I visited with Dr. (David) Rudd and Tom Bowen and heard their vision for Athletics during the interview process. My family is eager and excited to join the Memphis family and I look forward to hitting the ground running when I arrive in August."
At Southeast Missouri, Alnutt had oversight of an NCAA Division I athletic department operating on three core values in its mission – Academic Excellence, Social Development and Competitive Success.
Under Alnutt's leadership, Southeast Missouri's student-athletes excelled in the classroom, recording a cumulative 3.15 grade point average during the 2014-15 academic year. The year marked the second straight, Southeast's overall grade point average for student-athletes was better than 3.1.
Eleven of Southeast Missouri's 15 athletic programs achieved a 3.13 or higher GPA during the 2014-15 academic year. Southeast Missouri had 195 student-athletes record a 3.0 or higher grade point average during the year. A total of 140 student-athletes made Southeast's Dean's List by earning at least a 3.5 GPA.
During the past year, 71 student-athletes received their degrees from Southeast Missouri.
In line with academics, Alnutt strongly encouraged coaches, administrators and student-athletes to be visible in the community during his tenure as Southeast's director of athletics.
This past year student-athletes, coaches and staff logged a record 4,100 community service hours. Five teams averaged at least 15 community service hours per student-athlete.
In the past two years, members of the Southeast Missouri Athletics community have registered better than 8,000 hours of community service.
The 2014-15 academic year began with 150 Southeast student-athletes lending a helping hand during move-in day in August and wrapped up in June when 50 student-athletes volunteered at the Summer Arts Festival. In the past two years student-athletes, coaches and staff have been a part of the Canned Food Drive at Wehrenberg Theaters, Feed My Staving Children, Read to Succeed, Special Olympics, Project Homeless Connect, Cape Girardeau Adopt-a-Street, Southeast Serves events and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee events including Halloween at Houck and Rowdy's Winter Wonderland along with outreach to local elementary schools.
Another valuable piece of Southeast's growth in athletics was Alnutt's Redhawks Road Trip.
The Redhawks Road Trip featured a series of outreach events to give fans, alumni, supporters and community members the chance to meet select coaches, student-athletes and administration from Southeast Athletics. Southeast coaches, student-athletes and staff made stops along the "I-55 Corridor," stretching between St. Louis and Memphis in an effort to enhance branding, recruiting and fundraising.
Over the last three years, Alnutt has made critical coaching hires for Southeast Missouri.
In April of this year, Southeast announced the hiring of former Mississippi State coach Rick Ray to head the men's program and later in the month announced the hiring of former Ball State associate coach Rekha Patterson as the head coach of the Redhawks' women's basketball program. Patterson was previously on the staff at Baylor.
Alnutt introduced Tom Matukewicz as the Redhawks' football coach in December, 2013, and last year Southeast quickly saw improvement from the previous season in posting a 5-7 record which included a 25-24 upset win over FCS No. 3-ranked Southeastern Louisiana.
He also introduced Mark Redburn as Southeast Missouri's softball coach in June, 2014.
Alnutt was the driving force behind securing the first-ever NCAA football game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Longstanding regional-rivals Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois met in the College Classic on Sept. 21, 2013.
Southeast Missouri has seen a 58 percent increase in overall football ticket revenue during the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
During Alnutt's tenure, Southeast Missouri won back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular-season baseball championships in 2014 and 2015. The Redhawks' men's track and field team has also won back-to-back OVC indoor titles. Women's soccer also won an Ohio Valley title in 2014. Southeast's men's and women's track teams swept the outdoor championships in 2013.
Also while at Southeast Missouri, Alnutt focused on fundraising initiatives. After taking over as Director of Athletes on April 19, 2012, total giving to athletics has increased by more than 26 percent to the Redhawks Club. He also renegotiated a team apparel contract with Lids Team Sports resulting in a 40 percent annual increase in product allowance and additional allowances for various sport uniforms.
Prior to accepting his first job as Director of Athletics, Alnutt served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director at the University of Missouri.
Alnutt was the administrative liaison for football; supervised track and field, cross country, gymnastics and golf; spearheaded the department's project management team; served as the primary point person for the Athletic Department, overseeing all aspects of facility project master planning, development, management and implementation; and was involved with external department operations, including development, game operations, marketing, media relations, Mizzou Sports Properties and ticket operations.
Alnutt also managed postseason travel arrangements for each of the University of Missouri's 20 intercollegiate sport programs. He oversaw Missouri's Nike contract, the Big Wheels and Flying Tiger programs and the department's relationship with Old Hawthorne Golf Club. In 2009, he managed a $5 million video board project through the University of Missouri Sports Complex with the centerpiece being a new board at Faurot Field. He also oversaw the design and construction of the new Golden Girls/Gymnastics practice facility in the fall of 2011. Alnutt was actively involved in the solicitation and stewardship efforts of capital gift giving, as well.
Alnutt spent six years at the University of Missouri as director of football operations, adding an assistant athletic director title prior to the 2005-2006 season. In that role, his duties included coordinating the team's travel plans, overseeing the football budget, handling compliance issues, scheduling of facilities, assisting with recruiting operations and managing the day-to-day operations of the football program.
He coordinated public relations and community service events for football, and oversaw all organizational aspects for the University of Missouri's trips to the 2003 and 2005 Independence Bowl games played in Shreveport, La. He also represented the football program as part of the design team that planned the $16 million expansion and renovation project which turned the Tom Taylor Building into the Missouri Athletics Training Complex.
Alnutt was a three-year letterman for the University of Missouri as a linebacker and tight end from 1993-1995 and was voted the team's champion of the year as a senior. He earned a degree in sociology in 1995 and went to work for Major Brands as a senior salesman in Kansas City from February 1996 to August 1997.
He returned to the University of Missouri to pursue a master's degree in public administration with an emphasis on sports psychology. He joined the Missouri football staff in 1998 as an administrative/video graduate assistant. Alnutt completed his master's degree in May 2000 and took over as director of football operations that August.
A native of Kansas City, Alnutt served as president of the board of directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Boone County and was selected to participate in the 2002-2003 NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males. In June 2005, he was recognized by Columbia Business Times as one of the Columbia's 40-Under-40 business leaders for his work in the community.
He has participated in the Division I-A Athletic Director's Institute, attended the NACDA Mentoring Institute and chaired the NCAA Women's Gymnastics committee. In 2010, he was the recipient of an Outstanding Chancellor's Staff recognition and the Barbara S. Uehling Award for Administrative Excellence at the University of Missouri.
Alnutt will begin this fall his third year of a four-year term on the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee.
The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee (MOIC) was formed by the Association in January 1990 to review issues related to the interests of ethnic minorities and women. These issues focus on the education and welfare of minority student-athletes, as well as the enhancement of opportunities for ethnic minorities and women in coaching, athletics, administration, officiating and the NCAA governance structure.
He was also appointed to serve a four-year term on the NCAA Football Playing Rules Committee which began last September.
The mission of the NCAA Football Rules Committee is to govern the playing rules of collegiate football by: Acknowledging the traditions of sport; Soliciting input from various college constituencies; Examining existing regulations and making necessary modifications to create safe, practical, concise and enforceable rules; and influencing the long term vision and direction of NCAA football.
Alnutt and his wife, the former Kate Hankins, are the parents of four children, Jaren, Kinleigh, Mason and Aidan.
What others are saying about Memphis' Deputy AD Mark Alnutt ...
"When I arrived in 1998, Mark was already part of our team at Mizzou in a graduate assistant role. Mark accepted an entry level administrative role in football and his exceptional skills were obvious from the outset. I told (Missouri football coach) Gary Pinkel that Mark really has some talent and I may want to bring him over to my staff. And we did. As an administrator at Missouri, he added responsibilities advancing from Assistant Athletics Director to Associate Athletics Director to Senior Associate Athletics Director. Tom Bowen has done an excellent job recruiting a Deputy Athletic Director who has a strong work ethic and tremendous values. Having worked at a Power Five conference school as well as leading a program such as Southeast Missouri, Mark has seen college athletics from a lot of different angles. Mark has a wonderful family and I know they are excited to move to Memphis and be a part of great things at the university."
– Mike Alden, Former Director of Athletics, Missouri
"Hiring Mark Alnutt is a great move by Tom Bowen and the University of Memphis. I've had the opportunity to be a friend and colleague with Mark since he started working at Mizzou in 1998. He has established himself as one of the best athletic administrators in the country and is highly respected by his peers. His experience in the 'chair' as an athletics director and at the highest level of athletics will be of great benefit to Memphis. Bottom line is Mark is a great person and is passionate about students who compete in athletics. I'm happy for Mark and Memphis."
– Ross Bjork, Director of Athletics, Ole Miss
"I know and respect both Mark and Tom Bowen. Very good hire for Memphis and a very good fit for Mark and his family. Mark is a leader, he is well trained and has a strong breadth of knowledge in our industry. Exciting times at Memphis."
– Whit Babcock, Director of Athletics, Virginia Tech
"Mark Alnutt is one of the finest, most forward-thinking individuals I've worked with in over 20 years in college athletics. Public opinion of Southeast Athletics has never been higher, thanks to Mark. He left SEMO far better than he found it. The University of Memphis got better today."
– Tom Matukewicz, Head Football Coach, Southeast Missouri
"Mark is a tremendous leader that has always had a great vision and plan for success. He provides a platform for the staff and student-athletes to have an opportunity for success in all areas. His values as a person will shine through and lead Memphis to great, continued success."
– Barry Odom, Defensive Coordinator, Missouri
Thursday, April 09
Tuesday, September 02
Friday, March 07
Monday, January 27