From 2015 to 2024 athletic departments within NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions across the Power 4 (autonomous) and Group of 5 (non-autonomous) conferences experienced substantial growth in organizational capacity. More than 1,000 new assistant and associate athletic director (AD) positions were added during this period (NCAA, 2024), with assistant AD roles increasing by 80% and associate AD roles by 43%. This expansion reflects the broadening operational scope of athletic departments and the emergence of new pathways for staff to develop leadership skills.
This report examines how staffing is structured across athletic departments, including the distribution of roles, the progression of career stages, and the pathways that commonly lead to executive leadership positions. Historically, assistant and associate AD roles have been considered central to preparing individuals for the athletic director position because they often encompass responsibilities such as budgeting, fundraising, contract oversight, and sport supervision. This study extends that focus to all job areas and four career tiers (early/mid-career, middle management, senior management, and executive) to better understand how leadership capacity develops across an entire department.
An analysis of gender is also included to provide additional context about workforce composition. For example, between 2015 and 2024, women’s representation in assistant and associate AD roles increased from 29.7 to 35 percent and from 25 to 31 percent, respectively. Still, men occupy roughly 70% of positions perceived to be critical for advancement to the athletic director chair. While these changes indicate shifting workforce patterns, demographic information is presented as context rather than evaluation.
The Pipeline Project is designed as a resource for athletic administrators, researchers, and industry professionals engaged in workforce planning and leadership development. The data support benchmarking against peer institutions, inform strategic staffing decisions, and contribute to broader discussions about organizational design within intercollegiate athletics.
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