Dan Radakovich (born June 9, 1958) is the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

. Prior to his appointment at the University of Miami, Radakovich previously served as the athletic director at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

from 2000 to 2001,

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

from 2006 to 2012, and

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

from 2012 to 2021. The

Clemson Tigers football The Clemson Tigers are the American football team at Clemson University. The Tigers compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic C ...

program won a pair of national titles during his tenure. From 2001 to 2006, Radakovich was the senior associate director of athletics at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Early life and education

Radakovich is a

Serbian American Serbian Americans ( sr, / ) or American Serbs (), are Americans of Serb ethnic ancestry. As of 2013, there were about 190,000 American citizens who identified as having Serb ancestry. However, the number may be significantly higher, as there w ...

, from

Monaca, Pennsylvania Monaca ( ) is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States along the Ohio River, northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 5,615 as of the 2020 census. First incorporated as Phillipsburg as the home of the New Philadelphia Societ ...

, where he attended Center High School just outside

Aliquippa, Pennsylvania Aliquippa is the largest city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located on the Ohio River about northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 9,238 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part ...

. In 1980, Radakovich was a distinguished graduate from the

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance. In 1982, he graduated from the University of Miami Business School with an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

Career

Early career

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

, he revamped radio broadcast agreements. At the University of South Carolina, he managed $33 million in facility improvements, including the

Colonial Life Arena The Colonial Life Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, primarily home to the University of South Carolina men's and women's basketball teams. Opened as a replacement for the Carolina Coliseum with the name Carolina Center ...

, now the home of USC's basketball teams as well as other sports. At

, he worked to get the school into the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...

. He hired top-level executive staff, including JC Whipple to fill the role of Asst. AD for Communications. At

, he developed a football ticket donation program and was involved in $90 million renovation of Tiger Stadium.

Georgia Tech

When hired at Georgia Tech on February 22, 2006, Radakovich beat out former Tech player and head coach

Bill Curry William Alexander Curry (born October 21, 1942) is a retired American football coach and former player. Most recently, Curry was the head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010. Previously, Curry s ...

and former Tech baseball and football player and baseball assistant coach

Cam Bonifay Cameron Hubert Bonifay (born February 12, 1952) is a former major league baseball executive and scout, best known as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1993 to 2001. Career Bonifay's father was a minor league general manager for sever ...

for the job. Radakovich improved the sales of season tickets for the 2006 football season, especially "chairback" or "club level" season tickets; hired football head coach Paul Johnson. He changed the way that athletic seating worked with the TECH Fund. The program also had several facilities changes, including a new indoor practice facility for football, Alexander Memorial Coliseum redesigned as

Hank McCamish Pavilion Hank McCamish Pavilion, nicknamed The Thrillerdome and originally known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is an indoor arena located on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the home of the Georgia Tech Yell ...

, and rebuilt tennis facilities. He is blamed for leaving the school saddled with the stigma of being the sole major program wearing Russell Athletic uniforms until 2018. The original contract was for 10 years, beginning in July 2008. Then-AD Radakovich had the option to cancel the final 5 years of the partnership prior to August 1, 2012.

Clemson University

On October 29, 2012, Radakovich accepted the position of athletic director at

. Since taking over as Athletic Director, Radakovich has helped complete more than $180 million in facility enhancements, headlined by a rebuilt Littlejohn Coliseum, the Reeves Football Operations Complex, Duckworth Family Tennis Center, baseball operations facility and the new softball stadium, set to open in 2020. The Reeves complex opened in Feb. 2017, just weeks after winning the 2016

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

National Championship. Radakovich has overseen Clemson's rise to a national football power, led by head coach

Dabo Swinney William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American football coach, currently serving as the head coach at Clemson University. Swinney took over midway through the 2008 season, following the resignation of Tommy Bowden. S ...

. Swinney's football program claimed both the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

College Football National Championship. Radakovich also helped complete several premium seating projects in several facilities. Clemson's athletic department has set records in

Academic Progress Rate The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a measure introduced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the nonprofit association that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, to tr ...

, Graduation Success Rate, and numerous other academic measures. Department revenue nearly doubled from $69 million in FY14 to more than $120 million in 2019. Clemson also agreed a new 10-year, $58 million partnership with Nike that spans all sports. Radakovich was named Sports Business Daily's Athletic Director of the Year in 2017 at the Sports Business Awards. Radakovich was a member of the

Selection Committee from 2014 to 2017. In April 2019, he signed an extension to continue in this role until 2024.

University of Miami

In December 2021, Radakovich joined the

as athletic director for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

References

External links

Miami (FL) profile

Clemson profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radakovich, Dan 1958 births Living people American football punters American football tight ends American Eagles athletic directors California State University, Long Beach people Clemson Tigers athletic directors College Football Playoff Selection Committee members Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets athletic directors IUP Crimson Hawks football players Louisiana State University people Miami Hurricanes athletic directors University of South Carolina people University of Miami Business School alumni People from Monaca, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American people of Serbian descent