Thomas A. Goss (born July 6, 1946) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player and college athletics administrator. He served as 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 an ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1997 to 2000. Goss was born in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

, in 1946. He attended Austin High School in Knoxville. In 1964, he enrolled at the University of Michigan. Goss was initiated into

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity - Sigma chapter in 1966. He played for the Michigan Wolverines football team as a defensive lineman from 1965 to 1968. He was selected as a first-team All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

defensive tackle in 1968. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1968. From 1969 to 1997, Goss was employed in business with various companies, including

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, R. J. Reynolds Industries,

Del Monte Foods Del Monte Foods, Inc (trading as Del Monte Foods) is an American food production and distribution company headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. Del Monte Foods is one of the country's largest producers, distributors and marketer of br ...

Faygo Faygo Beverages, Inc., is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United ...

National Beverage National Beverage Corp. is an American beverage developer, manufacturer, and distributor based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, focused on flavored soft drinks, with its most noted brands being La Croix, Shasta, and Faygo. History The company was ...

, and PIA Merchandising. In September 1997, Goss became the athletic director at the University of Michigan. Goss took over as athletic director amid the

University of Michigan basketball scandal The University of Michigan basketball scandal, or the Ed Martin scandal, concerned National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) rules violations resulting from the relationship between the University of Michigan (or Michigan), its men's baske ...

. One month after taking over as athletic director, Goss fired the school's head basketball coach, Steve Fisher, for his involvement in violations relating to the scandal. Michigan's athletic department ran a deficit in 1999, and Goss came under criticism for his management of the department. In February 2000, Goss announced his resignation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goss, Tom 1946 births Living people American football defensive tackles Michigan Wolverines athletic directors Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Knoxville, Tennessee