Dave Diles Jr. (born 1961) is an American former 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 a ...

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

from 1994 to 1999, Bonaventure,

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...

from 1999 to 2005,

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

from 2005 to 2013, the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

(VMI) from 2013 to 2021, and

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, United States. It enrolls approximately 1,600 students. Due to its proximity to the Canada–United States border, ...

from 2021 to 2023. Diles was an administrative assistant for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in the late 1980s. Diles is the son of the late sports broadcaster Dave Diles Sr.

Early life and education

Diles was born in 1961, in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

, a nearby suburb of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. His father, Dave Diles Sr., was a prominent

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...

broadcaster. The two had a close bond together through sports, and the younger Diles noted in a press conference that his father once called him on the phone, crying, to let him know that his son's favorite

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player (

Gary Bergman Gary Gunnar Bergman (October 7, 1938 – December 8, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. A defenceman, Bergman played in the National Hockey League from 1964 to 1976, mostly for the Detroit Red Wings. He was also a part of Team C ...

) had been traded.September 9, 2013
"New AD willing to stick chin out for VMI."
Roanoke Times. Retrieved July 11, 2014. His father died in December 2009 from a stroke. Diles attended

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

from which he graduated in 1983 with a master's degree in sports administration.September 4, 2013
"Dave Diles Named New VMI Athletic Director."
VMIKeydets.com. Retrieved July 11, 2014. Diles later earned a

doctor of education Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded ...

from the

in 1988. He is married to his wife, Suzanne Irene Diles, and the couple has two sons, Matthew and Mitchell.

Administrative career

Diles' athletic administrative career began in at

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a Public university, public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States. It was established in 1892 as a private normal school and became a state institution in 1895. CMU is one of the eigh ...

where he was the

Chippewas The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and throu ...

' assistant athletic director from 1989 to 1991. He then took the same position at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

from 1991 to 1994. Diles received his first head athletic directing job in 1994 at

in western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. During his tenure with the Bonnies, the school's programs won more

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

championships in from 1995 to 1999 than they had in all years prior. After leaving St. Bonaventure in 1999, Diles went to

. He oversaw the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

win 21 total

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

titles in a six-year span, and graduation rates of Eastern Michigan student-athletes almost doubled. The Eagles

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team, however, failed to achieve a winning season under Diles' direction. In 2005, Diles stepped away from the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

ranks and became the athletic director at

, an

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

school. He cited that he choose the school for a "breadth of responsibilities. Having an opportunity to expand my professional responsibilities to include physical education, intramurals, club sports, recreational programming was very attractive."September 4, 2013
"Diles hired as Keydets’ new AD."
Roanoke Times. Retrieved July 11, 2014. In Diles' tenure, Case Western football made the Division III playoffs three times. The team also won 38 consecutive regular-season games, and Diles oversaw the opening of ''Village at 115'', which included expanded fan seating and press boxes.September 5, 2013
"Athletic Director Dave Diles accepts position at Virginia Military Institute."
CWRU-Daily.com. Retrieved July 11, 2014. Following an eight-year career with Case Western, Diles was appointed as the 11th athletic director for the

on September 4, 2013. He was appointed by VMI superintendent J. H. Binford Peay III, and was the successor to Donny White, who had been the Keydets' athletic director since 1998. The contract was for four years worth $150,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diles, Dave Jr. 1961 births Living people Case Western Reserve Spartans athletic directors Eastern Michigan Eagles athletic directors Lake Superior State Lakers athletic directors St. Bonaventure Bonnies athletic directors VMI Keydets athletic directors Ohio University alumni University of Michigan School of Education alumni People from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Sportspeople from Oakland County, Michigan