Bill McGillis was introduced as Southern Miss’ new athletic director by university President Rodney Bennett during a press conference Thursday in the Trent Lott Center on the USM campus.
“I am honored to be the AD here at the University of Southern Mississippi,” McGillis said alongside his wife, Margie. “I envision great things.”
McGillis served as the Executive Associate Athletic Director at the University of South Florida since 2008, where he the sport administrator for the football, baseball and softball programs and was responsible for leading the department’s revenue-generating units, including marketing, ticket sales, licensing, merchandising and communications.
“The journey building this program is going to be something special,” McGillis added.
Under the leadership of McGillis, the USF Bulls recorded enormous profits in ticket and merchandising sales. The university also experienced record increases of attendance to sporting events.
McGillis’ hiring comes just 18 days after former AD Jeff Hammond’s contract expired on June 30.
The former USF AD accumulated over 20 years of administrative experience in athletics with four different universities and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sports administration from St. Thomas University in Florida.
The theme of change will continue for Southern Miss athletics as McGillis joins new head coach, Todd Monken, with the task of reviving a Southern Miss football team that went 0-12 during the 2012 season.
