Mack B. Rhoades, IV, who has provided outstanding leadership and vision for three NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision athletic programs, was named Baylor University’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics on July 13, 2016.
Rhoades has organized a team of dynamic administrators and restructured the athletics department to maximize efficiencies across teams. His concept of Preparing Champions for Life has provided the ongoing vision for Baylor Athletics, which aims to bolster the student-athlete experience by focusing on the areas of academic achievement, athletic success, character formation and spiritual growth.
Over his eight years in Waco, Baylor has won 24 Big 12 titles and eight national championships. Since 2011, Baylor leads the nation in combined wins among football, and men’s and women’s basketball, sporting 46 more wins than the next closest.
Rhoades will enter his second year on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee in 2025-26, and will serve as the selection chair for the upcoming year, it was announced by the CFP on March 4, 2025. He served his first of a three-year appointment in 2024-25, assisting in picking the first 12-team field in College Football Playoff history.
The 2023-24 season saw Coach Fee Mulkey’s Acrobatics & Tumbling team win its ninth-consecutive national championships. Softball won the NCAA Lafayette Regional and advanced to a Super Regional, men’s tennis advanced to a 26th straight NCAA Tournament and the women’s tennis team earned its 25th all-time NCAA appearance, and Volleyball advanced to its eighth straight NCAA Tournament.
Most notably, the 2023-24 athletic season marked the opening of the Paul & Alejandra Foster Pavilion, a $212.6 million dollar jewel of Waco’s revitalization of the Brazos River Front. The Baylor men’s and women’s basketball team played conference schedules at The Foster and moved into the Allison Development Center in July.
Baylor’s student-athletes continued to shine academically and in the community, with a 3.32 departmental GPA marking a tie for the best academic year on record and 13 programs boasted a 3.2+ GPA. Baylor athletes participated in 138 character formation programs and events and 35 student-athletes graduated from the leadership institute.
Rhoades led a team in the Baylor Bear Foundation in 2023-24 that once again shattered departmental records, reporting $25.6 million in total giving during the fiscal year.
In 2022-23, Baylor saw its Acrobatics & Tumbling team secure an eighth-straight national championship, while running its streak to 27 straight wins. New head coaches Mitch Thompson (baseball) and Michelle Lenard (soccer) debuted, all while the Bears found continued success in competition. Football advanced to a bowl game for the 11th time in 13 years, softball earned a 40-win season, men’s and women’s golf advanced to the NCAA Championship, men’s tennis earned its 25th straight NCAA Tournament bid and women’s tennis advanced to its 24th NCAA tourney appearance. Volleyball earned its seventh-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and advanced to the Sweet 16.
Off the field of competition, the Bears excelled again in 2022-23, earning a 3.28 departmental GPA with 11 teams sporting a combined GPA of over 3.2. The spring marked the 30th consecutive semester with a departmental wide GPA of at least 3.0 and over the fall and spring 535 student-athletes earned Academic Champion status, which equates to graduates, student-athletes with a 3.5 GPA or a personal best GPA. The Bears also boasted over 183 events through its Character Formation program, with 440 student-athletes participating in community volunteer activities, equaling to an economic impact of $117,217. There were two mission trips, including 30 student-athletes and nine sports, and the Bears saw continued growth in iDisciple, chapel and team ministry programs.
The Baylor Bear Foundation had a banner year in 2022-23 under Rhoades, with the foundation exceeding budgeted goals in raising $25.1 million in total gifts, the best annual giving campaign in school history, while raising an additional $56 million beyond its annual fund contributions during the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Rhoades has been instrumental in securing the largest current gift in Baylor history, a $100-million gift that will help to fund the new Paul and Alejandra Foster Basketball Pavilion. In addition to the state-of-the-art Foster Pavilion, set to open in January of 2024, Rhoades has also spearheaded the Fudge Development Center, a $75-million facility that will house the daily operations of the football program and will open in the summer of 2024.
During 2021-22, Baylor had one of the best athletic seasons in collegiate history, earning Big 12 Championships in football, and men’s and women’s basketball, the only school in the 26-year history of the league to accomplish that feat. The Bears boasted a 74-8 record in football and men’s and women’s basketball, the best in the country. Football won the 2021 Sugar Bowl, while earning a No. 4 national ranking at the end of the season. Acrobatics & Tumbling claimed its seventh-straight NCAA Championship and men’s tennis claimed the Big 12 Tournament title. A total of nine teams earned top-10 national rankings. The Bears were the only school in the nation to have multiple NFL, NBA and WNBA draft picks.
Off the field in 2021-22, the Bears had a 94-percent graduation success rate (GSR), the highest in the Big 12 Conference in the last eight years. BU had a combined 3.32 GPA across all sports and 10 of 17 sports owned at least a 3.3 GPA for the season. There were 163 events sponsored by Character Formation, with Spiritual Growth and the Baylor Built program excelling in its impact on BU student-athletes. BBF raised $21.9 million in total giving during the fiscal year, a then-school record, while adding an additional $33 million beyond annual fund contributions.
For the second-consecutive full term (not including the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign), the Bears brought home multiple national championships. After acrobatics & tumbling won its fifth-straight title and women’s basketball clinched their third national championship in 2019, A&T extended to six straight in 2020-21 and men’s basketball claimed its first in program history.
In June 2021, Rhoades was selected as Sports Business Journal’s 2021 Athletics Director of the Year, marking the second Athletics Director of the Year honor earned by Rhoades in as many years. He was chosen as 2019-20 NACDA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year in March 2020.
The 2020-21 academic year, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, brought success for Baylor Athletics as the department combined to bring 20 trophies home to Waco. Men’s basketball won its first Big 12 regular-season title and clinched its first conference title since 1950 en route to winning every NCAA tournament game by an average of 15.3 points to claim its first-ever national championship.
The women’s basketball program brought home its 11th-straight, and 12th overall, Big 12 regular season championship in addition to their 11th Big 12 Championship title, marking the 10th time Baylor swept the regular-season and tournament titles. The women’s basketball team advanced to the program’s 10th Elite Eight, marking the sixth time in the last seven seasons the Bears have been one of the final eight squads standing.
Baylor had 16 of 19 teams reach the postseason in 2020-21. Acrobatics & Tumbling brought home its sixth-straight national championship, and men’s tennis advanced to the program’s third national championship match and first since 2005. Equestrian upset top-ranked Auburn in the NCEA Championship and Track & Field had three individual national champions at the same NCAA meet (NCAA Indoor Championships) for the first time in program history.
Overall, Baylor’s 11 head-to-head sports compiled a 208-86-3 record (.705 winning percentage) during the 2020-21 academic year as 10 of Baylor’s 17 teams finished the term ranked, including six in the top 10. Baylor Athletics also brought home six Big 12 titles.
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, thanks in large part to the direction of Baylor’s health & wellness staff, the Bears completed 93.3 percent of their scheduled contests.
Academically, Baylor set a school record with an overall score of 94 in Graduation Success Rate (GSR) that led the Big 12 for the seventh-straight year and was tops in the state of Texas in addition to ranking 10th nationally among Power Five schools. The Bears have had a 3.0 GPA or better term GPA for 26-straight semesters.
Rhoades also oversaw the Baylor Bear Foundation as it reported more than $19.5 million in annual giving to Baylor Athletics in 2020, tied for the second-highest giving total in the foundation’s 70-plus year history.
The 2018-19 academic year brought several strategic initiatives to the forefront of athletics beginning with December’s unveiling of the “Baylor Built” character formation program. The holistic program encompasses character and leadership development, personal skills, social responsibility, community engagement and spiritual growth.
Rhoades, in a collective effort with a team assembled by Jovan Overshown, Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs, launched – in association with NIKE – the “Baylor United” brand and visual identity for the department in April of 2019. The process produced a unified color palette, updated primary and secondary marks, new wordmarks and custom brand font and numerical system.
In May of 2019, as part of the Baylor Athletics Master Plan portion of the university’s $1.1 billion “Give Light” campaign, Rhoades announced the department would build a new $105 million basketball fieldhouse following the largest current gift in the university’s history. An anonymous lead gift will spearhead the Baylor Basketball Pavilion to provide an electric atmosphere for the department’s national championship-winning basketball programs.
Rhoades has led national searches for eight head coaching positions during his time at Baylor, ultimately bringing to Waco, Matt Rhule (Football) in 2016, Casie Maxwell (Equestrian) in 2017, Brian Boland (Men’s Tennis) in 2018, Dave Aranda (Football) in 2020, Nicki Collen (Women’s Basketball) in 2021, Michelle Lenard (Soccer) in 2022 and Mitch Thompson (Baseball) in 2022. He also promoted Michael Woodson to head coach during the men’s tennis team’s postseason run to a national runner-up finish.
The Bears remain committed to giving back, with student-athletes volunteering more than 5,500 hours throughout the Waco community in the last three academic years. The football, men’s and women’s basketball teams each adopted local elementary schools during the school term where student-athletes would read to classes either virtually or in person.
While mission trips were put on hold for the 2020-21 term due to the pandemic, more than 100 student-athletes participated in spiritual growth opportunities on campus. Previously, Baylor’s Sports Ministry Team traveled to share the love of Christ internationally for 12 consecutive years.
Rhoades joined the Baylor family from the University of Missouri, where he spent the previous year (2015-16) leading the 20-sport Southeastern Conference intercollegiate athletics department, and he previously served in similar capacities at the University of Houston (2009-15) and the University of Akron (2006-09).
His first year in Columbia saw Mizzou student-athletes register the highest one-semester grade-point in school history at 3.03 for the fall 2015 term; Barry Odom hired as the Tigers’ head football coach; wrestler J’den Cox win an NCAA title and earn a berth on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team; the Tigers’ men’s swimming and diving team place a program-best eighth at the NCAA Championship and its women’s basketball program return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006. Bolstered by three top 11 NCAA finishes--wrestling (sixth), men’s swimming and diving (eighth) and women’s swimming and diving (11th), Missouri finished 43rd in the final 2015-16 Learfield Directors’ Cup standings.
Rhoades and his staff developed a student-athlete enrichment program, Mizzou Made: Preparing Champions for Life. This innovative and comprehensive program is part of a campus community partnership focusing on life skills and career development among other core values.
Before moving to Missouri, Rhoades enjoyed five-and-a-half rewarding years guiding the athletic fortunes at the University of Houston as Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics. He reignited the Cougars’ entire program, hiring 14 new head coaches, including 2015 FWAA First-Year Coach of the Year Tom Herman. Rhoades also oversaw a transformation of the student-athlete experience while also directing marked improvements in the areas of academics, facilities, fundraising and athletic success. In nearly every academic measurement, including grade-point average and the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate, Houston registered record achievements. He also unveiled the Cougar Pride Leadership Academy to equip student-athletes with life-long leadership and life skills.
Houston’s football team appeared in four bowl games during Rhoades’ six seasons, and enjoyed a historic 2011 campaign which saw it climb to No. 6 in the BCS standings en route to a 13-1 record and its first season-ending finish in The Associated Press Top 25 since 1990.
Known as an outstanding fundraiser, Houston raised nearly $100M and constructed $160M in new facilities during his tenure, including a new on-campus football stadium, a men’s and women’s basketball training center, a golf academy and a short-game facility. Rhoades also negotiated one of the nation’s top five facility naming rights agreements at the collegiate level and secured a new multi-media rights deal for Houston. Cougar Pride, Houston Athletics’ fundraising arm, set an annual donation record for the fifth-consecutive year in 2013-14 as more than 3,100 Cougar Pride members contributed $4.5M to eclipse the previous mark of $3.5M set the previous year.
Rhoades and University of Houston President Dr. Renu Khator successfully steered the institution into an exciting new era when it was invited in December 2011 to join The American Athletic Conference beginning with the 2013-14 academic year. Houston’s first year in The American was arguably one of the finest in school history, as its 2013-14 teams combined for 157 victories, 17 American individual championships, 10 NCAA postseason berths and a pair of American team titles. That successful surge led to Houston’s highest national finish in the Learfield Directors’ Cup since 2000-01.
Rhoades served as chair of the American Athletic Conference Athletics Directors Committee, Athletics Directors Executive Committee and Athletics Directors Finance Committee after having served Conference USA as chairperson for its Championship and Site Selection Committees.
Prior to his arrival at Houston, Rhoades helped the University of Akron achieve unprecedented academic and athletic success. During his tenure, Zip student-athletes earned: 765 total Dean’s List honors, 213 All-Conference honors, 83 Academic All-Conference awards, 20 team championships, 14 Conference Player of the Year awards and 12 All-America honors.
Rhoades’ Akron tenure was also marked by the construction of a $61.6M on-campus football stadium, the creation of a women’s golf program, three-time recognition for the department’s diversity strategy and the hiring of 11 head coaches. UA student-athletes also generously gave back the community during Rhoades’ tenure providing more than 5,000 service hours to the greater Akron area during each of the 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years.
He served as a member of the NCAA Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet--as well as its Administrative Committee, and led the Mid-American Conference External Affairs Committee. Rhoades also helped then-MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst negotiate an unprecedented TV contract for the league with ESPN.
Rhoades went to Akron after seven years at UTEP, where he worked his way up the department ranks to become the Miners Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director after starting as Assistant Athletics Director for Development. In his final position at UTEP, Rhoades oversaw all fundraising, the marketing and media relations offices as well as football external operations, men’s basketball, men’s golf, licensing, Miner Athletic Club and the athletics ticket office.
Rhoades, who holds a bachelor’s degree in health sciences from the University of Arizona (1993) and a master’s of science degree in athletics administration/sports management from Indiana University (2002), began his intercollegiate athletics career as a marketing assistant in the Yale athletic department (1996) and worked in development at Marquette (1997-98) before joining the UTEP staff in 1998.
Mack and his wife, Amy, have three daughters – Nicolette (husband Christian Santillán), Natalie (husband, Andrew Charbine and children, Gerard and Gianna) and Noelle (husband, Mason Schlotzhauer).
BAYLOR ATHLETIC DIRECTORS
1903-04 R.N. Watts
1907-08 Luther Burleson
1908-11 Enoch Mills
1913-14 Norman Paine
1914-20 Charles Mosley
1920-26 Frank Bridges
1927-40 Morley Jennings
1941-49 Ralph Wolf
1950-59 George Sauer
1959-68 John Bridgers
1968-71 Bill Henderson
1971-80 Jack Patterson
1980-92 Bill Menefee
1992-93 Grant Teaff
1993-96 Dick Ellis
1996-03 Tom Stanton
2003-16 Ian McCaw
2016- Mack Rhoades
