Baylor has hired Doug McNamee as its new athletic director.
McNamee, the president of Field and Stream, worked at Baylor from 2012 to 2018, ultimately as the Baylor senior associate AD, before departing to be the president at Magnolia, the Waco lifestyle brand run by Baylor alums Joanna and Chip Gaines. He joined Field and Stream in 2022.
“My connection to Baylor University runs deep, and its culture, history, and expectations have profoundly shaped my life,” McNamee said in a statement. “I believe the breadth of my experiences has prepared me for this moment at Baylor and within the evolving landscape of college athletics. Stepping into corporate leadership allowed me to cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, hunger, and financial discipline required to thrive in today’s environment and the one ahead. Returning to my alma mater in this capacity is a profound honor and responsibility. I do not take it lightly.”
McNamee replaces Mack Rhoades, who had been athletic director at Baylor since 2016 but stepped down for personal reasons.
Baylor president Linda Livingstone told ESPN recently that a new AD’s task would be to tackle the pressures of funding NIL and revenue sharing in college athletics.
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“We have to really work with our donors to step up. We have to work with sponsorships, we have to work on companies that will walk beside us for NIL sponsorships,” Livingstone said. “That’s going to be a really big focus for a new athletic director. … That’s what many, many institutions are looking at right now. How do we supplement and grow financial support for athletics in a way that’s different than we’ve done it in the past that doesn’t put as much burden on our institutions?”
In his previous stint at Baylor, McNamee was responsible for all major revenue-generating and brand-facing units, including fundraising, marketing, communications and premium ticketing.
One of McNamee’s first jobs will be to help right the ship in football under coach Dave Aranda, whom Livingstone retained despite Baylor fans’ growing dissatisfaction.
In 2021, Baylor went 12-2 and won a Big 12 championship, but since then, the Bears have gone 22-28 over four seasons.
