Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes is retiring, the school announced Thursday.
Barnes is expected to help transition his successor before he steps down as AD on Aug. 31. He will remain with the university as a senior advisor to athletics until Aug. 31, 2027.
A veteran administrator, Barnes has been at Oregon State since being hired in December 2016. He has also worked as the athletic director at Utah State, Pittsburgh and Eastern Washington.
Barnes has overseen Oregon State’s new paradigm in the wake of the collapse and rebuild of the Pac-12, which has included a slashed budget and the departure of football coach Jonathan Smith for Michigan State. He also has been at the center of the Pac-12’s attempt to rebuild.
For the two schools left behind in realignment in the wake of the Pac-12’s implosion — Oregon State and Washington State — there has been consistent instability administratively and in coaching. As the schools have adjusted to drastic revenue decreases and new fiscal realities, they have been subject to near constant turnover.
Barnes spent just 18 months at Pitt, and his time there included the hiring of Kevin Stallings as basketball coach. That hire failed, as Stallings lasted just two seasons and went 8-24 his second year there.
