David Benedict Named UConn Athletic Director: Contract Details and Reaction

The University of Connecticut announced it had hired David Benedict as its new athletics director on Monday.   

Benedict comes over from Auburn University after serving as its chief operating officer. He also spent time in the athletic administrations at the University of Minnesota, Virginia Commonwealth University, Arizona State University and Long Beach State.

Connecticut released a statement on Monday (h/t Paul Doyle and Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford Courant) and UConn president Susan Herbst had this to say about Benedict:

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We make this announcement with excitement, pride, and tremendous optimism about the future. Today’s AD must be have the sophistication to manage and closely oversee finance, marketing, media contracts, fundraising and fan engagement, among many other things. And these responsibilities are all secondary to the traditional responsibilities of utmost import:  taking care of our student athletes, supporting their academic success, and making sure that our coaches have what they need to compete successfully.

We sought a leader whose grasp of the national landscape and relentless pursuit of excellence would be second-to-none. I am very happy to say that we found exactly what we were looking for in David Benedict.

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Benedict is replacing former athletic director Warde Manuel, who left for the same position at the University of Michigan in late January. He commented on his new position in the release:

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I am very excited to join UConn Nation as its Director of Athletics and am very grateful to President Herbst, Board of Trustees Chairman Larry McHugh and the entire Board of Trustees and Search Committee. The success of UConn from both an academic and athletic perspective is known around the country. UConn wins national championships and plays in bowl games and I wanted to be part of an elite program like this.  I look forward to getting to know all of our coaches, student-athletes and administrators. My family and I can’t wait to be part of this special university!

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On Tuesday, Ed Daigneault of the Republican-American noted Benedict signed a five-year contract worth $450,000 a year with a potential yearly bonus of $100,000.

David Borges, who covers Connecticut for the New Haven Register, noted the hiring and seemed to be a little surprised:

Development and fundraising are key to an athletic director's position, and Benedict did that at Auburn in the form of coordinating a five-year strategic plan for the university as well as lead "a feasibility study to make renovations to Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium that initiated a $150 million-$180 million project," according to UConn's statement (h/t the Connecticut Post).

At VCU, Benedict was involved in fundraising and served as interim athletic director for several months following the departure of Norwood Teague to Minnesota.

This could be perceived as a bit of a risk for Connecticut considering Benedict has never been a full-time athletic director, and his name was not even mentioned among a list of candidates to replace Manuel in a story by Doyle in January.

However, Benedict does bring with him experience from major athletic departments in positions that worked hand-in-hand with athletic directors, while his strong background in fundraising most likely played a major role in him landing the job.