Story Courtesy Chattanooga sports information
CHATTANOOGA, TN - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chancellor Roger Brown announced Richard L. Hart as the Mocs’ new Athletics Director at a media conference held Tuesday on the UTC campus.
“Rick rose to the top for us from a very strong pool of candidates,” Brown said. “His experience in athletics marketing and promotion will be a huge asset to our athletics program as we work to encourage more fans to attend our events. He also brings a strong background in fund raising, game operations, facilities management, and overall administration that will benefit both Mocs athletics and the UTC campus as a whole.”
Previously the senior associate athletic director for external operations at the University of Oklahoma, Hart has spent the last seven years at that institution building a career primarily in marketing and with direct oversight of Oklahoma’s men’s and women’s tennis, the development office, ticket office, marketing and promotions, licensing, information technology, event management, game operations, and facilities.
During Hart’s tenure at Oklahoma, records for attendance and ticket sales have been established in nearly every sport. Annual contributions to the Sooner Club are projected to surpass an all-time annual giving record of $17 million; gross licensing revenues were increased from $400,000 in 1999 to over $3 million in 2005.
“We are all truly delighted to be welcomed into the UTC family and the Chattanooga community and look forward to what is to come,” Hart said. “I am ecstatic to be here and to stand in front of you today. I appreciate the trust that you all have placed in me to lead this program into the future, and I am prepared to do that. We will make everyone proud to call him or her selves a Moc.”
Under Hart’s direction, third-party partnerships at Oklahoma have been extended to create enhanced fan experience, increased annual revenues and greater visibility and exposure for the institution and its athletics programs. Hart was also responsible for launching a unique program which added eight fully-endowed scholarships during the current fiscal year.
His preliminary goals for the UTC athletics department are all attainable under the vision he is bringing to his new role.
“I would like to share with you three priorities for our athletic program,” he said. “Number one; focus on the student-athlete. Number two; operate with honesty, integrity and the appropriate priorities. And number three; engage the community and aggressively seek opportunities to expand and enhance the resources we provide to our student-athletes, our coaches and our staff.
“We want to be a leader in the Southern Conference, and we will do that through our commitment to developing the total student-athlete. We are going to place the needs of the institution of the athletics department ahead of the needs and interests of individuals. And we are going to provide the necessary resources to support a comprehensive, broad-based championship athletics program at this level.”
Hart has alluded to one of his strengths ? a family legacy of athletics administrators beginning with his grandfather, Dave Hart Sr. who served as the Southern Conference Commissioner from 1987-91. His father, Dave Hart, Jr., has worked as the Florida State athletics director since 1995.
“I have to thank the University of Oklahoma,” Hart said. “It has meant a lot to me. Particularly President David L. Born and Athletics Director Joe Castiglione. I wouldn’t be here today without them.
“I also want to thank my family, my grandfather Dave Hart Sr., my father, Dave Hart Jr., who taught me that things can be done the right way and you can still be successful, and you can make a difference in peoples’ lives. And my mother who instilled the values in me which I have today.”
His father expressed his excitement for his son’s opportunity.
“I am very happy and proud that Rick has been selected to be the Athletics Director at UTC,” said Dave Jr. “I believe he has certainly proven himself among his peers in this profession and that he is more than ready to assume this role. He is fortunate to have worked for some wonderful people at outstanding universities and is now going to have that same opportunity at yet another excellent university as its athletics director. It certainly seems to be a very good fit, and he is genuinely excited about every aspect of the job.”
Hart has also worked in athletics for the University of North Carolina and East Carolina University and has served with the U.S. Olympic Committee. A 1994 graduate of UNC, Hart earned a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, Health and Sport Science.
Along with his wife, Allison, also a graduate of North Carolina, the couple has one son, Trevor, 6, and one daughter, Caroline, 3.
Hart is expected to officially start at UTC in mid-July. He replaces Steve Sloan, who recently retired after four years at UTC Athletics Director.