Allen Greene has been hired as Auburn University's 15th athletic director and will assume that role next month.
Greene, the AD at the University of Buffalo since November 2015, has previous working experience in the Southeastern Conference at Ole Miss, where he headed multiple business development and advancement functions from 2009 to '12. He will replace Jay Jacobs, who has served as Auburn's AD since January 2005.
"In our interviews and due diligence learning all we could about him," Auburn president Steven Leath said Thursday in a release, "it became overwhelmingly clear that Allen has the right combination of leadership, enthusiasm, experience and management to lead Auburn athletics to success well into the future."
Greene, 40, will be introduced at a news conference this morning.
A Notre Dame graduate with a degree in finance, Greene was a three-year starter in baseball for the Fighting Irish. He was selected by the New York Yankees in the 1998 MLB draft and played in their minor league system until March 2001.
"Time-honored traditions have helped create a culture of success at Auburn that is incredibly rare," Greene said. "I am humbled that President Leath and the search committee entrust me to maintain all that is uniquely Auburn and utilize that foundation to forge a path to even greater heights."
Greene will give the SEC two black ADs, joining Vanderbilt's David Williams, whose official title is vice-chancellor for university affairs and athletics.
"We looked for a charismatic, up-and-coming and elite leader to take Auburn athletics into the future, and we found the very best in Allen Greene," said former Auburn golfer and 2013 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner, who was a search committee member.
Auburn won 12 national championships and 25 SEC titles under Jacobs, with the most recognized league and national champion being the 2010 football team that was led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton.
Jacobs, however, announced in early November that he would be resigning due to the "series of controversies" that had arisen in several sports. The two top concerns currently facing Auburn athletics are a Title IX investigation into alleged sexual harassment of softball players and the federal investigation involving the men's basketball program that has resulted in the dismissal of assistant coach Chuck Person and the ongoing suspensions of players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.