Charlotte 49ers turn to Florida Gators for new athletics director

UNC Charlotte’s search for a new leader for its athletics department came to a swift conclusion Wednesday when chancellor Phil Dubois announced Mike Hill as the 49ers’ athletic director.

Hill, executive associate athletics director at Florida, will take over on March 15 and be introduced at a public news conference on March 6. He will replace Judy Rose, who announced her retirement in January. Rose will work through June 30.

Among Hill’s primary duties will to help breathe life back into the 49ers’ marquee sports: the men’s basketball program, which is closing out another disappointing season this week, and the football program, which struggled to a 1-11 season in 2017.

“Mike has a deep background in a highly successful athletic program from a ‘Power Five’ conference, so he has played lead roles in hiring and working with highly successful head coaches, negotiating multi-million dollar media agreements and facilities naming rights, and being on point in external relations for the Gators,” Dubois said in a statement.

“But we were equally impressed by his sports administration experience and his dedication to the welfare and personal development of student-athletes.”

Hill and and Penn State deputy athletics director and chief operating officer Phil Esten were finalists for the position. The announcement that Hill and Esten were the finalists came last week. They were in Charlotte earlier this week for on-campus interviews.

Said Hill, who has deep roots in the Carolinas, in a statement: “I am completely humbled by this opportunity to lead the Charlotte 49ers. The campus and facilities are spectacular, but what impresses me most are the people. I can't wait to return to the city that has so many special memories for me and get to work.”

Hill’s hometown is Clemson, S.C., and he is a 1990 graduate of North Carolina, where he earned degrees in political science and communications.

After a two-year stint as assistant athletics director at Ball State, Hill went to Florida in 1993 as marketing coordinator. He was promoted to executive associate athletics director for external affairs for the Gators in 2012.

Among Hill’s accomplishments at Florida was his negotiating an $8.5 million naming rights agreement for the Gators’ basketball arena.

Hill had plenty of support for the Charlotte job from former coaches at Florida with whom he worked and supervised.

“Mike is certainly well deserving and has earned the job,” Steve Spurrier, the Gators’ football coach from 1990 to 2001 and a consultant since 2016 in the athletics department, said in Charlotte’s news release announcing the hire. “We believe he will do a super job for the 49ers. The athletic department will continue to improve and he will lead the programs in a first-class manner.”

“I worked with Mike for 19 years and built a close personal relationship with him,” said former Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan, now with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. “He worked very closely with our basketball program and he was extremely smart, bright and an incredible person. Charlotte has just added a special person to their athletics programs and to their university.”

This story was originally published February 28, 2018 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Charlotte 49ers turn to Florida Gators for new athletics director."