TCU athletic director turns down chance to interview for Missouri AD job, source says
TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati isn’t looking to leave the university anytime soon. Not even for an SEC job.
The University of Missouri reached out to Donati about its athletic director opening but Donati declined the chance to interview, according to a source on Wednesday night.
Donati is focused on navigating TCU through the latest round of realignment in college sports, a source said, and is happy with where he’s at. His contract with TCU runs through 2023.
Donati could not be reached for comment.
TCU hired Donati in 2011 as a deputy athletics director. He was then promoted to AD in December 2017 when Chris Del Conte left for the University of Texas.
Since he joined TCU, Donati has played a significant role in donor-supported facility upgrades across the department. TCU has invested $500 million in athletic facilities over the last decade, the latest project being the $113 million Legends Club & Suites on the east side of Amon G. Carter Stadium.
TCU is also coming off a banner year in 2020-21 in which 10 of 21 sports appeared in the national top 25 with 13 sports earning postseason bids. TCU won three Big 12 championships last year, including baseball, women’s soccer and men’s tennis.
From a coaching standpoint, Donati has completed contract extensions for men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon, women’s basketball coach Raegan Pebley and soccer coach Eric Bell.
But how TCU comes out of this realignment shakeup is going to be a tenure-defining moment for Donati.
With Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC at some point in the next four years, TCU faces an uncertain future in the Big 12. The conference could dissolve, leaving the eight remaining members searching for a new home.
For now, the remaining eight are united in trying to keep the league intact. However, if another school departs, the league may not be salvageable.
As Donati told the Texas Senate earlier this week, TCU does not want to find itself in a non-power conference. The fan base is familiar with that feeling after TCU was left out when the Southwest Conference broke up in 1996.
If the Big 12 is not a viable option, TCU’s best landing spot may be the Pac-12. The Frogs would have to convince that conference to expand its footprint into the state of Texas and its fertile recruiting grounds.
Donati will be ready to make that pitch if the moment arises. He’s all-in with TCU, evident by declining a chance to interview for an SEC job.
Missouri is looking for its next AD after Jim Sterk stepped down last month.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 9:15 PM.
