BOISE, Idaho — Boise State now has a new athletic director who has experience leading one of the top Power 5 athletic departments in the country and cultivating season-ticket holders at a Group of 5 football program.
The Broncos named Baylor Associate Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Jeramiah Dickey their new athletic director on Saturday night.
The hiring of Dickey as the university's new athletic director ended the university's 73-day search to replace former director of athletics Curt Apsey, who stepped down from his position on Oct. 21.
Boise State University President Dr. Marlene Tromp, new Director of Athletics Dickey and Randy Hales, a chair member of the committee that selected Dickey, will hold a press conference at noon on Monday, Jan. 4.
The press conference will be live-streamed on KTVB.COM and on KTVB's YouTube Channel.
Dickey had been at Baylor since Feb. 2017. In addition to managing various external and internal units within the department, he also served as an advisory staff member to Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mack Rhoades. Dickey was responsible for helping establish, foster and maintain clear and concise communications with coaches, administration and direct reports with regard to the department's strategic initiatives and unit strategies, goals and objectives, according to his online bio at BaylorBears.com.
"Throughout this process, I have spoken with many of Bronco Athletics’ most important past leaders and supporters for their insights. Their guidance played a key role for me,” Tromp said in the announcement. “Our dedicated committee forwarded a pool of candidates whose caliber was stunning — people who represented some of the best athletics programs in the country and who wanted the opportunity to lead our Broncos. We stayed true to the profile we had built in concert with the department and our supporters: Jeramiah Dickey not only matched that profile perfectly, he rose to the top of the candidate pool. His blue-collar work ethic, humility, rich past experience, and extraordinary performance make him an excellent fit for advancing Boise State.”
“I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to lead Bronco Athletics,” Dickey said in a statement. “There is no question the Boise State national brand resonates at the highest levels in college athletics. The successes surrounding all of Bronco Athletics are well known. I am looking forward to working with President Tromp as we build on that solid foundation of all of our programs.”
In 2019, CollegeAD.com identified Dickey as a NEXT UP honoree. That June he told the publication:
“To me, I define success as doing my absolute best and having a positive impact on those around me. My job is to inspire our team to think in ways they’ve never considered. My goal every day is to give my absolute best effort, knowing that it may fall short. But if we strive for excellence, we will get there.”
A native of El Paso, Texas, Dickey earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Texas in 2004 and his master's from the University of Akron in 2018. He has previously worked at UTEP, Akron and Houston, in addition to Baylor, and has built an impressive fundraising resume.
While at Akron, Dickey oversaw the Zips Athletics Scholarship Fund. During his tenure, his office increased overall giving from $900,000 in 2005-06 to over $2.2 million in 2009-10. It marked the first time in program history that they topped $2.0 million in giving.
Dickey then joined the staff at Houston in May 2010. He started out as the Associate Athletics Director for Development but eventually ascended to the role of Deputy Athletic Director in May 2015. Under his leadership, the development arm of Houston Athletics, Cougar Pride, established fundraising records in seven consecutive years. More than 4,000 Cougar Pride members contributed $6.4 million during the 2015-16 fiscal year, topping the previous record of $5.2 million.
Houston also established attendance records until the guidance of Dickey. In 2014-15, the first year's under his watch, Cougar Football sold a then-record 15,022 season tickets. The following year that number rose to 25,311 season-tickets, as Houston also recorded a campus record of 38,953 fans at home games, crushing the previous record of 33,980 set in 2015.
The announcement followed a stream of reports on Friday that pointed to the university hiring Dickey.
Late Friday evening, Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports identified Dickey as Boise State's main target in a tweet. Thamel wrote, "[A] deal is not finalized, but sides in discussions and an announcement is expected in the next few days."
ESPN's Adam Rittenberg later confirmed Thamel's report, tweeting, "Dickey is expected to be named the next athletic director at Boise State."
Adding levity to the reports, Todd Turner, the president of Collegiate Sports Associates, the search firm that Boise State used to find their hire, liked both tweets from Thamel and Rittenberg about Dickey's expected hiring.
Initially, Boise State University President Marlene Tromp said the school would target March 2021 as their hiring date for the position. However, after head football coach Bryan Harsin left for Auburn University on Dec. 22, she said they would “accelerate” the hiring process.
"I really want to see someone come in and say, 'this is the vision for where Boise State can go next,'" Dr. Tromp told KTVB in an interview on Nov. 17. "The previous athletic strategic plan said that Boise State could be the best in the Mountain West. And we've achieved that. What I'm really excited about that person doing is now taking that vision to the next level. What's the next big step for Boise State?"
Boise State senior associate athletic director for strategic planning and capital projects Bob Carney served as the interim director of athletics during the search.