Clemson will soon be in the market for a new athletic director.
Dan Radakovich is expected to become the athletic director at the University of Miami, multiple sources confirmed to The Clemson Insider, ending his nearly decade-long run at Clemson in the same role. Radakovich is working today at Clemson’s athletics offices, where sources tell TCI he is expected to inform athletic department staffers of his decision to leave.
Radakovich would replace Blake James, whom Miami parted ways with in November.
Reports of Miami’s interest in Radakovich began circulating last week. TCI confirmed then that Radakovich was one of if not the leading candidate for the job at his alma mater, where Radakovich earned his master’s degree in 1982 and got his start in administration as Miami’s athletic business manager.
Radakovich’s pending departure comes during a week that could be full of them within Clemson’s athletic programs. Brent Venables, Clemson’s longtime defensive coordinator, was officially hired Sunday as Oklahoma’s head football coach while offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is heavily in the mix for Virginia’s head coaching vacancy.
For Radakovich, it may be coming with a hefty raise. He signed a six-year contract extension with Clemson in 2019 worth roughly $1 million per year, but, according to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Radakovich was one of a handful of sitting Power Five athletic directors Miami reached out to with the intention of paying at least $3 million annually.
As for who might replace Radakovich, TCI has learned that his right-hand man at Clemson, deputy athletic director Graham Neff, could be in line for a promotion.
Radakovich was hired as Clemson’s 13th athletic director in December 2012 after stops at Long Beach State, South Carolina, LSU, American University and Georgia Tech. Since then, he’s overseen one of the greatest stretches in the history of Clemson athletics.
The football team won six straight ACC titles from 2015-20 along with the second and third national championships in program history in 2016 and 2018. The men’s basketball team has been to two of the last three NCAA Tournaments. During the 2017-18 athletic year, Clemson became the first school to ever advance to the College Football Playoff, play in the Sweet Sixteen in men’s basketball and host a baseball regional in the same year.
Football coach Dabo Swinney and men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell were already at the helm of their respective programs when Radakovich came to Clemson, but Radakovich made some of his own coaching hires during his tenure, including baseball’s Monte Lee and women’s basketball’s Amanda Butler, both of whom are still in those roles.
He hired Lee in 2015 after firing Hall of Famer Jack Leggett and tapped Butler as head women’s basketball coach in 2018. Lee is 207-113 during his tenure at Clemson, which hasn’t hosted a baseball regional since 2018. Butler is 44-52 in her fourth season at the helm of the women’s basketball program.
Radakovich also oversaw the development of Clemson’s softball program, which played its first season in the spring of 2020. Earlier this year, the softball team won the ACC regular-season title and played in its first-ever NCAA Tournament.
Clemson’s athletic programs also performed well outside of the competitive arena during Radakovich’s tenure. The athletic department increased revenue from $69 million in 2014 to $131 million in 2020. Athletics also recently recorded the highest graduation success rate in their history.
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