Dan Radakovich

Dan Radakovich
Sport(s) Football
Current position
Title Athletic director
Team Clemson
Conference ACC
Biographical details
Born (1958-06-09) June 9, 1958
Alma mater Indiana University Pa. (B.S.)
University of Miami (M.B.A.)
Playing career
1977–1980 IUP
Position(s) Tight end, punter[1]
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1983–1985 Miami (FL) (athletic business manager)
1989–1994 Long Beach State (associate AD)
1994–2000 South Carolina (associate AD)
2000–2001 American
2001–2006 LSU (senior associate AD)
2006–2012 Georgia Tech
2012–present Clemson

Dan Radakovich (born June 9, 1958) is the athletics director at Clemson University.[2] Previously, he was the Athletics Director at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a position he held from February 22, 2006 to October 29, 2012.[3] He was previously the Senior Associate Director of Athletics at Louisiana State University.

Radakovich has a long background in dealing with program finance, as well as large scale renovation and facility improvement. Over the course of his career, Radakovich has managed over a quarter of a billion dollars for various universities' athletic departments.

Early life and education

Radakovich, a Serbian American,[4] hails from Monaca, Pennsylvania where he attended Center High School, just outside Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. He was a distinguished graduate from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1980) where he earned a bachelor's degree in finance. He graduated from the University of Miami Business School in 1982 with a master's degree in business administration.[5]

Early career

At Long Beach State, he revamped radio broadcast agreements.

At South Carolina, he managed $33 million in facility improvements, including the Colonial Life Arena, now the home of USC's basketball teams as well as other sports.

At American University, he worked to get the school into the Patriot League.

Later career

At LSU, he developed a football ticket donation program, and was involved in $90,000,000 renovation of Tiger Stadium.

When hired at Georgia Tech on February 22, 2006, Radakovich beat out former Tech player and head coach Bill Curry and former Tech baseball and football player and baseball assistant coach Cam Bonifay for the job.[6][7][8][9] Radakovich improved the sales of season tickets for the 2006 football season, especially "chairback" or "club level" season tickets; hired football head coach Paul Johnson. He changed the way that athletic seating worked with the TECH Fund. The program also had several facilities changes, including a new indoor practice facility for football, Alexander Memorial Coliseum redesigned as Hank McCamish Pavilion, and rebuilt tennis facilities.. He is blamed for leaving the school saddled with the stigma of being the sole major program wearing Russell Athletic uniforms. The original contract was for 10 years, beginning in July of 2008. Then-AD Radakovich had the option to cancel the final 5 years of the partnership prior to August 1, 2012. Surprisingly, he elected not to do so. He left to be Clemson’s AD less than 3 months later.

On October 29, 2012, Radakovich accepted position of athletic director at Clemson University.[2][3] In 2014, Radakovich pushed for a controversial proposal to implement a $350 student athletic fee which would have raised approximately $6 million in revenues for the Clemson Athletic Department. Radakovich's proposal would have been mandatory for all undergraduate students and voluntary for graduate students who chose to attend athletic events.[10] Ultimately, the plan failed due to resistance from Clemson's Undergraduate Student Government, including a poll which indicated that 85% of students opposed the fee.[11] Only months after the proposed athletic fee failed, Radakovich went before the South Carolina legislature asking for approval to purchase a $4.5 million Cessna Citation CJ2 for the Clemson Athletic Department. Lawmakers approved purchasing the private jet.[12] As of April 2016, Radakovich is again embroiled in a fight with students over athletic funding. The Clemson Athletic Department announced a new student ticket policy which would require students to pay $225 for season tickets in the coveted lower deck seats of the student section. Students who choose not to pay for tickets may attend games in the upper deck,[13] effectively stratifying students who choose to attend football games into those who can afford to pay for a season ticket and those who cannot. Clemson students are again mobilizing against changes to ticketing policies with a petition written to Radakovich, Clemson President Jim Clements, and the Clemson Board of Trustees in circulation.[13] Additionally, Student Body President Joey Wilson has come out in opposition to the new ticketing policy.

Radakovich is a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Tech names Radakovich". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2006-02-23. Archived from the original on February 23, 2006. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  2. 1 2 "Report: Dan Radakovich to Clemson". ESPN. 2012-10-29. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  3. 1 2 "Radakovich headed for Clemson". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2012-10-28. Archived from the original on 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  4. ↑ Grecic/Lopusina, "SVI SRBI SVETA" - Iseljenicke asocijacije Archived 2008-11-23 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Dan Radakovich". clemsontigers.com. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Dan Radakovich is Tech's New Athletics Director" (Press release). Georgia Institute of Technology. 2006-02-22. Archived from the original on April 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  7. ↑ "Radakovich Named Georgia Tech Director of Athletics". RamblinWreck.com. Georgia Tech Athletic Association. 2006-02-22. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  8. ↑ "Radakovich replaces Braine". The Technique. 2006-02-24. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29.
  9. ↑ "Tech taps Radakovich to lead Athletic Association". The Whistle. Georgia Institute of Technology. 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  10. ↑ "Clemson considers fee to help pay for sports". The Greenville News. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  11. ↑ Cohen, Ben. "Why Clemson's Students Wouldn't Pay For Sports". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  12. ↑ Hobson, Will; Rich, Steven (2015-11-30). "Why students foot the bill for college sports, and how some are fighting back". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  13. 1 2 Hood, David. "Students to be charged for lower deck football tickets - Clemson Football News - TigerNet". www.tigernet.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
  14. ↑ "Selection Committee". College Football Playoff. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
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