Northwestern deputy athletic director/assistant vice president for development Travis Goff is the next AD at the University of Kansas, chancellor Douglas Girod announced Monday afternoon.
Goff has spent the last nine years as an upper-level decision-maker with Northwestern while also serving as a sport administrator for football, volleyball and baseball. Girod said Goff will begin his new role “immediately.”
“Travis stood out due to his experience, his reputation as a man of integrity, and his demonstrated ability to connect with faculty, staff, alumni and donors,” Girod said in a news release. “I am especially impressed with Travis’ vision for KU.”
Goff, who will be formally introduced during a 10 a.m. news conference Wednesday, has some past links to Kansas.
A Dodge City native, Goff graduated from KU in 2002 and briefly worked for the school’s athletic department before taking a position at Tulane.
“It truly is an honor and a privilege to steward the next chapter of Kansas Athletics,” Goff said in a release, “and I am extremely grateful to Chancellor Girod for his belief in me and our shared vision for the future.”
While at Northwestern, Goff was named to a pair of prestigious lists: In 2018, he was one of 11 College AD “Next Up” honorees — administrators who are projected to be ready for their own athletic director jobs. The next year, he also was named to Sports Business Journal’s list of “Power Players in College Sports.”
Goff will be tasked with important decisions immediately after taking the job. KU will soon be facing a football coaching search, the resolution of an NCAA case that alleges major violations, a pandemic-related budget crisis that has led to $30 million in lost revenues, and the potential of conference realignment (again) when the Big 12 TV deal expires in four years.
Girod originally said KU would move “quickly but judiciously” to hire a new AD on March 10 when announcing Jeff Long’s departure, with his hope that the hire would take place within a few weeks. Girod led the process with the assistance of TurnKeyZRG search firm and four alumni advisors: Linda Ellis Sims, Ray Evans, John Ballard and Wayne Simien.
Long, who started as KU’s AD in August 2018, barely made it halfway through his five-year contract that paid him $1.5 million annually before mutually parting ways with the school in mid-March. According to his separation agreement, he will be paid through March, then will receive a $1.375 million buyout in the form of $125,000 monthly payments from April 2021 through February 2022.
Goff has familiarity with fund-raising, as he’s led Northwestern’s fund-raising efforts of more than $440 million since his arrival. Before he arrived at Northwestern, Goff was Tulane’s associate AD for external affairs from 2007-12, where he also headed a $70 million campaign that led to the completion of an on-campus football stadium.
One of Goff’s potential future tasks was completed for him Friday. That’s when KU interim AD Kurt Watson signed men’s basketball coach Bill Self to a lifetime contract, guaranteeing the coach $5.41 million annually as long as he remains with the school.
“We are fortunate to have Travis return to Lawrence to lead our department and after speaking with him, it is clear he is exactly what we need,” Self said in a statement on Monday. “He will be a tremendous partner to all of our head coaches and sports programs and will ensure that our student-athletes have a world-class experience during their time at KU.”
Goff, who graduated with journalism and sociology degrees from KU and has a Master of Business Administration degree from Tulane, is married to the former Nancy Kockott, a 2005 Tulane alumna. The couple has three children: Ellie, Carly, and Graham.
“This is an exciting day for the University of Kansas,” Girod said. “We are delighted to have someone of Travis’ caliber joining our university, and I am confident that Kansas Athletics is in good hands under his leadership.”
