An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs. At some colleges, the athletic director may hold academic rank but this practice is on the wane.^{[citation needed]} At most colleges, he/she is not a faculty member but a full-time administrator.^{[citation needed]}

Modern athletic directors are often in a precarious position, especially at the larger institutions. Although technically in charge of all of the coaches, they are often far less well-compensated and also less famous, with few having their own television and radio programs as many coaches now do. In attempting to deal with misconduct by coaches, they often find their efforts trumped by a coach's powerful connections, particularly if he is an established figure with a long-term winning record. However, in the case of severe coaching misconduct being proven, often the athletic director will be terminated along with the offending coach.

Tim Pernetti is the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Rutgers University. His appointment became effective on April 1, 2009 as part of a five-year agreement with the University to run Intercollegiate Athletics and to provide oversight for 24sports programs.

Tim Pernetti was born on November 2, 1970, at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey. Pernetti grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey and went to Sicomac School for K-6 and Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School for 7th and 8th grades. He then attended Ramapo High School. Pernetti played football and basketball at Ramapo and captained the basketball team in 1989. He was an All-State football player in 1988. He was inducted into the Ramapo High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Pernetti is an alumnus of Rutgers University and earned a full scholarship to play for the Scarlet Knights as a tight end from 1989-1993. Pernetti was part of a brief resurgence at Rutgers that delivered back to back winning seasons in 1991 and 1992 and was known as a punishing blocker at tight end. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass media and a master's degree in communication both from Rutgers. He is now a resident of Oakland, New Jersey.

Mel Tjeerdsma ( /ˈtʃɜrtʃmə/ CHURCH-mə; born May 24, 1946) is a retired American football coach. He served as the head coach at Austin College in Sherman, Texas from 1984 to 1993 and at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri from 1994 until his retirement after the 2010 season. In his 27 years as a head coach, Tjeerdsma compiled a career college football record of 242–82–4. He led the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats to three NCAA Division II National Football Championships (1998, 1999, and 2009) and four additional NCAA Division II titles games (2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008).

Tjeerdsma was born and grew up on a farm in Springfield, South Dakota. He graduated from Springfield High School in 1964 and attended Southern State College in Springfield where he participated in several sports. Tjeerdsma earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from the college in 1967. He received his master's degree in physical education at Northwestern College in 1977.

Tjeerdsma coached at Sioux Center (Iowa) High School and in 1972 won the very first Class 2A State football championship. He went on to Denison High School in Denison, Iowa, where he guided his team to a 9–0 record in 1975 and a berth in the state playoffs. He earned Northwest Iowa Football Coach of the Year honors in 1972 and was the Northwest Iowa Track and Field Coach of the Year in 1973, 1974 and 1975.

Ray Tanner (born March 25, 1958) is in his 16th season as the head baseball coach at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. His record since arriving at Carolina in 1997 is 729-313 (.700). He led USC to three consecutive College World Series appearances in 2002, 2003 and 2004, two College World Series Championships in 2010 and 2011, and coached the USA Baseball National Team during the 2003 summer. His South Carolina teams have qualified for thirteen consecutive NCAA postseasons (the longest active streak in the Southeastern Conference (SEC)). On April 11, 2010, Tanner recorded the 1,000th win of his career with a 2-0 victory over Vanderbilt, becoming the 44th Division I coach in history to reach the milestone.

After graduating from South Johnston High School in Four Oaks, North Carolina, Ray Tanner attended North Carolina State University, in Raleigh from 1977 to 1980. He played for Sam Esposito, starting four seasons at shortstop and third base.

Tanner became an assistant coach to NCSU coach Sam Esposito immediately after his playing days were over. He remained in that position from 1980–1987, when Esposito retired and Tanner was named his successor. At age 28, he was one of the youngest head coaches in the country. During his first season the Wolfpack reached the NCAA tournament, playing in the East Regional. His teams earned bids to the NCAA tournament during seven of his nine seasons as head coach at NCSU, including five straight from 1990-1994. He was named ACC Coach of the Year in 1990.

Daryl Gross is the athletic director for Syracuse University.

Formerly, Gross coached and worked at the University of Southern California in intercollegiate athletics after being a graduate coaching assistant (while earning his doctorate). While serving as senior associate athletic director, Gross was credited for bringing in head coach Pete Carroll for the Trojans football team. In 2008, ESPN.com named Carroll's hiring #1 in a list of the Pac-10's Top 10 Moments Of BCS Era.

Gross received his bachelors degree and played college football at University of California, Davis. Gross was a New York Jets scout when Pete Carroll was the Jets head coach, a relationship that led to him pushing for Carroll to be hired by USC.