Christian Spears

Last updated

Christian Spears
Current position
Title Athletic director
Team Marshall
Conference Sun Belt
Biographical details
Born San Marino, California, U.S.
Alma mater University of Washington (BS)
Long Beach State University (MPA)
Ohio State University (JD)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2003–2009 Southern Illinois (assistant AD)
2009–2014 Northern Illinois (associate AD)
2013Northern Illinois (acting AD)
2014–2017 Eastern Michigan (deputy AD)
2017Eastern Michigan (interim AD)
2017–2022 Pittsburgh (deputy AD)
2022–present Marshall

Christian Spears is an American athletic director currently serving at Marshall University. He has been the athletic director at Marshall since February 2022.

Contents

Career

Spears began working as the associate director of athletics at Northern Illinois University in 2009 after spending the previous six years as the assistant athletic director at Southern Illinois University. [1] In 2013, Spears was named acting athletic director at NIU after Jeff Compher left to become the athletic director at East Carolina University. [2]

In 2014, Spears was hired as deputy AD at Eastern Michigan University. In 2017, he was named interim AD after Heather Lyke left to become the AD at the University of Pittsburgh. [3] Shortly after becoming interim AD, Spears followed Lyke to Pitt as the deputy athletic director. [4]

In February 2022, Spears was named athletic director at Marshall University replacing interim AD, Jeff O'Malley. [5] [6] As athletic director of Marshall, he oversaw the completion of the fundraising to build a new baseball stadium for the Thundering Herd baseball team. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall University</span> Public university in Huntington, West Virginia, US

Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Lengyel</span> American football coach, lacrosse coach, and college athletics administrator

Jack Robert Lengyel is an American software executive and former college football coach, college lacrosse coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the College of Wooster from 1966 to 1970 and at Marshall University from 1971 until 1974, compiling a career college football record of 33–54. At Marshall, he took over the Thundering Herd football program after the Southern Airways Flight 932 plane crash that killed nearly the entire team in 1970. Lengyel was the athletic director at California State University, Fresno from 1983 to 1986, at the University of Missouri from 1986 to 1988, and at the United States Naval Academy from 1988 to 2001. He served as the interim athletic director at Temple University in 2002, at Eastern Kentucky University from 2002 to 2003, and at the University of Colorado Boulder from 2004 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan C. Edwards Stadium</span> College football stadium for Marshall University

Joan C. Edwards Stadium, formerly Marshall University Stadium, is a football stadium located on the campus of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It currently can hold 30,475 spectators and includes twenty deluxe, indoor suites, 300 wheelchair-accessible seating, a state-of-the-art press-box, 14 concession areas, and 16 separate restrooms. It also features 90,000 sq ft (8,000 m2) of artificial turf and 1,837 tons of structural steel. It also houses the Shewey Athletic Center, a fieldhouse and a training facility. The new stadium opened in 1991 and replaced Fairfield Stadium, a condemned off-campus facility built in 1927 in the Fairfield Park neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Thundering Herd</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Marshall University

The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are members of the NCAA Division I. The school's official colors are kelly green and white. The Marshall Thundering Herd have won 3 NCAA national championships and one NAIA national championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Tonkovich</span> American basketball player

Andrew Edward Tonkovich was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was selected as the first overall pick in the 1948 BAA draft by the Providence Steamrollers. He played college basketball for the Marshall Thundering Herd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Illinois Huskies football</span> College football program

The Northern Illinois Huskies football team are a college football program representing Northern Illinois University (NIU) in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. NIU football plays its home games at Huskie Stadium on the campus of the Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Thundering Herd football</span> Football team of Marshall University

The Marshall Thundering Herd football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Marshall University. The team represents the university as a member of the Sun Belt Conference East Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, playing at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheahon Zenger</span> American football player and coach, college athletics administrator

Sheahon Jay Zenger has three decades of experience in academic and athletic administration, development, and coaching. Zenger currently serves as the 21st president for Illinois Wesleyan University, a role he was appointed on April 10th 2024. Earlier in his career, he held one of the highest-level athletics director positions in the nation at the University of Kansas. He also served as athletic director at Illinois State University. His recently served as the interim president at the University of New Haven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Mid-American Conference football season</span> Sports season

The 2011 Mid-American Conference football season is the 66th season for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The season began on Thursday, September 1, with four games: Bowling Green played at Idaho, Central Michigan hosted South Carolina State, Temple hosted #14 (FCS) Villanova, and Toledo hosted #10 (FCS) New Hampshire. The conference's other nine teams began their respective 2011 seasons of NCAA Division I FBS competition on Saturday, September 3. The first in-conference game was September 10, with Temple hosting Akron.

Mike Hamrick is the former athletic director of the Marshall Thundering Herd. He previously served as AD for the UNLV Rebels, East Carolina Pirates and UALR Trojans. He is a Marshall University alumnus. Hamrick stepped down as athletic director at Marshall to become a special assistant to university president, Jerome A. Gilbert on July 1, 2021.

The 2014 Boca Raton Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game that was played on December 23, 2014 at FAU Stadium on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. The first edition of the Boca Raton Bowl, it featured the Conference USA champion Marshall Thundering Herd against the Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois Huskies. The game began at 6:00 p.m. EST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2014–15 bowl games that concluded the 2014 FBS football season. Marshall beat Northern Illinois by a score of 52–23.

The Buckeye Athletic Association, also known as the Buckeye Conference, was an athletic league formed out of members of the Ohio Athletic Conference. Its original membership in 1926 included Ohio Wesleyan University, Ohio University (Bobcats), Miami University, the University of Cincinnati (Bearcats), Denison University and Wittenberg University. The Battling Bishops of OWU won the first title in football in 1926. The league was asked to end the membership in both the OAC and the Buckeye in 1928, at which time all the schools voted to instead leave their membership in the OAC behind and be only members of the Buckeye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Marshall Thundering Herd football team</span> American college football season

The 2016 Marshall Thundering Herd football team represented Marshall University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Thundering Herd played their home games at the Joan C. Edwards Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia, and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by seventh-year head coach Doc Holliday. They finished the season 3–9, 2–6 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for sixth place in the East Division.

Lee Moon is an American former college football coach and athletics administrator. Following the resignation of Jim Dickey, Moon served as the interim head football coach at Kansas State University during the 1985 football season, posting a record of 1–8. Moon later served as athletic director at Marshall University, the University of Wyoming, and the University of North Florida.

The 1929 Marshall Thundering Herd football team was an American football team that represented Marshall College in the West Virginia Athletic Conference during the 1929 college football season. The team compiled a 5–3–1 record, 4–1 against conference opponents, and outscored opponents by a total of 184 to 79.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Marshall Thundering Herd baseball team</span> Baseball team season

The 2021 Marshall Thundering Herd baseball team represented Marshall University in the sport of baseball for the 2021 college baseball season. The Thundering Herd competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and in Conference USA East Division. They played their home games at Kennedy Center Field in Huntington, West Virginia. The team was coached by Jeff Waggoner, who was in his fifteenth season with the Thundering Herd.

James Schaus is a retired sports administrator who most recently served as commissioner of the Southern Conference (SoCon). Before taking the SoCon position, he served as athletic director at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer team</span> American college soccer season

The 2022 Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer team represented Marshall University in men's college soccer during the 2022 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 44th season the university fielded a men's varsity soccer program. The Thundering Herd, led by sixth-year head coach Chris Grassie, played their home games at Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex as members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC).

References

  1. Nitz, Steve (April 1, 2009). "Christian Spears' division I responsibilities increase". Northern Star . Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  2. Mitchell, Fred (April 4, 2013). "NIU names Spears acting AD". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  3. "Christian Spears named Eastern Michigan interim athletic director". Detroit Free Press . March 27, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  4. Paul, Tony (May 12, 2017). "EMU interim AD Christian Spears leaving for Pittsburgh". The Detroit News . Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  5. Brocato, Joe (February 25, 2022). "Christian Spears introduced as Marshall's new Director of Athletics". WV Metro News. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  6. Zimmer, Justin (March 1, 2022). "New AD Christian Spears Sets Priorities". The Parthenon . Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  7. Creasey, Luke (September 29, 2022). "Gift from state completes fundraising for Marshall baseball stadium". The Herald-Dispatch . Retrieved September 29, 2022.