SMU athletic director Rick Hart introduced Friday that he shall be leaving his place on the finish of the college yr.
“It’s with great pleasure, heartfelt love, and sure, combined feelings, that I share with you that I’ve made the choice that this tutorial yr shall be my final at SMU,” Hart wrote in an announcement posted to X.
“… It’s time for a brand new problem for me and for a brand new voice to guide the Mustangs.”
It has been a heck of a trip! To the Mustangs – and to what’s on the horizon! #PonyUp pic.twitter.com/Jo3SkcnSbL
— Rick Hart (@AD_RickHart) February 7, 2025
Hart took over as athletic director at SMU in July 2012. He was in command of overseeing the Mustangs’ shift to the Atlantic Coast Convention, which took impact with the 2024-25 college yr. In its first yr within the convention, the soccer program superior to the 12-team School Soccer Playoff.
His departure coincides with that of college president R. Gerald Turner, who introduced final summer season that he would depart the college efficient June. 1.
Hart stated that by leaving now, incoming president Jay Hartzell — most not too long ago the president on the College of Texas — will be capable to “transfer ahead along with his personal imaginative and prescient.”
In his assertion, Hart didn’t specify what his subsequent transfer shall be.
“Once I interviewed for this job, President Turner shared that he wished for a nationally aggressive athletics program on par with the standard of the college,” Hart stated in his assertion. “Mission completed! After all, there may be at all times extra we might have finished and extra that lies forward, however I’m excited for what comes subsequent for me and for SMU athletics.”
In a information launch, SMU stated it can start it seek for Hart’s successor “within the coming weeks.”
–Discipline Degree Media
