Following a 13-year run as Stanford’s athletic director, Bernard Muir is prepared to resign, according to multiple media reports on Monday.
The move comes in the midst of the school’s first year as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference after the collapse of the Pac-12 Conference.
During Muir’s tenure, Stanford was an eight-time winner of the Directors’ Cup, awarded to the school that has the best results across all sports teams.
Cardinal programs won 30-plus NCAA titles with Muir as AD, including multiple national championships for the sailing, women’s golf, men’s gymnastics, women’s volleyball, women’s water polo, women’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving, men’s soccer, lightweight rowing and women’s tennis programs, per the San Francisco Chronicle.
However, the football team went 3-9 each of the past four seasons. Head coach Troy Taylor recently completed his second season on the job, and late last year, Stanford hired alumnus Andrew Luck to serve as the football program’s general manager.
The men’s basketball team last qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2014, though the 2020 team was 20-12 and possibly tourney-bound before March Madness was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cardinal are currently 17-10 under new coach Kyle Smith, who entered after Muir fired Jerod Haase last March.
The Stanford women’s basketball team won the national title in 2021 and remained a powerhouse under coach Tara VanDerveer, the second-winningest basketball coach in NCAA history. She resigned after last season, and the Cardinals are 14-13 under new coach Kate Paye.
Muir, 56, is likely to exit prior to the end of the school year, according to the Chronicle, and Stanford will likely appoint an interim AD while searching for a replacement.
Muir served in the Notre Dame athletic department before becoming the AD at Georgetown (2005-09) and Delaware (2009-12) prior to getting the Stanford job in 2012.
–Field Level Media
