Stanford hires former Nike CEO John Donahoe as athletic director

Success·SportsStanford hires former Nike CEO John Donahoe as athletic directorBy Josh DubowBy The Associated PressBy Josh DubowBy The Associated Press John Donahoe.AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, FileFormer Nike CEO John Donahoe has been hired as athletic director at Stanford

Donahoe will become the school’s eighth athletic director and replace Bernard Muir, who stepped down this year

He will officially begin in the role Sept. 8. “Stanford occupies a unique place in the national athletics landscape,” school president Jon Levin said in a statement. “We needed a distinctive leader — someone with the vision, judgment, and strategic acumen for a new era of college athletics, and with a deep appreciation for Stanford’s model of scholar-athlete excellence

John embodies these characteristics.” ESPN first reported the move

Donahoe also served as the CEO of ServiceNow, a global software company, and as CEO of eBay

He served as chair of the board at PayPal from 2015-25 and he worked for Bain & Company for nearly 20 years, including as the firm’s worldwide CEO. “Stanford has enormous strengths and enormous potential in a changing environment, including being the model for achieving both academic and athletic excellence at the highest levels,” he said. “I can’t wait to work in partnership with the Stanford team to build momentum for Stanford Athletics and ensure the best possible experiences for our student-athletes.” Donahoe takes over one of the country’s most successful athletic grams with Stanford having won at least one NCAA title in 49 straight years starting in 1976-77 and a record 137 NCAA team titles overall

But the Cardinal struggled in the high-file sports of football and men’s basketball under Muir’s tenure, leading to the decision to hire former Stanford and NFL star Andrew Luck to oversee the football gram as its general manager

The Cardinal are looking to rebound in football after going to three Rose Bowls under former coach David Shaw in Muir’s first four years as AD

Luck hired former NFL coach Frank Reich as interim coach

Muir hired Kyle Smith last March to take over and the Cardinal went 21-14 for their most wins in 10 years

Muir also hired Kate Paye as women’s basketball coach last year after Hall of Famer Tara VanDerveer retired

Muir also oversaw the Cardinal’s transition to the ACC this past year after the school’s long-term , the Pac-12, broke apart

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