Mark Elliott, who guided Trevecca from NAIA to NCAA Division II membership and became the school's longest-serving athletic director, announced his retirement on July 28 following the conclusion of the 2026-27 academic year.
Elliott, a former Vanderbilt basketball and baseball player, led Trevecca through two conference transitions since being hired in 2011. It was Elliott's first time serving as an athletic director, and he was hired one day after Trevecca announced theNCAA had acceptedits application for Division II membership.
"Never having been an athletic director before, I don't think I knew what I didn't know; I just knew this was what I felt called to do, I wanted to do, I felt really good about entering into that space," Elliott said.
"Then the main goal was to move Trevecca from NAIA to NCAA Division II. That was a four-year process back then, so I don't know that I had a longer-term vision than the four years. Lets just get to the Division II level and go from there."
Elliott helped Trevecca meet all NCAA requirements, and on July 11, 2014, the school received full active Division II membership status.
Elliott then helped Trevecca find a conference home as a charter member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, the first new NCAA Division II conference created in more than two decades. Elliott served as chair of the GMAC during the league’s formative years.
The Trojans won nine regular-season and postseason championships during the Great Midwest’s inaugural 2012-13 season and captured the conference’s first President's Cup. Trevecca added seven championships and a runner-up President's Cup finish the following year.
Elliott later led Trevecca through its second major conference transition when the school joined the Gulf South Conference in 2024. That placed Trevecca in a more regional NCAA Division II footprint.
Elliott is confident that when he retires, he will leave Trevecca in a good place athletically.
"One of the things as we developed the athletic department was as Nashville was growing, as Trevecca is growing, the athletic department has to try to keep pace," Elliott said. "That doesn't just mean numbers, but yes it does mean numbers. We almost doubled the number of athletes coming to Trevecca than when we first got here. There have been a lot of facility improvements and hiring of coaches. We've increased the notoriety of Trevecca athletics; we've kept pace with the university and the city of Nashville, and that was really what we aimed to do."
Trevecca president Dan Boone hired Elliott and said he was pleased with each of Elliott's accomplishments.
“Sixteen years ago, we sat in my office and talked about the role of Trevecca’s athletic director,” Boone said. “His clear focus on the priorities of Christian-Scholar-Athlete was as aspirational then as they are visible now. Mark Elliott has served the university as a man of faith, a mentor to coaches, and an example to athletes."
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Trevecca athletic director Mark Elliott will retire in 2027
