A big change is imminent at the top of Syracuse Orange Athletics. Athletic Director John Wildhack is retiring. ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the news. Syracuse Athletics later confirmed the report in a press
release. He will remain in his role until July 1, completing 10 years as Syracuse’s 11th athletic director.
Wildhack, a graduate of Newhouse in 1980, came back to Syracuse in July of 2016. He had spent the previous 36 years of his career at ESPN, starting as a production assistant and eventually becoming the executive vice president for programming and production. Wildhack had replaced Mark Coyle, who was Syracuse’s Athletics Director for less than a year before taking the Minnesota AD job.
“It has been the greatest honor of my career to lead Syracuse Athletics,” said Wildhack in Syracuse’s press release. “Syracuse University shaped the trajectory of my life, and to spend nearly a decade serving my alma mater has been an extraordinary privilege. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished: championship-caliber facilities, record academic achievement and student-athletes excelling on and off the field. I came here with a tremendous sense of responsibility and leave with profound gratitude for the opportunity to give back to the place that gave me so much.”
The July 1 date is significant. It is the same date that current Syracuse chancellor Kent Syverud is set to officially leave the school. He was set to retire but, in January, he announced that he’ll become the president at the University of Michigan. The chancellor is the primary leader at Syracuse who would be in charge of hiring the next athletic director. The Syracuse Board of Trustees have been meeting and searching for a new chancellor since Syverud announced his intentions to step down in August of 2025.
Syracuse teams have won only one national championship in Wildhack’s tenure, which was the 2022 men’s soccer national championship. Justyn Knight also won two individual championships at Syracuse in the 2017-18 year for cross country and the indoor 5,000 meter.
Wildhack oversaw the renovations and renaming of the JMA Wireless Dome and the renovations of the Lally Athletic Complex. He also was in charge of the hiring of notable Syracuse coaches such as Fran Brown, Felisha Legette-Jack, Adrian Autry, Gary Gait, Kayla Treanor and Regy Thorpe.
Wildhack was also a significant figure in the ACC and NCAA. He is the ACC representative in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee and is the chair of ACC Athletic Directors.
Syracuse noted that details about a search for a new AD would be coming.
