William & Mary and Brian Mann, director of athletics, have agreed to a new contract that will extend Mann’s leadership role at the university through June 30, 2029.
Mann originally joined William & Mary in June 2021 and hit the ground running. In his first three years, Mann oversaw the successful completion of the $55 million All In fundraising campaign, began a major facilities renovation and expansion, hired six new coaches and won seven championships. Additionally, he started a major initiative dedicated to the personal development and leadership of student-athletes and continued the Tribe’s tradition of nationally ranked academic success.
“Brian Mann is a university leader and trusted thought partner,” said W&M President Katherine A. Rowe. “He cares deeply about the success of our student-athletes and understands the importance of athletics in William & Mary’s academic mission. We are fortunate to have such a warm and strategic intelligence at the helm.”
Since his arrival, Mann has been a highly visible community builder across the university. This includes welcoming students and families during orientation and admission events; serving as the keynote speaker at alumni reunion events; presenting at W&M’s campus-wide Professional Development Days; hosting alumni and University Advancement events; and supporting FGLI, the first-generation student engagement program organized by Student Affairs.
Mann also serves as a member of Rowe’s Executive Leadership Team and the President’s Cabinet, which includes academic and administrative leaders from across W&M.
“I am deeply grateful for President Rowe’s support and for the time and attention she gives to Athletics; our partnership with the university is something special. I am incredibly fortunate to serve in this role at this great institution,” said Mann.
“My wife Hilary, my sons Russell and Henry, and I, love Williamsburg. We have made tremendous friends in this wonderful community, which we truly consider home,” he continued. “Add to that the opportunity to spend more time with 500 amazing Tribe student-athletes, as well as the coaches and staff who give so much to this place, and you can understand the optimism I have for the future. I unequivocally believe the best is still ahead, especially with the support of so many alumni, friends and fans who love the Green and Gold!”
Last year, the three-year All In fundraising campaign concluded by exceeding its original $55 million goal with a total of $57.2 million raised, including $13.2 million for scholarships. There were 11,206 donors, including 3,280 who gave to W&M Athletics for the first time and 2,310 donors made their first gift ever to the university.
Renovations in Kaplan Arena, funded by the All In campaign, took a major step forward when an impressive new video board, lights and sound system, plus a new weight room and refurbished locker rooms debuted in the past year. Work on the new Mackesy Sports Performance Center (The Mack), which will be the centerpiece of the W&M Athletics Complex, has begun with visible progress each day.
The Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Court was the first completed project of the W&M Athletics Complex in 2023. The Tennis programs hosted the 2023 CAA Championships with Women’s Tennis christening the facility with a league title.
Jill Ellis Field, a completely new turf field, was installed along with the new 1987 Women’s Soccer Team Training Center. With a new scoreboard named for John Goodenow “Goody” Tyler II HON ’11 and lights, night practices and games are possible for varsity and rec sports. The new field honors Jill Ellis ’88, L.H.D. ’16, a legendary Tribe soccer player who went on to serve as the head coach for the U.S. National Women’s Team, when it won back-to-back FIFA World Cups.
Mann hired three new coaches in the past year. Brian Earl, formerly the head coach at Cornell, is the new head Men’s Basketball coach. Rob McCoy is the new skipper for W&M Baseball, coming to the Tribe from Niagara. Joining the Tribe as the head coach for Women’s Lacrosse is Kelyn Freedman, who was previously at Towson.
He hired Erin Dickerson Davis in 2022 to lead Women’s Basketball and during the summer “Coach E” received a contract extension to 2029 after she piloted the program to 12 CAA wins (a program record), in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history. In 2021, Mann hired head Women’s Tennis coach Jessica Giuggioli who has won three CAA Championships in a row while being named CAA Coach of the Year for three straight years. He also brought head Volleyball Coach Ryan Adams to the Tribe in 2023 after a highly decorated four years at Lafayette College, where he was Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2021. Adams led W&M to its most overall and CAA wins in over a decade in his first season.
In addition to the three-peat as CAA Champions for Women’s Tennis, several other teams have notched championships. Field Hockey won the CAA tournament in 2023, Football secured a share of the CAA title in 2022, as did Women’s Swimming that same year, and Men’s Cross Country won the CAA title in 2021.
This year, W&M Athletics started its new Excel program, which is designed to enhance student-athletes’ personal development and leadership skills. W&M’s student-athletes are involved with Excel from the moment they step on campus to the day they receive their diplomas. This comprehensive program is designed to ensure they are ready to start their professional careers upon graduation.
The Tribe has consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in academic performance and this year ranked No. 1 nationally among all public universities in perfect multi year Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores and Federal Graduation Rate. Also, Tribe programs garnered 12 Public Recognition Awards, which go to teams earning multiyear APRs in the top 10% of all squads in their sports.
Prior to W&M, Mann was the chief development officer/senior associate athletics director at UC Berkeley, where he was the architect for the athletics department’s $350 million portion of the university’s $6 billion campaign. Preceding his stay at UC Berkeley, he was chief development officer and senior associate athletics director at Rice University.
Mann got his start in athletics at Dartmouth College, his alma mater, where he served as director of football operations and began his work in fundraising. Mann holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Dartmouth, where he played quarterback and still holds the single season passing record. His 5,912 career passing yards are third on the Big Green’s all-time list. Before beginning his career in academia, Mann played professional football for the L.A. Avengers of the Arena Football League.
Staff, University News & Media