WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - Monmouth University Director of Athletics Jeff Stapleton has announced that he will retire from his 33-year career in collegiate athletics on June 30, 2023.
 
Stapleton, who has spent the last two years as Monmouth's Director of Athletics, has been an active and integral part of the success and advancement of the Monmouth University Department of Athletics for the last 30-plus years.

"I want to thank President Leahy and the Monmouth University Board of Trustees for choosing me to lead this department for the last two years," said Stapleton. "I also want to thank the entire Monmouth University community, specifically the coaches, student-athletes, staff and donors who I have had the pleasure of working with for the last 33 years. Intercollegiate athletics can be incredibly rewarding and it has been my pleasure to be a small part of the successes, championships, achievements and growth at Monmouth Athletics during three-plus decades.  After 37 years in athletics, I have made the difficult decision that it is time to retire and allow the next generation of athletic leaders to lead this great University forward. It is a bittersweet announcement as my family has grown up around Monmouth University and we will miss regularly attending games and the relationships we have built. However, I know that we will always be part of the Hawk family."

Monmouth ushered in a new era as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association in July of 2022 under Stapleton's direction. Monmouth introduced the women's rowing program and began its first season of competition during the 2022-23 season. The Hawks' field hockey and women's soccer programs captured regular season championships, while the women's basketball program advanced to the NCAA Tournament under the guidance of second-year head coach Ginny Boggess. The Hawks went on a magical March run to the CAA Tournament crown to end a 40-year NCAA hiatus.

"For three decades, Jeff Stapleton has supported the University and Monmouth Athletics in countless ways," said Monmouth University President Dr. Patrick Leahy. "Beyond his incredible support of our student-athletes, coaches, and Athletics staff, Jeff has been hugely instrumental in developing our first-rate athletics facilities, many of which are the envy of other mid-major programs throughout the nation. Jeff was also responsible for ushering Monmouth into the CAA, allowing us to associate with some of the finest academic institutions in our region, and to compete against some of the strongest mid-major programs in the country. All of us here at Monmouth are grateful for his steady leadership and collegiality, and wish him the very best in his well-earned retirement."

In 2015 Stapleton was promoted to Deputy Director of Athletics, acting as the chief athletics administrator in absence of the Vice President and Director of Athletics. One of his primary responsibilities at the University has been to serve as the facilities director for athletics, a role that includes overseeing the development and construction of some of the best fields and facilities that mid-major Division I athletics have to offer. Over the past 20 years Stapleton has been a key component to the construction of the 57-million-dollar Ocean First Bank Center, the 16 million-dollar Kessler Stadium and renovations to all of Monmouth's athletic facilities. Most recently he oversaw renovations to the varsity weight room, Monmouth's field hockey facility, Boylan Gymnasium and the eight-lane outdoor track.
 
As the Associate Athletics Director for Internal Operations, a role he served in from 1994 until 2009, Stapleton oversaw the daily operational needs of three of the University's marquee programs in football, men's basketball and baseball. His tasks included but were not limited to daily policy interpretations, hiring coaches, monitoring budgets, overseeing scholarship awards, coordinating scheduling, evaluating head coaches and directing game operations. Stapleton served as the primary supervisor for those sports, which have been some of the most successful in the department with 10 NCAA Tournament appearances between them.
 
No stranger to the external relations of a Division I University, Stapleton was the school's television production liaison for 11 years, coordinating exposure through televised athletic events on ESPN, MSG, Cablevision, CN-8 and CSTV among others. For seven years he was a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Marketing and Television Committee and was instrumental in Monmouth joining the MAAC, the Big South Conference and most recently the CAA.
 
Stapleton began his employment with the University in August of 1990 as an Assistant Athletic Director. He served as the primary hiring coordinator for the department, a crucial time that would see the hiring of longstanding coaches Kevin Callahan and Dean Ehehalt among others. 
 
Prior to that he had spent three years as a Field Promotions Manager for Avia Group International developing and executing athletic footwear promotions in the tristate area. From 1983 to 1987 he was an assistant basketball coach at Colgate and his alma mater, Hobart College. He is a 1983 graduate of Hobart, where was a four-year member of the men's basketball team. Stapleton and his wife Trish reside in Spring Lake Heights with their four daughters, Maggie, Maureen, Siobhan and Niamh.

The University will begin a search in the coming months to fill the role of Director of Athletics.