ABOR Approves a Five-Year Contract Extension for NAU Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Marlow

Contact:

Kim Ott

(928) 523-1894

kimberly.ott@nau.edu

NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera recommended Mike Marlow's contract extension to ABOR based upon his leadership in elevating the success of student-athletes and the excellence of the program since he arrived in 2018. With the board's approval today, Marlow's contract will now run through April 2028.
 

"Mike Marlow and his team have led our athletics program to prominence at the national, state, conference and community level over the past five years," President Cruz Rivera said. "His integrity and dedication to the best interests of our student-athletes has brought us back-to-back Big Sky Presidents' Cup awards, recognizing NAU as the best athletic program in the conference for academic and athletic success. I am proud to have Mike on our team and look froward to working together for the next five years."
 

Since Marlow came to NAU in January 2018, NAU has experienced unprecedented success in academics, athletics, facility enhancements, fundraising, and recruiting and retaining top caliber coaches and staff. He was recognized for that success with the Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year award by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics for 2020-2021.
 

Athletic accomplishments during Marlow's tenure are extensive and include four men's cross country NCAA Division I national championships, 46 conference championships across all sports programs and the Big Sky Conference Men's and Women's All-Sports Trophies. The accolades for academic success are equally impressive and include NAU student-athletes achieving the highest cumulative GPA in the history of the program.
 

"I'm appreciative of President Cruz Rivera and ABOR's confidence in our athletic program," Marlow said. "The opportunity to continue to work with Lumberjack coaches, staff, former athletes, alumni and donors to build an even stronger championship caliber foundation for current and future student-athletes is something I will steadfastly embrace. Our primary goals are unwavering as our focus will remain on building a program which positions current and future student-athletes to maximize their academic and athletic potential while providing a great source of pride to alumni and supporters of NAU Athletics. The very best days for NAU Athletics are yet to come."

NAU coaches and staff describe the athletics program under Marlow's leadership as a supportive family with a competitive drive.

"It's been a privilege to serve under Mike's leadership and devotion to NAU's student-athletes and coaches," National Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year Mike Smith said. "Mike's enthusiastic and visionary approach has unified NAU Athletics and raised the standard for the championship culture that we hold. I'm thrilled for the future of our programs knowing we'll continue to be led by Mike Marlow."

Marlow led more than $50 million in athletics facilities enhancements, including the $3 million state-of-the-art video board cluster in the Walkup Skydome; the $1.4 million artificial surface practice field; a new $1 million competitive surface in the Skydome; and a $47 million best-in-class Student-Athlete High Performance Center. Skyjack membership more than doubled in the last five years, and contributions have progressively increased from 2019 when Skyjack donations exceeded $1 million for the first time in history to 2022 when contributions came in at more than $3 million. NAU Athletics also received four separate million-dollar gifts during Marlow's tenure, the first such donations in the history of NAU Athletics.  
 

Marlow came to NAU from Washington State University, where he served for seven years as deputy director of athletics. Prior to Washington State, Marlow served for more than 12 years at the University of Oregon. Before Oregon, Marlow was the assistant athletic director at the University of Idaho. A 1990 graduate of Washington State, Marlow began his career in intercollegiate athletics as the assistant director of the Grizzly Athletic Association at the University of Montana.