UNT names Jared Mosley athletic director

Sources with knowledge of the situation told the Denton Record-Chronicle on Saturday that UNT was poised to announce that it has hired Mosley, and the school announced the move a short time later.

“After a short but deep search for the next leader of UNT Athletics, I am pleased to announce that our interim AD, Jared Mosley, has been offered the position,” UNT President Neal Smatresk said in a statement. “We ran an open search using a nationally respected headhunter who gave us remarkably well qualified candidates. I think many of them could have done a great job for us, but Jared provided me a vision that was crisp, clear, and built on the foundation we have put in place the last six years.”

Mosley, 45, was widely seen as the likely next athletic director at UNT should Baker move on over the last few years.

Mosley takes over UNT’s program just months before a key moment in program history. The school is set to leave Conference USA for the American Athletic Conference this summer.

“I would like to thank Dr. Smatresk and the UNT Board of Regents for the opportunity to serve as Vice President and Director of Athletics,” Mosley said. “The opportunities ahead of us as we enter this next era in the American Athletic Conference are exciting and I can’t wait to get to work with all our great coaches, staff, and student-athletes. We have accomplished much in recent years, but we need all of Mean Green Nation pulling in the same direction to help take our department to even greater heights. I know we can get there together!”

The former Abilene Christian University basketball standout served as the athletic director at his alma mater from 2004-14. Mosley helped elevate ACU’s program, which made the jump from the Division II ranks to Division I and the Football Championship Subdivision during his tenure.

Mosley left ACU to become the CEO and president of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

The opportunity to work with Baker lured Mosley back into college athletics in 2016.

Under Baker, Mosley handled a wide variety of tasks, including overseeing facility and event management as well as marketing and promotions.

Mosley will have a chance to make an immediate impact on UNT’s program in the next few weeks.

UNT is in the midst of a search for a new football coach after the departure of Seth Littrell. The school fired Littrell after the Mean Green’s loss to the University of Texas at San Antonio in the Conference USA championship game on Dec. 2.

UNT is expected to quickly turn its attention to searching for Littrell’s replacement as Mosley takes over as athletic director.

Mosley had the support of several UNT coaches, administrators and boosters during the school’s short search for a new athletic director.

Those connections led the school to choose Mosley to take over for Baker in hopes of continuing the growth it has shown over the last several years.

UNT completed more than $50 million in athletic facility projects as well as winning NCAA tournament games in men’s basketball and softball during Baker’s tenure.

That success attracted the attention of the American, which included UNT in a group of six schools in a round of expansion. The school will join UTSA, Rice University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Florida Atlantic University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in moving over from C-USA.

UNT’s run of success under Baker made him an attractive candidate to move up to guide a Power Five program. Baker’s name came up in connection with several openings in recent years.

West Virginia University finally lured Baker away to guide its program and left UNT looking for a new leader for its athletics program.

UNT’s progress under Baker made the opportunity to guide its athletics program an attractive job.

Smatresk touted what the school had to offer when he released a statement following Baker’s departure on Nov. 30.

“With solid infrastructure in place and a staff of great administrators and coaches, we are well positioned to continue our success,” Smatresk said. “We will begin our search soon, and I anticipate that we will attract a strong pool of candidates who can continue our remarkable upward trajectory as we transition into the American.”

UNT’s search lasted just a few days and came to an end when the school turned its athletics program over to Mosley.

“Jared will do an outstanding job for us,” Smatresk said. “He will continue to build the program as we enter the American and will bring the Mean Green to new heights.”