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Mack Rhoades has officially stepped down as Baylor’s athletic director, SicEm365 has confirmed. ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the news.
Rhoades was the center of national headlines following an alleged verbal and physical altercation with star tight end Michael Trigg on Sept. 20, when the Bears faced Arizona State.
Rhoades was cleared of wrongdoing by the school, but less than a week after the Trigg story broke, Rhoades missed a dinner with prominent donors and took a self-initiated leave of absence, effective Wednesday, Nov. 12.
The leave, however, was not connected to any Title IX matters, problems within the football program or NCAA rules issues; it was due to personal reasons. Rhoades also had to step down as the chair of the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Rhoades took over in July 2016, and across his 10 years in Waco, Baylor has won 24 Big 12 titles and 10 national championships. Since 2011, Baylor has led the country in combined wins among football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
Baylor will be searching for a new athletic director for the first time since 2016 — a pivotal moment for the athletic department and university. It also comes at a time when the new athletic director will likely have to coordinate a coaching search, as it’s expected that football head coach Dave Aranda will not stick around for a seventh season.
The current co-interim athletic directors are Jovan Overshown and Cody Hall.
