Jeff Compher is a former American collegiate athletics administrator. He was the athletic director at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

from April 2013 to May 2018.

College

In 1980, Compher earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

, where he also played football, then graduated from

Shippensburg University Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (Ship or SU) is a public university in the Shippensburg, Pennsylvania area. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Founded in 1871, it later became the first teachers' college ...

in 1982 with a master's degree in counseling and student personnel services.

Career

Compher served as Athletic Director at

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU ...

from 2000-2004, and held athletic administrative positions at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. He was athletic director

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

for five years.

East Carolina

Compher was named athletic director at East Carolina in April 2013. Compher was tasked with leading ECU into the Big East Conference in 2014, which would later be renamed the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. ECU was originally invited as a football only member, but later was admitted for all sports.

Controversies

While at ECU, Compher's first big decision as athletics director was to fire popular head football

Ruffin McNeill Ruffin Horne McNeill Jr. (born October 8, 1958) is an American football coach and former player who currently serves as the special assistant to the head coach at NC State University. He previously served as the assistant head coach and outside l ...

after a 5-7 season. This gained national attention and uproar at ECU as Ruffin McNeill posted the second-most wins in school history with multiple nationally-ranked teams. Compher was quoted saying "Our expectations are to compete for championships" and “Regardless of the feedback I was offered, I knew this was my decision″ Compher then hired

Scottie Montgomery Scottie Austin Montgomery (born May 26, 1978) is an American football coach who is the assistant head coach and Wide Receivers Coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). Prior to that he was the running back coach & assi ...

, who produced three straight 3-9 seasons. Compher admitted in an interview that he didn't go on the field for in-game ceremonies during the football season in fear of being booed by the fans. Compher agreed to resign from his position as AD in March 2018, and Montgomery was fired later that year. Compher's resignation included a $1,262,500 buyout agreement to be paid out over five years which gained much criticism by ECU fans due to having signed the contract just months before the resignation and which resulted in 4 ECU sports teams being cut due to financial hardship. Compher was hired in October 2019 by WittKieffer, an executive search firm, but his employment with that firm did not reduce his payments from ECU.

Family

Compher is married to Cathy and the couple have two sons, C.J. and David.

References

External links

East Carolina profile
Year of birth missing (living people) Living people East Carolina Pirates athletic directors James Madison Dukes football players Northern Illinois Huskies athletic directors Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania alumni Western Carolina Catamounts athletic directors {{US-sport-bio-stub