Stanford athletic director Bernard Muir, whose tenure spanned 13 years, two conferences and the deterioration of the Cardinal’s revenue-driving sports, is planning to resign from his position, a Hotline source confirmed Monday.
The news, first reported by ESPN, was not unexpected given recent developments in the athletic department and across campus.
President Jonathan Levin took charge of the university in August and, just three months later, hired former quarterback Andrew Luck to oversee the football program — a clear indication of Muir’s waning influence.
The Cardinal is expected to name an interim athletic director and conduct a national search for Muir’s replacement.
Prior Stanford experience, either as an athlete or athletic department employee, should be prioritized.
The move comes at a critical time for Stanford’s major sports, football and men’s basketball, which are struggling for traction during a period of massive change in college sports — change that, in many regards, runs counter to the university’s bedrock academic mission.
Stanford has been slow to adjust to name, image and likeness and the transfer portal. While Muir was hardly the primary reason for the failure to adapt rapidly, his successor must work effectively with the administration, head coaches and key donors alike. Otherwise, success in the major sports will be difficult to achieve.
Muir, 56, was named Stanford’s athletics director in July 2012 after previously serving in the same role at Georgetown and Delaware. He also climbed the ladder in Notre Dame’s athletics department, where he worked in the early 2000s after a stint as the NCAA’s operations director for the men’s Division I basketball tournament.
At Stanford, he was responsible for retaining, then ultimately firing men’s basketball coach Johnny Dawkins, hiring and then firing Jerod Haase, then hiring Kyle Smith.
During Muir’s tenure, the men’s basketball team reached the NCAA Tournament once.
The women’s basketball team made the NCAA Tournament each year of his time, though legendary coach Tara VanDerveer’s departure last spring has brought about uncertainty. Stanford, under first-year coach Kate Paye, is on the outskirts of the NCAA bubble this season.
On the football front, he oversaw David Shaw’s departure in late 2022, then hired Troy Taylor.
Muir was in charge during the Varsity Blues scandal, the push to eliminate 11 varsity sports — the school eventually reversed course — and Stanford’s admission into the ACC in the summer of 2023.