According to Sports Talk Florida UCF Insider Jeff Sharon the school needs a new athletic director.
Todd Stansbury, who has served as the Knights’ A.D. since 2012, will depart to take the same job at Oregon State, according to several media reports. The news was first reported by Jeff Goodman of ESPN:
Stansbury returns to Oregon State, where he was an Executive Associate Athletic Director from 2003-2012 under Bob De Carolis. De Carolis announced he was leaving OSU in part, according to OregonLive.com, because the university’s president, Ed Ray, would not renew his contract. De Carolis’ resignation is effective June 30th.
In a statement sent to the media by UCF, Stansbury said:
“This decision was difficult because I love UCF, what our teams have accomplished and the excitement still ahead…Karen and I have spent a large part of our lives at Oregon State and we look forward to returning to Corvallis. Without a doubt, we will be Knights fans from the West Coast.”
Stansbury took the helm at UCF following the unceremonious departure of Keith Tribble in the wake of a recruiting scandal in 2012. In his time at UCF, he helped see the football and men’s basketball programs through the recruiting scandal, as well as the program’s transition from Conference USA to The American. It all culminated with UCF Football’s victory in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl, the program’s first BCS bowl victory. UCF teams won 15 conference titles in Stansbury’s time, including seven this past academic year.
UCF student-athletes also excelled academically under Stansbury’s regime. The Knights achieved a Graduation Success Rate of 95% as of October 2014, tied for fifth-best among FBS schools with Boston College, and trailing only academic powerhouses Notre Dame, Stanford, Northwestern and Duke. That also made UCF the highest-ranked public school in FBS.
UCF’s Academic Progress Rate also increased each year under Stansbury, finishing at 981 through 2013-14. A perfect APR is 1000.
A search for a new athletic director will ostensibly begin immediately.