Stanford hires former Nike CEO John Donahoe as athletic director, AP source says

Stanford, California (AP) – The former CEO of Nike, John Donahoe, was hired as sports director in Stanford.

A person familiar with the decision said that Donahoe will become the eighth sports director of the school and will replace Bernard Muir, who has resigned this year. The person spoke under the cover of anonymity because the hiring had not been announced.

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ESPN first pointed out this decision.

Donahoe graduated from Stanford Business School and worked in companies like Nike, Bain & Company and Ebay in his career. He was CEO of Nike from 2020-24.

He took over one of the most successful sports programs, Stanford having won at least one NCAA title in 49 consecutive years from 1976-1977 and a record of 137 NCAA team titles in total.

But the cardinal had trouble in high-level sports in football and male basketball under Muir’s mandate, leading to the decision to hire the former Stanford star and the star of the NFL Andrew Luck to supervise the football program as general manager.

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The cardinal seeks to bounce back into football after going to three pink bowls under the former coach David Shaw in the first four years of Muir as a announcement.

Shaw resigned in 2022 after a second consecutive season 3-9 and the rental of Muir, Troy Taylor, posted consecutive seasons of 3-9.

The male basketball program has not made the NCAA tournament since the second season of Muir in 2013-2014 under former coach Johnny Dawkins.

Dawkins was dismissed in 2016 and replaced by Jerod Haase, who did not succeed in the tournament once in eight years.

Muir hired Kyle Smith last March to take over and Cardinal went 21-14 for his biggest victory in 10 years.

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Muir also hired Kate Paye as a women’s basketball coach last year after retirement from the Ta Vanderveer renowned temple. The cardinal went 16-15 last season and missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1987.

Muir also supervised the transition from Cardinal to ACC last year after the school’s long-term house, PAC-12, separated.

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