Gerald Harrison has accepted the position of Vice President and Director of Athletics at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Harrison has been the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Austin Peay State University since July 2018. With this move, Harrison plans to transform Marshall’s athletics the same way he did for the Govs.
Harrison served as the Director of Community Relations for the University of Tennessee-Knoxville from 2001-2004. Harrison increased student-athletes’ presence in the community with service projects and educational programs. Harrison had a job title change that lasted from 2005 to 2007, where he was the Director of High School Relations. He was involved heavily in recruiting efforts when the Vols brought in top 15 recruiting classes consistently.
Following his time in Knoxville, Harrison went to Duke University for 10 years, where he took on multiple job titles. He started as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Football Development, where he helped the Blue Devils break a bowl drought that had lasted since 1994, earning five appearances in six seasons. After that, Harrison served as the Associate Director of Athletics for Human Resources. During this time, Harrison reorganized staff contracts and was a part of the Executive Budget Committee. From 2013 until he left for Austin Peay, Harrison was the Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Affairs, where he was a member of the Director of Athletics Executive Leadership team.
Former Austin Peay president Alisa White brought Harrison to Clarksville in July 2018, making him the 14th Director of Athletics. During his time in Clarksville, Harrison helped athletics enjoy 13 conference championships. He also guided the Govs through two conference transitions. Austin Peay left the Ohio Valley Conference and joined the Atlantic Sun Conference in all sports, and eventually moved football to the United Athletic Conference, where the Govs won the Inaugural championship.
Harrison played a big part in the creation of F&M Bank Arena, which serves as home to the men’s and women’s basketball teams and the hockey team. F&M Bank Arena also hosts multiple types of events, bringing excitement for everyone to Clarksville. Harrison also oversaw projects on the Downey Baseball Operations Center and Clubhouse, the Jenkins Family Fieldhouse, a modern nutrition room and ongoing upgrades to Fortera Stadium.
Beginning his new journey, Harrison’s final day at Austin Peay will be Aug. 15.
