MOBILE, Ala. — The University of South Alabama honored former athletic director Joe Gottfried on Thursday afternoon with a retirement ceremony at the Mitchell Center, recognizing 28 years of service to the university.
USA President Gordon Moulton hosted the event. Gottfried, who led the Jaguar athletic department for the last 25 years, stepped down from the athletic director’s post on Aug. 1.
From Assistant to Athletic Director
Gottfried arrived at South Alabama in 1981 as an assistant athletic director. He held that role through 1984, when he was promoted to athletic director.
Before coming to Mobile, Gottfried coached at Ashland and Southern Illinois. He graduated from Ashland College in 1963 and earned his master’s degree from Morehead State in 1969.
He is a member of the USA Athletic Hall of Fame, as well as the Ashland College and Crestline (Ohio) High School halls of fame.
Bringing Football to South Alabama
Gottfried played a central role in adding football as the university’s 17th athletic program. He first led discussions about bringing the sport to campus in 2001, and the USA Board of Trustees approved the program on Dec. 6, 2007.
With football now on board, the South Alabama athletic department has grown to more than 300 student-athletes, the largest total in its history. The Jaguars are scheduled to begin play this fall.
A Building Legacy
Gottfried’s tenure brought a wave of construction and renovation to South Alabama’s athletic facilities. Projects completed under his direction include:
- The $30 million Mitchell Center, home of the men’s and women’s basketball programs and athletic department offices
- A $3.5 million renovation of Stanky Field completed before the 2005 baseball season
- A 4,000-square-foot baseball clubhouse built in 1996
- The softball complex, the program’s first, built before the 2007 season
- A new locker room for the softball and soccer programs
- Intramural fields on the west side of campus
- Improvements to Jaguar Gymnasium
- The Striplin Center
- “The Cage” soccer facility
- The USA Track Complex
- The Bruce David Lubel Memorial Tennis Courts
- The football field house and football practice fields
Success in the Classroom
Academic performance was also a point of emphasis during Gottfried’s tenure. In the most recent NCAA Academic Progress Rate report, released last month, 13 of South Alabama’s 16 competing programs scored above the NCAA’s standard of 925.
Under Gottfried, 83 percent of South Alabama student-athletes who completed their eligibility graduated.
In 2007-08, 37 Jaguar student-athletes were named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List for maintaining at least a 3.5 grade-point average, while 32 others made the Sun Belt Academic Honor Roll with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Results on the Field
South Alabama’s teams compiled an extensive list of accomplishments during Gottfried’s time as athletic director.
- 75 South Alabama student-athletes earned All-America recognition.
- USA coaches were named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year 62 times.
- South Alabama won the Sun Belt’s Vic Bubas Cup, awarded for overall athletic excellence, 10 times in a 13-year span, more than any other school in league history.
- Jaguar teams won 104 conference titles and made 54 appearances in NCAA championship events.
- 123 individual student-athletes qualified for NCAA postseason competition, including two track and field athletes who won NCAA titles.
- In baseball, 95 players signed professional contracts, 17 of whom reached the major leagues.
South Alabama competes in the Sun Belt Conference.
