Dan Radakovich was named the 15th Director of Athletics in University of Miami history in December 2021, returning to his graduate school alma mater as one of the nation’s most decorated and successful college athletics administrators.
Radakovich, who previously served as Director of Athletics at Clemson for nine years, launched his career at UM in 1983 as the Hurricanes’ athletic business manager, an experience which charted a course that has now spanned seven schools and 35-plus years as a visionary leader in all aspects of college athletics.
Since returning to Coral Gables, Radakovich has worked with campus leaders to chart an ambitious course for Miami Athletics with respect to facilities, sport sponsorship, fundraising, student-athlete experience, Name, Image & Likeness opportunities and staff development. He has hired six new head coaches (baseball, women’s basketball, golf, rowing, soccer and men’s tennis) and extended the contracts of seven others. He has worked closely with head football coach Mario Cristobal to ramp up recruiting, evaluation, sports science and creative resources for the football program. Miami is currently working on an expansion to the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility, the initial step in an overarching football operations center project. UM recently opened the Susan and Stephen Symons Basketball Training Center, The Ruiz Family Baseball Strength & Conditioning Center and a new on-campus rowing training facility.
This past year, the Hurricanes produced two individual national champions in Alexa Noel, who captured the NCAA women’s singles crown, and Russell Robinson, who won the NCAA indoor track and field title in the triple jump. Miami had eight individual ACC champions and 14 All-Americans.
In 2022-23, Miami’s men’s basketball team reached its first-ever Final Four, while the women’s basketball team advanced to the first Elite Eight in school history. UM also posted its highest Learfield Directors’ Cup finish since 2016. Miami was one of seven schools – and the only ACC school – to have players drafted in the 2023 NFL, NBA, WNBA and MLB Drafts. In 2021-22, Miami was one of just two schools (along with North Carolina) to have its football team qualify for a bowl game, its men’s basketball team reach the Sweet 16 and its baseball team host a regional.
Miami’s most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate (94 percent) and NCAA Academic Progress Report score (996) both set school records. In Spring 2024, UM student-athletes posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.23, which set a department record. A school-record 275 UM student-athletes made the 2023-24 ACC Honor Roll. Miami finished second in the 2023 NCAA Team Works Community Service competition, one year after winning the competition for the second time.
Miami Athletic Development has raised more than $45 million in gifts and commitments over the past two fiscal years from nearly 20,000 supporters. The athletic department’s total raised for the Ever Brighter Campaign, which will conclude as with UM’s centennial in 2025, is nearing $190 million. In addition, Miami’s multimedia rights partnership with Legends resulted in record single-year revenue growth this past year.
Radakovich is the past President of LEAD1, which represents athletic directors at the Division I level. He was named 2017 Sports Business Journal Athletic Director of the Year after being a finalist in 2015. In 2014, Radakovich was one of 13 people, including one of five FBS Directors of Athletics, to be named to the first College Football Playoff committee. He was recently appointed to the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee for a four-year term through 2028.
At Clemson, Radakovich oversaw the most successful stretch in Tigers football history as the program won two national championships (2016, 2018), six ACC titles and made six College Football Playoff appearances.
Radakovich continuously led the Tigers athletic department to high achievements, both on the field and in the classroom, while developing significant upgrades in finance and facilities.
Clemson set a school record in the NCAA’s 2021 GSR report, posting a 95 percent score, which also tied for first in the ACC amongst public schools. Radakovich guided the department successfully throughout the pandemic, helping Clemson to reopen athletic operations, including safely hosting 112,367 fans at Memorial Stadium in 2020, third most in the nation.
In 2020-21, Clemson had its best finish in the Learfield Directors’ Cup since 2007, finishing No. 36. Highlighting the athletic year, the football program claimed the ACC title and appeared in the College Football Playoff, the men’s soccer program claimed the 2020 ACC championship, and the women’s soccer program advanced to the Elite Eight. Additionally, Radakovich oversaw the development of the softball program at Clemson, which officially began in the spring of 2020. That program earned the ACC regular-season championship in 2021 and made its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
During Radakovich’s tenure, IPTAY, the school’s fundraising arm, saw significant increases in contributions and he was instrumental along with the IPTAY Board of Directors in the Cornerstone Partner Program, which together has helped fund numerous investments in infrastructure and the student-athlete experience.
During the 2018-19 school year, Clemson won its second football national championship in three years, defeating Alabama 44-16. During the 2017-18 school year, Clemson became the first school in history to reach the College Football Playoff, advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and host a baseball regional in the same season.
Since 2013, Clemson received approvals for more than $200 million in facility improvements and increased spending on direct student-athlete development programs, including nutrition, mental health and professional development, by $2.4 million. His department increased overall revenue from $69 million in fiscal year 2014 to a budgeted $131 million in fiscal year 2020. Littlejohn Coliseum opened to rave reviews following a $63 million renovation. The Allen N. Reeves Football Complex opened in 2017, setting the standard for football facilities around the country. The Nieri Family Student-Athlete Enrichment Center opened as a state-of-the-art facility for student-athlete development in the classroom and community. The development, rebranding and expansion of football’s P.A.W. Journey highlighted a best-in-class approach to preparation for life after their Clemson football careers.
Prior to his arrival, Radakovich amassed a wealth of experience serving in significant athletic administrative roles at Georgia Tech, LSU, American, South Carolina, Long Beach State and UM.
Radakovich came to Clemson from Georgia Tech, where he served as Director of Athletics for six years (2006-12). He hired football head coach Paul Johnson, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2023, and rebuilt McCamish Pavilion, home to the Yellow Jackets’ men’s and women’s basketball teams. Prior to his tenure at Georgia Tech, Radakovich worked as a Senior Associate Athletic Director at LSU from 2001-06. He had many responsibilities with the football program, including the year the Tigers won the national title in 2003.
From 2000-01 Radakovich was Director of Athletics at American University. Between 1994 and 2000, he served as Chief Financial Officer at South Carolina. He gained experience on the West Coast from 1989-94, when he was a Senior Associate Athletic Director at Long Beach State. Radakovich worked at The U from 1983-85 as Athletics Business Manager.
Radakovich, a native of Aliquippa, Pa., is a 1980 graduate of Indiana (Pa.), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in finance. He was also a football letterman and student coach with the Crimson Hawk program, and he was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 2021. He previously was enshrined into the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 and was recognized as a distinguished alumnus from Indiana in 2009.
Radakovich and his wife, Marcie, have two sons, Christian, a 2012 Georgia Tech graduate, and Grant, a 2015 Mercer graduate who was a graduate transfer tight end on Clemson’s 2016 national championship football team.
