Baylor University Vice President and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades named Doug McNamee Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations on Friday.
“We are excited to expand Doug’s responsibilities,” Rhoades said. “Doug has done a tremendous job directing the Baylor Bear Foundation to unprecedented success. He’s a dynamic leader and an exceptional relationship builder with a wide range of experiences that will prove beneficial as he guides our external relations areas.”
McNamee will lead Baylor’s external relations department including the areas of development, athletics communications, fan engagement, new media, spirit program and ticket services. He will also serve as member of Rhoades’ senior staff.
“I’m thankful to Mack for entrusting me with this opportunity. I’m excited to continue serving my alma mater and our student-athletes by overseeing Baylor Athletics’ external efforts,” McNamee said. “Baylor has meant so much to my family so to now have the chance to lead in this new capacity is a great honor.”
McNamee has 12 years of intercollegiate athletics experience, most recently overseeing the Baylor Bear Foundation as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Development. His primary responsibilities with the Bear Foundation included oversight and strategy of the department’s annual giving program. He also coordinated the seating and parking transition process for McLane Stadium that resulted in a school-record 28,000 season tickets, and was part of the team responsible for securing major capital gifts essential to funding the state-of-the-art riverfront stadium.
McNamee joined the Bear Foundation as Assistant Athletics Director in 2012. He was promoted to Associate Athletics Director in 2013 and rose to Senior Associate Athletics Director in 2015. The Bear Foundation experienced record-setting numbers over his five years, including a 130 percent membership increase from 3,499 in 2012-13 to 8,040 in 2016-17. The Bear Foundation eclipsed $16M in annual scholarship support in 2014-15, more than doubling the total achieved just two years prior and fully funding all athletic scholarships for the first time.
Prior to joining the Baylor Athletics Department, McNamee spent seven years with IMG College, earning three promotions during his tenure. He began as Marketing Assistant in 2005 and rose to General Manager by 2008 leading the Baylor property. He was responsible for developing and maintaining strategic partnerships with Baylor Athletics and national, regional and community clients. Baylor’s annual sponsorship revenue increased from $325,000 to $3.2M during his time at IMG, including a 47% increase during four record-setting years as General Manager.
A 2003 Baylor graduate, McNamee returned to Baylor to serve as a graduate assistant with both the baseball program and student-athlete services following a brief stint with the Houston Astros business operations. He obtained a master’s degree in sports administration in 2005.
He and his wife, Dr. Lacy McNamee, a professor in Baylor’s Department of Communication, have a daughter, Josephine, and are expecting their second child in March.
