Air Force athletic director Nathan Pine, Georgia Tech athletic director J Batt, George Washington athletic director Michael Lipitz and former Charlotte FC president Joe LaBue have been identified as potential candidates for Maryland’s athletic director opening, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told The Baltimore Sun.
It’s unclear if Pine, Batt, Lipitz, LaBue or additional candidates have formally interviewed for the opening yet. Maryland has hired Turnkey, the same firm that ran the Terps’ athletic director search in 2018, to lead this year’s process.
University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines said the process of hiring a new athletic director will take “six to eight weeks” at men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams’ introductory news conference earlier this month, paving the way for a May or June hire.
All four of the potential candidates have Maryland connections.
Pine was the Terps’ deputy director of athletics from 2011 to 2013 before becoming athletic director at Holy Cross. The Oregon native spent the past seven years at Air Force, where he extended Falcons football coach Troy Calhoun’s contract to 2029 after the program posted three consecutive bowl victories and nine-win seasons.
In just under three years as Georgia Tech’s athletic director, Batt made two influential hires in football coach Brent Key and men’s basketball coach Damon Stoudamire. Key led his team to consecutive winning seasons and bowl game appearances, the first time the Yellow Jackets had done so since 2014. Stoudamire, a former NBA All-Star, produced Georgia Tech’s most wins (17) in four seasons.
Batt spent four years in Maryland’s athletic department just over a decade ago, including three as the executive director of the Terrapin Club from 2011 to 2013. He was reportedly a candidate for Maryland’s athletic director position when it last opened in 2018 when he was chief operating officer and chief revenue officer at Alabama.
Lipitz has only run George Washington athletics since August but has deep ties to the Terps. He’s a Maryland graduate who worked in various roles with the administration for 11 years after graduating as a captain of the men’s tennis team.
LaBue, another Maryland graduate, was the president of Major League Soccer’s Charlotte FC for two years before transitioning into a consultant role for the franchise in December. He previously held marketing and sales titles with the Washington Capitals and Commanders.
“I’m open to the best candidate,” Pines said at Williams’ introductory news conference. “Whoever comes forward through the process will be the best candidate for our athletic department moving forward.”
Turnkey is the same search firm the school used for its athletic director opening in 2018, which was filled by Damon Evans. Maryland’s athletic director position opened last month when Evans departed for the same role at Southern Methodist University.
Evans spent seven years in the role in College Park and hired football coach Michael Locksley and former men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard, who prematurely exposed Evans’ plans to leave at a news conference ahead of the team’s first NCAA Tournament game.
Willard, too, was gone weeks later. Interim athletic director Colleen Sorem, along with Pines, led the search that landed Williams, who said at his introduction that the athletic department’s instability wasn’t a factor in his decision to leave Texas A&M.
A summer hire would get a new athletic director to College Park after the spring season concludes and as the academic calendar turns, while still months away from the beginning of the football season.
“I wish it could be done today. That’d be perfect,” Pines said earlier this month. “It’s a process that’s going to evolve.”
Baltimore Sun Media reporter Bill Wagner contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Taylor Lyons at [email protected], 410-332-6200 and x.com/TaylorJLyons.
