STARKVILLE — Zac Selmon already feels right at home in Starkville.
Following his opening comments during Friday’s press conference at the Bryan Athletic Administration Building, the Bulldogs’ newly hired athletic director was presented with his first cowbell by Mississippi State President Dr. Mark Keenum.
With tissue paper flying out the underside of the cowbell, Selmon rang it proudly in front of a packed house, officially “ringing in” a new era of Mississippi State athletics as the 18th athletic director in school history.
“I’m honored to be here at Mississippi State,” Selmon said. “We will lead with integrity, hard work and respect. We will continue the inherent drive to be the best and to shine a light on the future. My family and I are thrilled to be here.”
Selmon, the first Black athletic director in MSU history, comes into Starkville with a highly decorated background, something that stood out to Keenum and those on MSU’s search team throughout the AD search process.
His previous stops saw him as North Carolina’s associate athletic director and special assistant to UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham from 2014-15. Since July 2015, he’s worked at Oklahoma, first hired as senior associate athletics director and chief of operations.
Most recently, Selmon served as deputy athletic director for external engagement and advancement for the Sooners.
Selmon’s résumé stood out immediately, Keenum said — and those who learned MSU was interviewing Selmon were impressed.
“He has been a leader,” Keenum said. “He understands what student-athletes face today. He’s lived it. He’s done it, and that brings a lot to a person in this position, being able to provide leadership to our department.
“… Not only does Zac Selmon have the ‘it’ factor, he has the ‘wow’ factor. That’s pretty special.”
Selmon not only has administrative experience but played college athletics himself, playing tight end at Wake Forest, where he was a four-year starter.
He comes from a highly decorated football family, the son of former Oklahoma defensive line standout Dewey Selmon and the nephew of Lucious and Lee Roy Selmon, the latter of whom was a collegiate and pro football hall of famer.
Despite strong ties in Norman, the decision to come to Starkville turned into an easy one for Selmon.
“When you look at Mississippi State, it has all of the ingredients here so we can have an unbelievable experience for our student-athletes,” Selmon said. “After talking with Dr. Keenum and the rest of the search committee, it’s a no-brainer.”
“It’s about the people, and I’m just fired up about the impact we can make here within our conference and on a national scale as well.”
The search for a new athletic director after former MSU AD John Cohen left for Auburn on Oct. 31 took a pause in December while the athletic department and university dealt with the unfortunate death of head football coach Mike Leach on Dec. 12, resuming after the holidays.
Interim athletic director Bracky Brett was instrumental in helping keep things together since Cohen’s departure and especially during what became a tumultuous time in Starkville.
Selmon praised both Brett and current head football coach Zach Arnett for their efforts during that period.
“I was impressed by the leadership that Dr. Keenum, Bracky and others showed during that transition,” Selmon said. “I’ve known Coach Leach for a long time, and my heart goes out to his entire family … When you go through that, the stabilization of what Coach Arnett has done has been fantastic.
“I’m really looking forward to getting to work with him.”
In this new era of collegiate athletics, with the exponential growth of name, image and likeness, as well as the inception and rapid expansion of the transfer portal, among other things, Selmon is excited to get to work at Mississippi State.
His tenure at Oklahoma hasn’t quite finished up, but it was clear Friday what his goals and aspirations at the helm of the Bulldogs are and will be once he gets started.
“We will win,” Selmon said. “That’s the whole name of the game. We will win, but most importantly, we will win the right way. We will win with class, and we will win with integrity.”
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