Brad Davis enters his third year as the director of athletics at Mount St. Mary’s University.
A member of the President’s Cabinet, Davis has reshaped the Mount’s athletic department in conjunction with historic changes across college athletics, while continuing to prioritize the student-athlete experience, revenue generation, and institutional enrollment growth through athletics and affinity programs.
In his second year as the director of athletics, the Mount earned its first MAAC championship since becoming a MAAC member prior to the 2022-23 season. The men’s basketball team, under Davis’ hire in first-year Head Coach Donny Lind, had its best Division I season in school history, winning the MAAC tournament and a NCAA play-in game and set the school record for wins with 23. Davis retained Lind and his coaching staff following the historic season with contract extensions.
These on-court successes led to significant increases in revenue generation for the second straight year. Ticket revenue doubled, up 51% from 2023-24, while athletic contributions increased by 10%. Sponsorship revenue also increased significantly from the previous year by a 40% clip, while gameday concession revenue was up 30%. The Mount’s day of giving, One Mount One Day, raised $250,000 for athletics, an increase of 56% from the previous year.
Davis’ enrollment efforts continue to provide more support for the university’s recruiting efforts. Since Davis was hired, the athletic department’s enrollment has increased from approximately 650 student-athletes to nearly 800 for the 2025-26 academic year, through program additions like flag football and dance; and development and club programs in soccer, baseball, golf and track & field. Davis also assumed oversight of the university’s Campus Recreation Department and revamped programming, including the relaunch of the outdoor adventures program.
The Mount’s 2024-25 athletic performance led to a seventh-place finish in the MAAC Ensor Commissioner’s Cup Standings, its best finish since joining the conference. Other department highlights included a regular season championship from women’s lacrosse and a pair of top-three finishes from men’s and women’s outdoor track & field. Meanwhile, men’s soccer qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2008, and men’s tennis tied for second in the MAAC, making the postseason for the first time since joining the conference. Women’s basketball reached the MAAC semifinals for the first time ever, and bowling advanced to the USBC nationals for the second time in school history.
Two coaches, Lauren Skellchock (women’s lacrosse) and Leandros Misdrachis (men’s tennis) earned MAAC Coach of the Year honors, while men’s golfer Aaron Sorkin earned the department’s first-ever MAAC Player of the Year Award.
In the classroom, Mount’s student-athletes continue to thrive, recording a 3.32 average GPA, the highest in school history. Davis spearheaded the university’s first-ever athletics graduation to recognize student-athletes in baseball and track & field that missed commencement due to competition.
Under Davis’ leadership, the Mount opted in to the House settlement and will share revenue with select student-athletes beginning in 2025-26.
Davis also spearheaded the addition of women’s flag football, becoming the first Division I institution in the north to sponsor the sport at a varsity level. The announcement led to national publicity, including a feature in the Washington Post. Davis hired long-time women’s pro football player Sandi James and negotiated associated membership with the Conference Carolinas.
Facility enhancements continue to be a priority for Davis. Renovations in Knott Arena continued for a second-straight offseason, with the replacement of the arena’s sound system and video board. Additionally, planning and permitting continue for two major projects that are slated to break ground during the 2025-26 academic year, the Rooney Athletics Performance Center and the Rugby Clubhouse.
Davis remains active on a regional and national level as well. He serves as a mentor on the NCAA mentorship program and was a panelist at the CALS 1-Day Symposium in Washington D.C. Davis also serves as the sport administrator for men’s lacrosse for the MAAC.
Davis hit the ground running at the Mount, establishing his senior leadership team while prioritizing fundraising for capital needs and enrollment growth through athletic rosters. In his first year, Davis and his staff raised over $1.75 million, including $350,000 for renovations to the Knott Arena Concourse in honor of former Athletic Director Lynne Phelan Robinson. In addition to overhauling the concourse, which included new graphics, flooring, painting and furniture, as well as opening the concourse into the arena with the elimination of storefront glass; Davis spearheaded efforts to replace the Knott Arena basketball floor for the first time since the building opened 37 years ago, and finalized significant locker room renovations for men’s basketball, women’s basketball and men’s lacrosse.
Davis hired several new head coaches in his first year, including Lind (men’s basketball), Chris Ryan (men’s lacrosse), Brett Teach (men’s soccer) and Olivia Farwell (women’s bowling). He also restructured the administrative team, promoting Justine Miller to deputy athletic director and Mark Vandergrift to senior associate athletic director while hiring Abigail Vietmeier (compliance), Zoe Summa (academics), and Troy Gerlt (athletic training) to senior level positions. Davis also promoted longtime Director of Cross Country, Track & Field Jay Phillips to assistant athletic director and a member of his senior leadership team and agreed to a long-term contract extension with women’s lacrosse head coach Lauren Skellchock.
Davis comes to Emmitsburg following a successful five-year tenure at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Lakers, who transitioned to Division I and the Northeast Conference for 2024-25, boast a similar sized department to the Mount with 26 varsity programs and 750 student-athletes. On the field of play, Mercyhurst prospered with a national championship in women's rowing for 2022, nine conference championships, and 23 NCAA tournament appearances.
The five years Davis supervised Mercyhurst were transformative.
Rebuilding the Lakers' structure, mission and culture, and administrative and head coaching hires helped Mercyhurst attain the top spot in the Pennsylvania States Athletic Conference (PSAC) for promoting diversity in 2021-22. Teams recorded a department-wide GPA of 3.4 with a 90% academic success rate in six out of seven years.
Net revenues increased under his watch, aided by initiatives such as Giving Day for Athletics and the Laker for Life Campaign. This emboldened construction and infrastructure projects at Mercyhurst, with renovations of the Athletic Center, Ice Center, Saxon Stadium and the soccer and baseball field. New construction included turf fields for soccer and softball and new locker rooms for women's soccer and softball. Along with these projects, Davis helped to create the first-ever department-wide programs in the fields of mental health and wellness, sport performance and strength and conditioning.
Mercyhurst also became a hub for postseason tournaments. The school served as the bubble for the entire Division I women's hockey tournament in 2021, and the Lakers hosted three Division II regionals and the College Hockey America women's hockey conference championship.
In addition to duties at Mercyhurst, Davis served as chair of the Atlantic Hockey Executive Committee and the PSAC Executive Committee. Past committee assignments include chairing the Division II National Advisory Committee for Men's Lacrosse as well as the PSAC Advisory Council and PSAC Officiating Committee.
Before his time in Erie, Davis served at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts for 11 years. Beginning as the sports information director in 2007, he was promoted to assistant athletic director for external relations in 2011, and to associate director of athletics one year later. As a member of the three-member senior leadership team, Davis outlined and formulated long-range policies for the Warriors, which included an eventual acceptance to the Division I level.
Examples of successes at Merrimack include a multi-year apparel agreement with Under Armour in 2017 – a feat later replicated at Mercyhurst – planning and construction of Duane Stadium with renovations to their outdoor athletic district, launching and facilitating the Warrior Fund, and chairing the men's basketball coaching search that led to the hiring of Joe Gallo, who has already piloted the team to two Northeast Conference titles.
Previous career stops include sports information positions at Bryant University, MetroWest Daily News, KGO TV in San Francisco and the San Jose Sharks.
Davis and his wife Kristin, a mental sport performance coach, have one son, Brecken, and a golden retriever named Oakley.
