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Miami Names Dan Radakovich As Vice President And Director Of Athletics

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Hot on the heels of bringing back Mario Cristobal as its new football coach, the University of Miami has named Dan Radakovich vice president and athletic director.

Radakovich served as the Clemson AD for the past nine years and helped lead their rise to national prominence.

Radakovich, 63, replaces Blake James, who Miami let go last month, two days after the Hurricanes' football team lost to Florida State.

"I am so grateful to President Frenk and the University's Board of Trustees for this incredible opportunity," said Radakovich. "Their commitment to Miami Athletics' comprehensive pursuit of excellence and championships is what brought me back to Miami. As a unified Hurricane family—students, alumni, donors, and fans—there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. We are going to set the bar high and jump over it."

This week, Miami fired football coach Manny Diaz and replaced him with Miami alum Mario Cristobal. Radakovich is also a Miami alum. He received a master's degree in business administration from the school in 1982.

Miami becomes the third ACC school to have Radakovich as athletic director.

During his stint at Clemson, the Tigers won 15 Atlantic Coast Conference team titles. The Tigers football program won two national championships, made six College Football Playoff appearances, and captured six ACC titles. In the classroom, Clemson student-athletes recorded nine semesters with a 3.0 GPA or higher. The athletic department attained the school's highest-ever NCAA Graduation Success Rate at 93 percent in 2020 and scored 91 percent or better for seven consecutive years.

Radakovich helped complete more than $200 million in facility construction and enhancements at Clemson, including the renovation of Littlejohn Coliseum and the construction of facilities for football, tennis, baseball, and softball. Department revenue nearly doubled under his leadership, and philanthropic contributions are at an all-time high.

Prior to Clemson, Radakovich served as director of athletics at Georgia Tech from 2006 to 2012 and as a senior associate athletics director at Louisiana State University. At LSU, he worked closely with then-head coach Nick Saban, including during the Tigers' 2003 national championship season. He has also served as director of athletics at American University, as associate athletics director at the University of South Carolina, as associate athletics director at Long Beach State University, and as athletics business manager at Miami, the latter from 1983 to 1985.

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