Graham Neff has "day zero" priority of dealing with Omicron and NIL

Graham was named Clemson's Athletic Director Thursday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Dec 24 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2021

CLEMSON – Graham Neff hasn’t taken up residence in his new office, something that will likely have to wait until after the new year. But no matter where he has to make the decisions that impact the university’s athletics department, he already has two topics that are front and center for his attention.

Neff was named the 14th director of athletics in Clemson University history, President Jim Clements announced Thursday, following approval by the Compensation Committee of the Clemson Board of Trustees.

The 38-year-old has been in senior leadership positions within Clemson Athletics since 2013, including as chief financial officer and director of capital projects prior to his most recent role as deputy director of athletics. Neff has helped oversee the build and financing of more than $200 million in facility improvements, aided in the continued development of IPTAY, and served as a sport administrator for football and men’s basketball.

Before Clemson, Neff served two-plus years in several senior administrative roles at Middle Tennessee State Athletics, with emphasis in finance, facilities, and external operations.

Neff began his career in college athletics as a student manager for the men’s basketball program at Georgia Tech, which advanced to a Final Four in 2004. Neff then went to work in the Financial Advisory Services group at Deloitte and Touche from 2006-08, prior to returning to a finance and ticketing role at the Georgia Tech Athletic Association.

Neff has worked within college athletics for more than 15 years, after earning a civil engineering degree and an MBA from Georgia Tech. Neff and his wife Kristin have three sons – Grady and twins Emmett and Nolan.

Neff met briefly with the media following Thursday’s announcement and said he has action items already on the docket: COVID-19 and NIL. Neff called both of those a “Day Zero” priority.

“Right now, we’re in the throes of it, and this is even before January,” Neff said. “We’re continuing to manage COVID and obviously the new (Omicron) variant and how that’s affecting all of college athletics. Obviously, basketball is in season, both men and women, and then football and bowl games. And as you may know, our football team rendezvoused and reported down to Orlando today (Thursday), and they have a team meeting here coming up shortly. I talked to Coach (Dabo) Swinney earlier today (Thursday), and we're excited and fired up for the bowl game, of course. But the here and now of Omicron, and creating safe environments for our student athletes, and still being able to compete and compete successfully, is the day zero, day one priority.”

Name, image, likeness is another hot topic in college athletics, and Neff said he wants to position Clemson in the best spot to stay relevant in the new and evolving landscape.

“NIL opportunities and how we work within our state's and NCAA guidelines, it’s just such a moving target right now within the industry,” Neff said. “And where there are opportunities to continue to be competitive from a student-athlete standpoint, now we can educate and equip our student athletes in our community and what NIL is and isn’t and how we can support the student-athletes for their opportunity to build their brand.

“That’s just one notion amongst a lot as far as priorities. But that’s so dynamic right now, and we’re at such a critical time from an NCAA standpoint that the focus and prioritization of just that one little topic is certainly high, high on the list.”