Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk will step down from his position after a “mutual” agreement was reached, the school announced on Monday. Sterk, who has served as Missouri’s athletic director since 2016 when he took over for Mack Rhoades after Rhoades left for the same position at Baylor, will remain in the position until his successor is named.
“We are grateful for the dedicated leadership Jim has provided over the last five years to position Mizzou for even greater success,” Missouri president Mun Choi said. “We recognize his many contributions and appreciate his continued role as we search for the next leader of Mizzou Athletics. We now begin a national search for a visionary athletics director who will develop a strategic plan for Mizzou to achieve exceptional success in the SEC and to navigate a bold path in the rapidly evolving world of college athletics.”
Sterk has been instrumental in multiple upgrades within the Missouri athletic department. The school recently finished a $98 million upgrade to the south end zone of Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium that opened in 2019. He led the fundraising effort to design and build a $34 million indoor practice facility for the football team that is slated to begin construction this fall, and he also captained the search to hire Eli Drinkwitz prior to the 2020 football season following the dismissal of Barry Odom.
Sterk took over Missouri after serving as the athletic director at San Diego State for five years in which the Aztecs won 32 conference championships in team sports. He was a four-year letterman as a football player at Western Washington University before he went on to receive a Master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University.