WACO, Texas (AP) — Former Baylor athletics administrator and graduate Doug McNamee was named Monday as the Big 12 school's athletic director.
The new AD replaces Mack Rhoades, who last month stepped down after nine years for personal reasons. Rhoades had also been chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee.
McNamee was the senior associate AD for external affairs at Baylor in 2018 when he left to become president of Waco-based Magnolia, the nationally recognized lifestyle and media company founded by Baylor alums Chip and Joanna Gaines. He left Magnolia in 2022 to become president of the reimagined Field & Stream with country music stars Eric Church and Morgan Wallen as investors.
“My connection to Baylor University runs deep, and its culture, history, and expectations have profoundly shaped my life," McNamee said in a statement. “I believe the breadth of my experiences has prepared me for this moment at Baylor and within the evolving landscape of college athletics. Stepping into corporate leadership allowed me to cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset, creativity, hunger, and financial discipline required to thrive in today’s environment and the one ahead. Returning to my alma mater in this capacity is a profound honor and responsibility. I do not take it lightly.”
In his previous stint at Baylor, McNamee was responsible for all major revenue-generating and brand-facing units, including fundraising, marketing, communications and premium ticketing. He played a key role in the fundraising, planning and opening of McLane Stadium over a decade ago.
McNamee began his career at IMG College, rising to general manager for Baylor’s multimedia portfolio, where he led sponsorship strategy, partnership development and revenue optimization. He earned his bachelor’s degree in speech communications from Baylor in 2003, and two years later got a master’s degree in sport management from the school.
At Field & Stream, McNamee has led the revitalization of the 154-year-old outdoor brand into a modern, multi-platform media and consumer lifestyle company. He guided all product, media, retail and content strategy while positioning the company for long-term, omni-channel growth. At Magnolia, he led commercial strategy across media, retail, hospitality, e-commerce and partnerships.
"Doug’s familiarity with Baylor and his recent experience as the chief executive of two national lifestyle and media companies will serve him well as we prioritize increasing revenues, expanding external NIL opportunities for our student-athletes and growing our brand in this new era of college athletics while also engaging our passionate fanbase,” said Baylor President Linda Livingstone, who previously served as chair of the NCAA Board of Governors and of the Big 12 Board of Directors.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Discover India with Us! Read moreIndia Community Travel: Virtual Information Session
Interact with live nativity characters; pet various animals; sing along with Christmas carol… Read moreChristmas Under the Stars
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.