Kyle Moats (Photo courtesy of Missouri State University)
RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University announced Monday morning it has selected Kyle Moats as its new vice president and director of athletics. Moats has been the director of athletics at Missouri State since 2009.
“Kyle Moats has served our university extraordinarily well during the past 15 years,” said Missouri State University President Clif Smart. “Under his leadership, we have consistently been at the top of the Valley all sports trophy standings, winning it several times. We have also hosted our first NCAA playoff games in men’s soccer and baseball and he returned us to the football playoffs after a 30 year absence.
“He has made outstanding coaching hires including coaches Petrino, Martin, Harper, Agugua-Hamilton, Cunningham, Collins, Seabolt and Nelson and led our efforts to join Conference USA, forever changing our sports profile.
“Finally and most importantly, he has run our athletic department with integrity and with an emphasis on academic success. He has been an outstanding member of my leadership team and a great friend. I wish him all the success in this next position.”
A 34-year veteran of college athletics, Moats has previous ties to the Commonwealth. He previously served 14 years at the University of Kentucky, serving as associate athletics director for marketing his last 3 years (2000-02) there. He later returned to the Commonwealth, serving as associate director of athletics for national marketing at the University of Louisville for four years starting in 2005, before becoming the athletic director at Missouri State.
He will begin his duties at EKU on July 1. An introductory press conference will be held on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the EKU Center for the Arts.
“I first want to thank Missouri State University and President Clif Smart for 15 wonderful years in Springfield,” said Moats. “We worked together on many tasks, and I’m proud of what we accomplished. I also want to thank the fans, alumni, students and staff for their loyal dedication to Bears Athletics during my tenure. It was an privilege to be your AD.”
Moats was named as MSU’s 11th director of intercollegiate athletics on May 28, 2009 after the retirement of long-time AD Bill Rowe earlier that spring.
During his tenure at Missouri State, Moats played a pivotal role in the growth of athletics facilities, sponsorship revenue, budgeting, fundraising campaigns, academics and notable team championship performaces.
Missouri State won the Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Trophy in both 2011 and 2018, while finishing in the top three eight times in Moats’ tenure. He led the charge for facility upgrades totaling nearly $22 million, including the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Academic Achievement Center project, the MSU Basketball Complex at Great Southern Bank Arena, new or renovated home facilities for 13 sports and the Bear Experience and Recreation (BEAR) Fee, which now generates $1.4 million annually toward the enhancement of four separate athletics facilities. Moats also led the partnership with Learfield IMG College to form Missouri State Sports Properties as the multimedia rights holder for MSU Athletics.
In February 2017, Moats was appointed to serve on the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee, ultimately becoming committee chair in 2020. Additionally, Moats served as chair of the MVC Media and Marketing Committee and was a member of the MVC’s Finance Committee. In June 2020, Moats implemented a department-wide “BearsUnite” educational initiative that values inclusion of diversity, tolerance and social responsibility.
The Bears achieved notable competitive successes under Moats as well, including 20 Missouri Valley Conference team championships, two FCS Football Playoff berths, two NCAA Baseball Super Regional appearances, two NCAA Sweet Sixteen runs in women’s basketball and 31 NCAA Tournament appearances in all.
Academically, Moats spearheaded a department overhaul in student-athlete performance in the classroom, raising the cumulative departmental GPA from 2.88 in 2009 to a record 3.30 this past semester. In the spring of 2024, a record 304 MSU student-athletes recorded GPAs of 3.0 or higher, with 76 posting a perfect 4.0 GPA.
Likewise, Moats’ tenure in Springfield included monumental strides in the areas of student-athlete well-being, nutrition and mental health support. His efforts helped Missouri State stay ahead of the curve nationally in those critical areas well before the NCAA’s transformational changes became part of the Division I landscape.
Information related to the naming of an interim AD and the subsequent search for Moats’ replacement will be available at a later date.
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