NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The man nicknamed the Goldfather for his work guiding Vanderbilt athletics to success not considered possible at the Southeastern Conference’s only private university is stepping down.
David Williams II, the first African-American athletic director in the Southeastern Conference, announced Tuesday that he has decided to leave his role overseeing Vanderbilt athletics and as vice chancellor. He will stay on as athletic director and vice chancellor until his replacement is hired, then become a full-time law professor. He also is establishing a new Sports, Law & Society program at Vanderbilt Law School.
Williams will leave as the SEC’s second-longest tenured athletic director, behind Kentucky’s Mitch Barnhart. Williams said he told Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos last October that he wanted to end his tenure as athletic director on June 30 before being persuaded to stay past that date after turning 70 in January.
“I just want them to be able to get somebody that can come in here and keep the ball rolling,” Williams told The Associated Press.
Zeppos, chairman of the SEC committee that hired Greg Sankey to replace Mike Slive as commissioner, will oversee the search for Williams’ replacement.
“The only challenge will be making sure that the person understands that they’re walking into a great university and they’re kind of following on the footsteps of someone who is really a giant in our history and in college athletics,” Zeppos said.
Vanderbilt was criticized heavily for being seen as giving up athletics in 2003 when then-Chancellor Gordon Gee dissolved the department and put athletics under student life.