Completed Event: General versus Arizona on January 18, 2002
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General
vs Arizona
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah’s Harlan a Nominee for 2026 Sports Business Journal Athletic Director of the Year
3/16/2026 3:28 PM | General
Eighth-year Utes A.D. has overseen unprecedented success and navigated historic industry transformation
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – University of Utah Director of Athletics Mark Harlan has been nominated for Sports Business Journal's Athletic Director of the Year, as part of its 2026 Sports Business Awards, the organization announced Monday.
In his eight years leading the Utes' athletics department, Harlan has guided Utah's sports programs to unprecedented success in competition, the classroom and community, all while navigating historic industry-wide transformation, including conference realignment that saw the Utes enter the Big 12 Conference in 2024. He has kept the Utes at the forefront in the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, modernized financial and operational approaches, improved facilities and been steadfast in keeping the focus on the student-athlete experience.
In Competition:
His presence in the national collegiate sports landscape includes a second stint on the College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee in 2025, following his initial invitation in 2023. He serves on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's Collegiate Advisory Council, and previously served a two-year appointment to the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, after a three-year term on the Division I Football Oversight Committee that began in 2019.
As a forward-thinking leader he has driven the modernization of Utah's athletics department to not only compete at the highest levels nationally but to thrive in this new environment. Harlan and University leaders are pioneering revolutionary financial models that secure the program's long-term elite status, highlighted by the groundbreaking partnership with Otro Capital announced in Dec. 2025 that will make Utah one of the first major universities to leverage private equity and professional operating expertise to modernize revenue streams and fan engagement.
Harlan, who was named a 2023 A.D. of the Year recipient by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) leads Utah forward into a new day of college athletics while keeping the Utes competing at the highest level. In just the past six years, the Utah Ski Team has won five of the past six NCAA championships and was runner-up in its only non-championship season; Gymnastics extended its streak to five consecutive Top-4 NCAA Championships finishes and is soon entering its postseason for 2026; the football program earned back-to-back Pac-12 Championships and Rose Bowl berths in 2022 and 2023; Utah's student-athletes earned 22 Academic All-America Awards—21 of which have come in the past four years, the most in a four-year span in department history.
Harlan also has spearheaded continued facilities upgrades, including the March 2026 opening of the Utes' $38 million on-campus baseball stadium, Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark, as well as upgrades to the Dumke Gymnastics Center in 2023, the opening of the David S. Layton Golf Academy in 2021 and the expansion of Rice-Eccles Stadium with the opening of the Ken Garff Red Zone in 2021.
This is Harlan's first nomination for the SBJ A.D. of the Year Award. Other 2026 nominees include Indiana's Scott Dolson, Texas Tech's Kirby Hocutt, Vanderbilt's Candice Storey Lee and Western Michigan's Dan Bartholomae. The award winners in all categories will be unveiled at the 19th annual Sports Business Awards on May 20.
In his eight years leading the Utes' athletics department, Harlan has guided Utah's sports programs to unprecedented success in competition, the classroom and community, all while navigating historic industry-wide transformation, including conference realignment that saw the Utes enter the Big 12 Conference in 2024. He has kept the Utes at the forefront in the ever-evolving landscape of college athletics, modernized financial and operational approaches, improved facilities and been steadfast in keeping the focus on the student-athlete experience.
In Competition:
- Utah has won six team national championships;
- Earned 12 NCAA Top 4 finishes;
- Claimed 34 conference championships (26 of which have come just over the past five years);
- Earned 50 berths in either NCAA Championships or a bowl game, achieved by 10 different sport programs.
- Record-tying 95-percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in 2025, for second consecutive year;
- Fall average student-athlete GPA of 3.418, third-highest in department history;
- Top 10 semester GPAs have all come since Harlan's hire in 2018;
- Utah Athletics has achieved 39 consecutive semesters with a departmental GPA of 3.00 or higher.
His presence in the national collegiate sports landscape includes a second stint on the College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee in 2025, following his initial invitation in 2023. He serves on the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's Collegiate Advisory Council, and previously served a two-year appointment to the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee, after a three-year term on the Division I Football Oversight Committee that began in 2019.
As a forward-thinking leader he has driven the modernization of Utah's athletics department to not only compete at the highest levels nationally but to thrive in this new environment. Harlan and University leaders are pioneering revolutionary financial models that secure the program's long-term elite status, highlighted by the groundbreaking partnership with Otro Capital announced in Dec. 2025 that will make Utah one of the first major universities to leverage private equity and professional operating expertise to modernize revenue streams and fan engagement.
Harlan, who was named a 2023 A.D. of the Year recipient by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) leads Utah forward into a new day of college athletics while keeping the Utes competing at the highest level. In just the past six years, the Utah Ski Team has won five of the past six NCAA championships and was runner-up in its only non-championship season; Gymnastics extended its streak to five consecutive Top-4 NCAA Championships finishes and is soon entering its postseason for 2026; the football program earned back-to-back Pac-12 Championships and Rose Bowl berths in 2022 and 2023; Utah's student-athletes earned 22 Academic All-America Awards—21 of which have come in the past four years, the most in a four-year span in department history.
Harlan also has spearheaded continued facilities upgrades, including the March 2026 opening of the Utes' $38 million on-campus baseball stadium, Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark, as well as upgrades to the Dumke Gymnastics Center in 2023, the opening of the David S. Layton Golf Academy in 2021 and the expansion of Rice-Eccles Stadium with the opening of the Ken Garff Red Zone in 2021.
This is Harlan's first nomination for the SBJ A.D. of the Year Award. Other 2026 nominees include Indiana's Scott Dolson, Texas Tech's Kirby Hocutt, Vanderbilt's Candice Storey Lee and Western Michigan's Dan Bartholomae. The award winners in all categories will be unveiled at the 19th annual Sports Business Awards on May 20.
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