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Villanova Poaches New AD, Wildcats Alum Eric Roedl from Oregon

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Villanova Wildcats Mascot March 18, 2022 David Hague/PSN

The Villanova Wildcats’ search for a new athletic director has come to an end, with the university announcing on Tuesday, Nov. 19 that they’d hired Eric Roedl, formerly of the University of Oregon, to the position.

The position sat vacant since August 29, when former athletic director Mark Jackson departed for a vice presidential role at Northwestern.

Roedl attended Villanova as an undergraduate, serving as co-captain of the tennis team and graduating in 1997. He spent eight years in Southeastern Pennsylvania with Temple, serving as the Owls’ deputy athletic director, then joined Oregon in January 2012, serving in a range of roles from Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director and Chief Operating Officer to deputy athletic director, a position he held since 2016.

Roedl helped oversee a Ducks’ athletic department that enjoyed status as a perennial powerhouse in a host of sports, revenue and non-revenue alike. 

Roedl’s Résumé

Oregon’s football team currently ranks No. 1 in the nation and made a run to the national championship game in 2014, while the men’s basketball team made the Sweet Sixteen five times during Roedl’s tenure, including a Final Four trip in 2017. Perhaps more important, Oregon has managed to navigate the changing world of collegiate athletics with success, with their reported $23 million Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) budget this year outcompeting powerhouses like Ohio State. Roedl, whose duties with the Ducks included marketing, ticket sales/operations and fundraising, surely played a major role in that success.

He’ll officially start with the Wildcats in January, and he’s likely to have his hands full from day one. With Villanova Men’s Basketball, the university’s flagship athletic program, struggling for a third consecutive season — and having missed the NCAA Tournament for two years running, a near-unthinkable cold streak after the heights of the Jay Wright era — head coach Kyle Neptune looks to be on the hot seat, and it’ll be Eric Roedl who needs to find the path forward.

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