Washington names Erin O'Connell interim AD after Jennifer Cohen's departure

Washington has named an interim athletics director in the hours following Jennifer Cohen’s departure, via an announcement from the university.

“I am pleased that Erin O’Connell, Deputy Athletics Director, will serve as interim AD,” the statement read. “The UW will be launching a national search for our next Director of Athletics and we look forward to this next phase in our storied athletics program.”

O’Connell previously served as the Huskies’ deputy athletics director and senior woman administrator. She has also served as the President and Chair of the U.S. Rowing Board of Directors from 2014 through 2016. 

She is already a trusted member of Washington’s administrative efforts, as her job already saw her oversee nine of the Huskies’ varsity programs. Those include men’s and women’s golf, gymnastics, softball, volleyball, sand volleyball, women’s crew and men’s and women’s cross country/track. O’Connell already has experience in the top role as well, as she served as the director of athletics at Seattle Pacific University from 2009-2015.

The statement also gave credit to former AD Jennifer Cohen, who was with the university for a quarter of a century. She is leaving UW to join USC in the same position.

“We’re grateful to Jennifer Cohen for her 25 years of outstanding service to the University of Washington, including the last seven years as the Director of Athletics. We wish her success in her next endeavor, and we thank her for all that she has done to make Husky Athletics a thriving program for our student-athletes and our global community of alumni, fans and supporters,” it read.

“Under her leadership, the Huskies achieved tremendous success on the field of competition, and her commitment to excellence helped enable our student-athletes to develop and succeed in the classroom, as competitors and as people. We appreciate the solid footing on which she leaves the program, and her extraordinary leadership through the challenges posed by the COVID pandemic.”

Cohen had been the athletic director at Washington since 2016. There, she recently made headlines by making the move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. Now, she is set to handle that same transition for the USC Trojans.

During her time at Washington, the Huskies also made the College Football Playoff, an accomplishment that USC has not managed, yet. For her part, Cohen has served CFP Committee. Now, both parties are moving on and O’Connell provides some stability as the search for a new AD begins in Seattle.