Maryland AD Damon Evans accepts SMU job

SMU hired Maryland athletic director Damon Evans for the same role after 11 years at the school in multiple roles, sources confirm to On The Pony Express. He’s served as director of athletics for Maryland since 2018.

The university confirmed the news in a release Friday night.

“Our goal was to find a leader who shared our vision for the future of SMU Athletics – one of continued and even greater national prominence. We found that in a world-class athletic director with experience leading in both the Big 10 and SEC conferences, and who will bring bold, innovative ideas to our campus,” said search committee co-chair and Board of Trustees Chair David B. Miller. “Damon has led two top-tier athletics programs, and now he will lead a third. Damon’s knowledge, experience and extensive contacts in intercollegiate athletics will be invaluable in leading our Athletics program to even greater success in the ACC while strategically navigating the evolving NIL landscape.”

“While it is never easy to leave an institution that has become part of your family, the opportunity to come to SMU was too great to pass up,” said Evans. “SMU has tremendous momentum in all aspects of its Athletics program, but I believe we can push to even greater heights. I am honored to join the University and to be a part of something truly special.”

Evans will replace Rick Hart, who stepped down earlier this year to allow incoming SMU president Jay Hartzell to hire someone who shares a similar vision for the department.

During Evans tenure at Maryland, the Terrapins have claimed 49 Big Ten Championships and Tournament titles, the third-most of any conference institution during that span. The Terps have captured seven National Championship since 2014.

Evans was named to the College Football Playoff Selection Committee in March of 2025 for a three-year term in the role, but with him no longer representing the Big Ten, a replacement will be named. 

How did SMU land Evans? Get the Behind the Scenes intel on how it came together.

In August, the school signed Evans to a contract extension that runs through June 2029. Evans has been at the helm of Maryland’s athletics for 11 years. With him expected to take the SMU job, he’ll have to pay a $500,000 buyout to take the job. His total compensation in 2024 was $1.127 million, according to the Baltimore Sun.

“Maryland Athletics has experienced tremendous success under the leadership of Damon Evans,” school President Darryll Pines said in a press release when the extension was announced. “In a transformative time in the collegiate landscape, Damon has proved to be an extremely effective leader in guiding our athletic department to championship heights, both on and off the playing fields. He has positioned our Terrapins for long-term success on the national stage and I couldn’t be more pleased to have him leading the department for years to come under his mantra of One Maryland.” 

Evans is an accomplished fundraiser, critical in today’s world of revenue sharing, NIL and still needing to pay up on staff and facilities. While the landscape changes, he pays attention to the shifting world while focusing on the task at hand of raising funds.

“Fundraising is significant when you’re an athletic director, because driving dollars to the bottom line is important if you want to compete at a high level,” Evans said in a recent interview. “And then in this new, ever-evolving landscape, we’re focusing a lot of our attention on trying to establish new parameters, new governance structure, how we conduct our business, how we handle NIL, new rules regarding eligibility. So there are a lot of things that we, as athletic directors, my colleagues, are doing around the country to try to shape how we move forward as an enterprise, how we move forward as an NCAA. And I think that’s at top of mind right now.”

Evans hired Mike Locksley, who has led the football program back to relevance, while his basketball coaching hire, Kevin Willard, has the program in the NCAA Tournament and looking at signing a new contract.

Willard, who described him and Evans as “on the same page” last weekend, tore into the university a bit this week. He said “fundamental changes” are needed as the basketball team is set to open a $52 million basketball-only operations center this year.

Evans has overseen over $250 million in facility projects, including the opening of Jones-Hill House, home of Maryland Football, groundbreaking on the new Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center, construction of new state-of-the art 1080p HDR videoboard and upgraded audio system at SECU Stadium and more.

Evans, a former Georgia football player, also has experience at a football-crazy school, leading Georgia’s athletic department from 2004-10. After a DUI arrest led to the school and Evans parting ways, Evans moved into the private sector before returning to college athletics in College Park, Md. He’s been open about his journey to rebuild his personal and professional career.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the first couple of years were very, very difficult,” Evans told the Athens Banner-Herald in 2015. “Extremely difficult from a personal perspective. When I say personal, family, had to make sure that was taken care of. Then you take a look at work. What do you do next? You had such a great position. There were those days where I’d be down on myself and be like, ‘How am I going to get out of this? How am I going to get back?’ And I’m in a good place now. My family’s good. I’m happy because my family’s happy, I’m happy. People always say things work out for a reason. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but I do know that I’m just in a better place personally.”

Prior to joining Maryland Athletics, Evans was a managing partner at Evolution Sports Partners in New Jersey. The new business focused on technology, analytics, and consulting services for athletic organizations.

Evans was also the vice president of fundraising at IMG College in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was tasked with developing the company’s fundraising arm, which provided resources to institutions that would allow for the execution of a fundraising strategy. Evans was also the vice president of business development at the Markley Group in Boston from August 2010 – March 2013.

As the director of athletics at Georgia, Evans managed a program with 600 student-athletes, an $85 million budget and a staff of 250. The Bulldogs won 13 national championships and 19 SEC titles during Evans’ tenure. Under Evans’ guidance, Georgia annually finished in the top 10 in the Learfield Director’s Cup and also amassed $65 million for the athletic department’s reserve fund, an increase of over $56 million in just a six-year period.