Interim Director of Athletics Scott Wetherbee
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Scott Wetherbee
Interim Director of Athletics
With over 20 years of collegiate athletic administrative experience, Scott Wetherbee has a track record of enhancing every department he has served. Â
Wetherbee was named Mississippi State’s interim director of athletics on Oct. 25, 2016, following the departure of Scott Stricklin to the University of Florida.
Wetherbee, 41, has spent 17 years on the senior or executive staffs at four athletic departments, including MSU, East Carolina, San Diego State and Fresno State.Â
Since 2013 as MSU’s senior associate athletic director of external affairs, Wetherbee has developed MSU’s external unit into one of the most elite and recognized in all of college athletics. He built a department with the hiring of 20 new employees over a three-year span, cultivating a culture of innovation and brand consistency.
In 2015, MSU’s marketing department was named NACMA Marketing Team of the Year, while MSU’s Athletic Media Relations department was the recipient of the Football Writers Association of America’s Super 11 Award.
Wetherbee has played a pivotal role in the growth of MSU Athletics since his arrival, serving on the executive staff that provides oversight to all 16 of the Bulldogs’ varsity sports and overseeing an annual budget of $87 million. He has spearheaded all aspects of MSU’s external department, including marketing, media relations, video, equipment, facilities, game operations, licensing, Adidas, Gatorade, and served as liaison to Bulldog Sports Properties – the department’s third-party rights holder. He successfully negotiated new deals with Learfield, Adidas and Gatorade.
Wetherbee serves as MSU’s liaison to the SEC Network. With that responsibility, he established a department that produced over 100 live digital broadcasts during the 2015-16 athletic year. He is also the sport administrator for the Bulldogs’ baseball and volleyball programs.
In addition, he oversees all branding, graphic, venue marketing and video elements of MSU’s athletic facilities. That included the creation of a new $1.3 million video board and hustle boards for Humphrey Coliseum, the vision for the largest videoboard in college baseball at Dudy Noble Field and new graphics in Davis Wade Stadium, Nusz Park, MSU Golf Facility, MSU Soccer Fieldhouse and the Humphrey Coliseum locker rooms.
Wetherbee arrived in Starkville after spending 10 years as an assistant athletic director at East Carolina where he directed the department’s marketing and ticket operations. He was part of an administrative team that led a $60 million expansion and development project of ECU Athletic facilities since 2008. In 2011, his marketing ticket vision produced ECU football records in per game attendance (50,012), total attendance (300,069) and season ticket sales (24,188). He assisted the Pirate Club in increasing unrestricted annual giving by over 56 percent and membership growth by 78 percent.
Wetherbee was no stranger to developing brand strategies before his arrival at MSU. He served on multiple committees of East Carolina’s strategic planning process, and he was charged with creating a branding initiative to facilitate a consistent message through the department. He worked extensively with IMG Sports to expedite contracts and sponsorship agreements, and he developed a technology team to coordinate social media initiatives.
From 2002-03, Wetherbee served as the assistant athletic director for ticket operations at San Diego State University. He directed ticket sales, oversaw the ticket office’s budget and served on the department’s senior staff. One of his many accomplishments at SDSU was the designing and implementation of the men’s basketball’s reseating process, which allocated seats based on existing donor levels and the priority points system.
Prior to his stint at San Diego State, Wetherbee spent three years at Fresno State, serving as assistant athletic ticket manager from 1999-2000 before being promoted to athletic ticket manager in 2000. He directed all ticket sales and operations for over 100 athletic and special events annually and maintained the department’s budget. In addition to supervising the staff, Wetherbee created, designed and maintained Fresno State’s first online ticket office – GoBulldogs.com.
A native of Kalamzoo, Mich., Wetherbee earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Ball State in May 1997.
He got his start in athletics as a ticket office intern at Western Michigan University before spending two years as a graduate assistant in the Ball State athletic ticket office. Â Â
He and his wife, Tracy, have two children: Taylor (11) and Spencer (8).
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