Villanova is expected to hire Oregon deputy athletic director/COO Eric Roedl to be the school’s next athletic director, sources told ESPN.
The decision in expected to be formalized in the near future, per sources. It gives Villanova a new face of its athletic department amid a moment where its hallmark basketball program is struggling for the third consecutive season.
Villanova picked Roedl, who is an alum, in part because of the breadth of experience he brings from his time at Oregon. Roedl played a big hand on a macro level at Oregon with the school’s No. 1 football program and perennially successful basketball program.
Roedl had a big part in the search that brought Dan Lanning from Georgia to Eugene, played a key role behind the scenes on the school’s move to the Big Ten and has strong Nike relationships from his time at the school, which began in 2012.
There’s also significant local experience for Roedl, who graduated from Villanova and was a co-captain of the tennis team there. He also worked at Temple for eight years, which included oversight of that school’s basketball program.
Roedl’s first big decision is expected to be on the future of basketball coach Kyle Neptune, who continues to struggle in his third season at Villanova. Neptune, who replaced Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, is 37-36 and 2-3 this season with a loss to Columbia.
Wright won two national titles at Villanova in 2016 and 2018 and the program has distinctly slipped since his retirement.
Among his responsibilities at Oregon included a role as the sport administrator for men’s basketball. He has oversight responsibility for business/financial operations, strategic and financial planning, human resources, contracts, information technology, and equipment operations.
