Biography
Gerald Harrison was named the 23rd Director of Athletics at Marshall in July 2025.
Harrison came to Marshall from Austin Peay State University, where he had served as Vice President and Director of Athletics since July 2018.
At Austin Peay, he set records and sustained success with a community-centric, student-centered approach. Under his leadership, the Governors’ sports programs saw unparalleled success on and off the field, winning 13 championships—three in football—while boasting 16 consecutive semesters with a department-wide GPA of 3.0 or better.
During his tenure, Austin Peay also established Corporate Sponsorship revenue records and had record ticket sales numbers in football, men’s basketball and baseball. A key event for Harrison was securing Austin Peay’s largest-ever financial gift—a $15 million pledge in 2022.
No stranger to innovative thinking for fundraising, Harrison successfully entered into a groundbreaking partnership between Austin Peay and the Nashville Predators that produced Sabertooth Sports & Entertainment, which brought about F&M Bank Arena—a new sports and entertainment facility in downtown Clarksville, Tenn.—and also produced a 33 percent increase in revenue in the 2022-23 sports year.
Prior to his time at Austin Peay, Harrison served in numerous capacities at Duke University, including Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Affairs—a position he held from 2013 until his departure for Austin Peay. During this time, Harrison helped secure funding for the $100 million renovation to Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.
His start at Duke came in 2008 when he joined the Blue Devils as the Assistant Director of Athletics for Football Development, which coincided with the start of head coach David Cutcliffe’s tenure. When they came to Duke, the Blue Devils had not advanced to a bowl game since 1994, but Cutcliffe and Harrison helped navigate Duke football to five bowl appearances in six seasons with the highlight being the 2013 campaign when the team won 10 games.
As Duke football began its climb, Harrison advanced to the role of Associate Director of Athletics for Human Resources, where he maintained oversight of football and fencing while also managing the sports medicine, equipment, and strength and conditioning departments.
Prior to joining Duke’s staff, Harrison was an integral part of Phillip Fulmer’s University of Tennessee staff from 2001-04, working as the Director of Community Relations, which helped enhance student-athletes’ presence in the community. His ‘Go V.O.L.S.’ program resulted in over 1,200 hours of community service in 2003 and 2004 at Tennessee.
Harrison later advanced to the role of Director of High School Relations for the Vols, providing support to each member of the football staff in their recruiting. The end result was a city- and campus-wide collaborative effort that helped Fulmer yield top-15 recruiting classes in each year.
He is a member of the NCAA Division I Council and the NCAA Football Oversight Committee. He has also previously served on the Football Championship Committee and the NCAA Competition Oversight Committee. He holds memberships with the National Association of College Director of Athletics (NACDA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).