Rock M Nation top 6
1. Wren Baker
2. Mark Allnutt: Athletics Director, Buffalo
3. Sarah Baumgartner: Executive Sr. Associate Athletics Director, Texas
4. Doug Gillin: Director of Athletics, Appalachian State
5. Laird Veatch: Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Memphis
6. Brian White: Vice President and Director of Athletics, Florida Atlantic

Baker

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Baker is and has been a rising star in college athletics for some time now, a Midwestern guy with a pivotal stop at the University of Missouri. Baker served as the Deputy AD from 2015-2016 and filled in as the interim when Mack Rhoades jumped to Baylor. Since then, he parlayed a successful term at the University of North Texas into a position at West Virginia, where he’s been for just over one full year. He was arguably the top candidate when DRF was hired,

Alnutt

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Talk about #MizzouMade! Alnutt, the former Mizzou tight end and linebacker, has a long and storied career as an AD, climbing his way to the top job at the University of Buffalo. He’s been there since 2018 and has had quite a run, winning several departmental awards and overseeing successful hires in revenue and non-revenue sports.

Bumgartner

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If Mizzou is looking to hire an up-and-comer who’s looking for their first step into the full-time AD role, Baumgartner could be the best available candidate. Baumgartner, who has been with Texas since 2021, spent seven years in Columbia as the Associate Athletic Director for Development and, importantly, as the men’s basketball administrator during the Mike Anderson years. Baumgartner has extensive fundraising experience at the highest level — seriously, it doesn’t get more lucrative than UT

Gillin

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Gillin has spent much of the last decade as the AD at Appalachian State and has succeeded just about as much as you can, especially in football. This includes the hire of one Eli Drinkwitz. That may be more important than we realize given the unique nature of Drink’s relationship with the Missouri Board of Curators.

Veatch

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Another high profile candidate with Mizzou connections, Laird Veatch has done two separate stints in Columbia: the first from 1997 to 2002 in a variety of different roles; and then again from 2003 through 2006 as the General Manager of Mizzou Sports Properties. It’s been almost 20 years since Veatch served in a leadership role as a Tiger

White

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We might as well round out our list with another prominent Mizzou connection who has done well for themself in the lower levels. Since Brian White left Missouri for Florida Atlantic, it’s been up-and-down for the Owls who kept basketball coach Dusty May after an unlikely Final Four run last year and saw their football program rise to prominence under Lane Kiffin until 2019. The hiring of Willie Taggert was somewhat

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