Kirby Hocutt
Kirby Hocutt, a 2018 Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year, has guided the Texas Tech athletics department to unprecedented success since being named the 13th Director of Athletics in school history on March 2, 2011. Under his leadership, Texas Tech has developed into one of the nation’s elite athletics programs with a top-15 showing in the 2017-18 Capital One Cup men’s standings and a top-five finish for the 2018-19 academic year.
Hocutt, who completed a two-year term as chairman of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee in 2017, has watched six of his programs – men’s track and field (indoor and outdoor), women’s tennis, men’s basketball, men’s golf and baseball – finish among the top-eight teams in the country for their respective sports the past three years. During that three-year span, Texas Tech has boasted 15 of its 17 athletic programs competing in the NCAA postseason or a bowl game.
Hocutt’s success at Texas Tech was recognized in March 2018 as he was named an Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Hocutt was one of four sitting athletics directors at the NCAA FBS level to win the prestigious award.
Hocutt arrived at Texas Tech following three years at the University of Miami (Fla.) where he was named Athletics Director on Feb. 8, 2008. He previously earned his first opportunity as an NCAA Division I athletics director at Ohio University in 2005 at only the age of 33.
A Sherman, Texas native, Hocutt also served stints in the athletics departments at Kansas State (1996-97) and the University of Oklahoma (1998-2005). Prior to his stint at Oklahoma, Hocutt served as the coordinator of licensing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He began his sports administration career as the assistant director of marketing and promotions at his alma mater, Kansas State University.
A former football student-athlete at Kansas State, Hocutt was a four-year letterman at linebacker while leading the Big 8 Conference in tackles as a junior in 1993. Hocutt, who was elected captain his senior year, was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team following his junior season. The Sporting News selected him in 1993 as one of the nation’s top-20 “most underrated” players.
Hocutt earned his bachelor’s degree from Kansas State in 1995 and his master’s of education degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2001. He and his wife, Diane, have two sons – Drew Phillips and Brooks Ryan.
