Mike Hill
Chancellor Philip L. Dubois announced the appointment of Mike Hill as the seventh director of athletics in Charlotte 49ers’ history, Feb. 28, 2018. Hill, formerly Executive Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs at the University of Florida, assumed his responsibilities on March 15 and was introduced at a public news conference on March 6.
Hill comes to the 49ers after a nearly 25-year career with the University of Florida Athletic Association. He has spent the last six years as the Gators’ Executive Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs. He served as the chief marketing officer and brand manager and oversaw revenue development.
As a primary advisor to the Director of Athletics, he helped lead searches in the hiring of head coaches. He was the direct supervisor for men’s basketball and men’s tennis at Florida. He also served on the administrative fundraising team that developed strategies, cultivated donors and secured major gifts. He chaired the 100 Years of Florida Football fundraiser that generated $6.1 million for endowment.
First hired as the Marketing Coordinator in 1993, he became the Director of Marketing and Promotions in 1996 and was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing in 2000. In 2002, he took over as Assistant Athletics Director for External Affairs and was promoted to Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs in 2005. In 2010 he was named Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs and in 2012 was promoted to his role as Executive Associate Athletics Director.
In his capacity in the Gators’ Department of Athletics, Hill served on the University of Florida Branding Steering Committee, had a six-year stint as the chair of the Southeastern Conference Marketing Directors and served on the SEC Fan Experience Working Group. He has been on the Climb for Cancer Board of Directors since 2009.
Prior to joining the University of Florida, Hill was an Assistant to the Athletics Director at Ball State and served as Assistant Executive Director of the Blockbuster Bowl from 1990-92. A 1990 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Communications. He worked as a student assistant in the school’s Sports Information Office from 1988-90.
In 2018, Hill and his wife, Jessica James-Hill, were married. They have since welcomed a daughter, Ellie, and watched his son, Luke, graduate high school and enroll at Florida.
