Auburn athletics to hire chief operating officer - WSMV Channel 4

Auburn is hiring a chief operating officer to run the day-to-day operations of the athletic department.   

Athletic director Jay Jacobs announced the creation of both that position and a chief marketing officer on Wednesday. He says the search has started to fill the jobs.     

The chief operating officer will serve as a senior advisor to Jacobs and will be the No. 2 person in the department.     

A review panel recommended changes to the department in May and University President Jay Gogue said "there's room for substantial improvement."     

Jacobs says the operating budget has grown from $47 million to $102 million during his tenure, "and we have to ensure we have the infrastructure in place to support that growth and operate efficiently and effectively in the future."

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