Former WVU Deputy AD Keli Zinn is in Line to Land Power Four Athletic Director Job

Originally posted on West Virginia Mountaineers on SI
By Schuyler Callihan | Last updated Jul 28, 2025 7:39 AM ET

Former West Virginia University Chief Operating Officer/Deputy Athletics Director Keli Zinn is being targeted as the next athletic director at Rutgers, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.

Zinn, according to her job description under her profile at WVU, "provided strategic direction and operations management to a department that includes 18 intercollegiate programs, 250 coaches and staff, and a budget exceeding $93 million annually. As the department's primary liaison to the University's central administration, she works closely with WVU's general counsel, strategic initiatives, finance, and human resources. Zinn serves as the administrator to WVU's football program with oversight to the daily operations, including but not limited to, finances, capital projects and infrastructure, contract negotiations, game day, and postseason administration."

Back in 2014, she became the first female to lead the athletics department when she served as the interim AD when Oliver Luck left, and just before Shane Lyons was hired. The Parkersburg, WV native and West Virginia graduate left the university back in 2022 to become the Executive Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer at LSU.

Assuming the hire goes through, she'll have quite the challenge on her hands with the football and men's basketball programs. The football team hasn't won more than seven games since 2014, and hasn't won 10 or more games in a season since Greg Schiano's first stint there back in 2006. The men's basketball team is coming off a disappointing 15-17 season despite having two of the top five picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. The Scarlet Knights have made the NCAA Tournament just two times in the last 32 years.