David Harris relishes return to Louisiana to lead Tulane Athletics

As Tulane’s new director of athletics, Harris’ resumé tells the story of someone more than capable of moving Green Wave athletics forward.

Photos by Sabree Hill

David Harris’ path to a career in athletics began on the sidelines of high school football and track fields in Baton Rouge. His father, Wesley Harris, was a head track coach and an assistant football coach, which gave Harris opportunities like hanging out with athletes and watching competitions up close.

“My love of sports and competition goes back as far as I can remember,” Harris said. “I grew up on the sidelines and in locker rooms. I got to go to different venues and watch his teams compete. It was a way for me to spend time with my dad.”

At six years old, Harris joined a playground soccer team. In high school, he ran track and played football, later winning an athletic scholarship to Ole Miss, where he played defensive tackle for four years. While many of his Rebel teammates had their eyes set on the NFL, Harris took a different route.

With a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA, both from Ole Miss, Harris worked his way up the ladder in college athletics administration, holding such jobs as director of academic support in the Ole Miss Athletics Department and associate athletic director at the University of Wisconsin. He served as senior associate athletic director for 10 years at Iowa State University before winning the job as athletic director at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in 2016.

A young boy takes a photo of David Harris in front of Yulman Stadium electronic sign with "Welcome David Harris" graphics.

Harris earned an academic scholarship to Ole Miss, where he played defensive tackle for four years.

“My love of sports and competition goes back as far as I can remember. It was a way for me to spend time with my dad.”

David Harris, Tulane Director of Athletics

An Unexpected Homecoming

Seven years later, the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself, and Harris couldn’t pass it up. That opportunity was at Tulane University, where on Nov. 21, 2023, he was named the Green Wave’s new director of athletics and the Ben Weiner Director of Athletics Chair.

“When the Tulane job became available, it was attractive to me,” Harris said during an interview at his office in the James W. Wilson Center. “What I loved was the chance to oversee a program with a great academic record and one where so many different sports were doing well. I knew I wanted to go somewhere with an upward trajectory, and to me, that was Tulane.”

Another incentive for accepting the position was being closer to family. With his father and other family members living in Baton Rouge and his wife Felicia’s family three hours away in Natchez, Mississippi, the decision to move to New Orleans — which he considered his second home growing up — was an easy one. He also has a family connection to Tulane — his nephew, Adam Kwentua, was a Tulane linebacker from 2006-2010.

“I knew I wanted to go somewhere with an upward trajectory, and to me, that was Tulane.”

David Harris, Tulane Director of Athletics

Unveiling the Vision

Harris was introduced to the media on Nov. 27 at the Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Family Club at Yulman Stadium, where his wife and two children, Kaitlyn, 22, and Wesley, 13, along with extended family members watched proudly from the front row. Though billed as a press conference, the room was also filled with boosters, alumni, coaches, search committee members, faculty and administrators, who had come to meet the person who they hoped would take Green Wave athletics to new heights.

In true Tulane style, the event began with members of the Green Wave Brass Band playing the Green Wave fight song. Speeches by President Michael A. Fitts, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Norton and Search Committee Chair Douglas Hertz followed.

“In light of Tulane’s momentum, it is no surprise that we had a large pool of extraordinary candidates vying for the position,” Fitts told the jubilant crowd. “During an extensive national search, David consistently impressed our search committee. He stood out, both with his winning track record and his student-centered approach.”

He said it didn’t hurt that Harris knew how to peel crawfish and find the best shrimp po-boys. “He’s one of us,” Fitts said, drawing appreciative laughs and nods from the audience.

Hertz, a former Board of Tulane Chair, wanted to make sure those in attendance knew the quality of the more than 40 candidates who vied for the job. But Harris wowed the committee with his experience, success, enthusiasm and intellect.

Hertz said Harris has “the vision and the interest in not only doing all the right things for our student-athletes but in moving our athletic department forward across all sports, both on the field and in the classroom, and creating leaders that will come out of Tulane University.”

Norton agreed. “With his visionary leadership and our continued collaboration, the future looks bright indeed for Tulane athletics. I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish in the years ahead.”

Harris has “the vision and the interest in not only doing all the right things for our student-athletes but in moving our athletic department forward across all sports, both on the field and in the classroom, and creating leaders that will come out of Tulane University.”

Douglas Hertz, Search Committee Chair

A Winning Track Record

Harris’ resumé tells the story of someone who’s more than capable of moving Green Wave athletics forward. Among his achievements are 20 conference championship wins and 11 NCAA tournament bids. He also oversaw 17 Coaches of the Year and 28 Players of the Year, and in 2021, was named an Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

Harris helped lead record-breaking fundraising efforts and facility development at UNI, including a major renovation of the UNI-Dome, the construction of a softball hitting facility, outdoor tennis courts, a football team meeting room, an outdoor football practice field and the replacement of the playing surfaces for football and basketball/volleyball.

Harris also serves on NCAA committees addressing such matters as equity and diversity, and student-athlete transfers. He is a member of the NCAA’s Division I Council, the NCAA’s Council Coordination Committee and Chair of the NCAA’s Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee.

David Harris sits behind a desk and wears a blue suit.

Harris has worked his way up the ladder in college athletics administration, holding such jobs as director of academic support in the Ole Miss Athletics Department, associate athletic director at the University of Wisconsin, senior associate athletic director at Iowa State University and athletic director at the University of Northern Iowa.

The Work Begins

Following the November press conference, Harris returned to Cedar Falls, Iowa, home of UNI, so he could wrap up his work there before taking over at Tulane on Jan. 3, 2024. In addition, he worked on all things Tulane — meeting donors, reading up on construction projects and attending both the AAC Championship game at Yulman Stadium and the Military Bowl in Annapolis, Maryland, where the Green Wave took on the Virginia Tech Hokies.

With former Green Wave football head coach Willie Fritz leaving Tulane to become head coach of the Houston Cougars, one of Harris’ first tasks was supporting the search for a new coach.

“We had to jump right in,” Harris said. “We needed to get the right person. At the same time, we wanted to move as quickly as we possibly could. Without a football coach, we knew our student-athletes would be recruited to go to other teams. By Thursday night (Dec. 7), we had come to a verbal agreement with [Jon] Sumrall.”

Then a highly successful coach at Troy University, Sumrall was named Green Wave football’s head coach on Dec. 8.

Throughout his career, Harris has kept up with Louisiana sports from afar. He said he has been so impressed with Tulane’s recent athletic success that when the position of athletic director opened up, he pursued it vigorously. In 2023, some of those successes included a Cotton Bowl win, an AAC baseball championship and achievements in sailing, men’s tennis, women’s golf and beach volleyball.

“It’s all about sustaining that success,” Harris said, “taking the success that we’re currently enjoying and building off that. We don’t want to be on a roller coaster of success and failure. Yes, you have to deal with success as well as adversity. But you want the department to have a trajectory that is upward, and that’s what I see at Tulane.”

By: Barri Bronston

Spring 2024