ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The University of Missouri has found who will replace Desiree Reed-Francois as it's next athletic director.
On Tuesday, the school officially named Laird Veatch as the program's next Athletic Director.
"The opportunity to return to the University of Missouri and to Columbia is truly incredible for me and my family," Veatch said. "Mizzou has always had a passionate and dedicated fan base including broad support throughout the state, and together, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. That includes winning SEC and NCAA championships while providing our student-athletes with a tremendous experience."
ESPN's Pete Thamel was among the first to report the school was targeting Veatch for the role at the school. Veatch was previously Athletic Director at the University of Memphis, taking the role October 2019.
Veatch has previous experience in both the SEC and at Mizzou. Prior to taking the Memphis job, Veatch was the executive associate athletics director for internal affairs at the University of Florida for two years before he took the job at Memphis.
Veatch worked a part of the University of Missouri Athletic Program from 1997-2002 in a variety roles including as an assistant athletics director for development in his last three years before he left the program to be general manager for Mizzou Sports Properties at Leerfield Sports, where he coordinated all multimedia activities within the Missouri Athletics Department's external operations team and directed all Mizzou Sports Properties staff, activities and performance.
During his over four-year tenure at Memphis, Veatch facilitated many facility projects which includes renovations at Elma Roane Fieldhouse, the football indoor facility, the building of Leftwich Tennis Center, the installation of videoboards at baseball, softball, soccer and track and field, and an Olympic Sports weight room and nutrition center.
Veatch has also piloted Memphis to have success in the college space with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) taking over college sports, as Memphis became one of the first 10 schools in the country to hire a Director of NIL. Most recently, Memphis was able to secure a huge NIL deal with FedEx, with the company pledging $25 million over the five years.
Veatch will replace Reed-Francois, who left the program to become the Athletic Director at the University of Arizona in February 2024. The Missouri Athletic Director job has been a job carousel since Mike Alden stepped down in 2015, with Veatch becoming the program's fourth athletic director in nine years since Alden's departure.
The Board of Curators will meet Wednesday to approve the contract and make the hiring official.