PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University named Jon Haarlow as its permanent athletic director Monday after he served as interim for the last five months.
Haarlow hopes to hit the ground running with fundraising at the top of his to-do list as WSU enters a new era of college athletics.
“That level of energy, that level of enthusiasm, that level of dedication and passion that you worked with yesterday, we work with today, and we work with it tomorrow,” Haarlow said.
Few athletic departments across the country have been through more changes in recent years than WSU. Conference realignment, NIL and retaining quality players and coaches are at the front of every fan’s mind.
Haarlow and University President Elizabeth Cantwell plan to work side-by-side as they enter into a new era of Cougar athletics.
“For me to be able to go out and have conversations with our donors, prospective student athletes, alumni. To have her support, backing and trust means I can speak freely to make deals, and make some other things happen,” Haarlow said.
Both Cantwell and Haarlow agree that fundraising is one of the most important components of the athletic director role. Haarlow says there are two parts to fundraising: donations for things like NIL, and ticket sales to make sure the stands are packed every Saturday.
“We know a majority of our Cougs are on the west side, in the Seattle area. So we’ve been intentional about meeting our alumni and our donors where they are to make sure that we can meet them in that space and they can see the vision that we’re casting back here,” Haarlow said.
“I think we haven’t necessarily done that in the past, we’ve sat back and rested on our brand,” Haarlow said. “That’s okay, it’s a strong brand. But now we have to be aggressive and go on offense going forward to make some strides there.”
WSU President Betsy Cantwell says Haarlow proved he was the right person for the job during his stint as interim athletic director. She wants to continue to partner with the athletic department as they enter the new Pac-12 Conference this fall.
“We each have jobs to do as the world changes. Mine is not just to pay attention to how the whole university is changing. I sit on the Pac-12 board, and I’m on the CFP board and I’m in Washington and I’m talking with politicians,” Cantwell said.
WSU will compete in the new Pac-12 Conference starting this fall. Haarlow said the university is looking for new conference members and watching what other conferences do.
“It’s an incredibly fluid situation,” Haarlow said. “I think we’ve had more activity in the past 18 months than in the previous 50 years. So my job is to make sure we remain nimble and that we can adjust when the next shoe drops, because we know it’s going to come.”
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