Get to know new Kansas Athletic Director Travis Goff

After weeks of speculation, interviews, and searching, it seems Travis Goff will be the next Kansas Athletic Director.

Goff joins KU after having spent the past nine years at Northwestern University where he served as Deputy Athletics Director/Assistant Vice President (Development).

Here is some more information on KU’s new AD:

Kansas

Goff was born and raised in the state of Kansas. He is from Dodge City and attended KU from 1998 to 2002, where he received his bachelor’s degree in journalism and sociology.

According to Goff’s LinkedIn profile, after graduating from KU, he worked in KU Athletics as the Membership Services Coordinator for the Williams Fund until 2004.

Tulane

After working at KU, Goff went on to obtain his MBA from Tulane University in New Orleans. He also held various roles in their athletics department from 2005 to 2012.

According to his Northwestern bio, Goff led a $70 million fundraising campaign following Hurricane Katrina that helped bring Tulane its on-campus football stadium, Yulman Stadium. The team previously had to travel to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for their home games – home of the New Orleans Saints.

In his final year at Tulane, the athletic department raised a university record-setting amount of $30 million.

Northwestern

Goff joined Northwestern University in 2012. Since then, Northwestern has brought in more than $400 million for athletic facilities – including an incredible, state-of-the-art indoor football practice facility.

In addition to those funds for facilities, he has helped raise over $440 million for Northwestern Athletics since 2012. Under his watch, athletics fundraising increased from an average of $6-8 million per year to an average of $70 million per year.

In 2019, Goff was named to Sports Business Journal’s “Power Players in College Sports” list. A year earlier, he was recognized as a College AD “Next Up” honoree.

Goff appears to check a lot of the boxes. He can connect with donors and fundraise – which will be especially important for the KU football program. If they ever hope to update the severely outdated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, they will need someone with Goff’s expertise.

He’s from Kansas and went to KU, so you’d have to assume this is a job he has coveted and will work hard to maintain.

The only knock against him appears to be that he does not have head athletic director experience. He hasn’t had to hire or fire any head coaches before.

But Goff appears to be bright and capable, and the “Next Up” watchlist honors signal that he is ready to take that next step and become a successful AD.