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After leaving UCLA to become USF’s athletic director four years ago, Mark Harlan has accepted the same position at Utah, another Pac-12 school, Utah confirmed late Tuesday afternoon.
Harlan will replace Chris Hill, who was Utah’s athletic director for 31 years, starting July 1.
“After an extensive national search during which we spoke with a number of outstanding candidates, Mark emerged as our clear top choice,” Utah President Ruth V. Watkins said in a statement.
Harlan will owe USF $262,500, per his contract extension he signed in April, which was half of his base salary at USF. Contract details for his new position at Utah are yet to be released, however, his predecessor made an annual salary of $763,600, sixth best in the Pac 12.
Since Harlan’s arrival to USF in 2014, not including regular-season titles, USF has won 12 conference championships — eight of which were in men’s golf and tennis. The other four were women’s soccer (2017), women’s tennis (2014, 2017) and women’s sailing (2014).
In the classroom, USF student-athletes have posted a Graduation Success Rate above 80 percent for four straight years since Harlan joined USF, including a program record 86 percent in 2016.
“Leading USF Athletics has been the greatest honor of my career and I can’t thank Dr. Genshaft enough,” Harlan said in a tweet Tuesday. “The student-athletes, coaches and staff at USF are all champions.”
