It’s official: Penn State has selected its next athletic director, Patrick Kraft
Penn State officially approved and announced its replacement for outgoing athletic director Sandy Barbour. Boston College AD Patrick Kraft was officially named to the same position at Penn State on Friday morning.
“Along with having a bold vision for excellence and an impressive record of achievement, Pat values teamwork and cares above all about the success and development of student-athletes and coaches on and off the field,” Penn State president-elect Neeli Bendapudi said in a release. “With Pat at the helm of our athletics department, the possibilities of what we can accomplish ahead are unlimited.”
The Penn State board of trustees subcommittee on compensation met via Zoom to approve Kraft’s appointment. He will assume the role on July 1.
He’ll be paid a base salary of $750,000 annually with additional compensation that begins at $500,000 in the first year and escalates up to $660,000 in the fifth and final year of his contract.
Kraft has been in the same role at Boston College since July 1, 2020 and helped the athletic department secure a $15 million gift to fund a future men’s and women’s basketball practice facility.
Prior to his time with Boston College, he was at Temple University, where he served as athletic director from 2015-2020 and deputy athletic director from 2013-2015.
Kraft will replace Barbour, who led the Penn State athletic department for eight years and announced her retirement earlier this year.
The new athletic director originally began his athletic career at Indiana University where he was a walk-on with the football program before eventually earning a scholarship.
The football program at Temple had one of its most notable wins when the Owls upset Penn State in 2015, beating the Nittany Lions for the first time in 74 years. The initial success culminated in an American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship in 2016 under then-head coach Matt Rhule. Five of Temple’s nine bowl appearances came with Kraft leading the athletic department.
One of Kraft’s most notable accomplishments in his short time at Boston College benefited two of the larger programs at the university. He was able to help land a $15 million gift from Mikey and Jay Hoag to build the Hoag Basketball Pavilion. The building will be the practice facility for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs at Boston College.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 9:27 AM.
