USF Athletic Director Mark Harlan is leaving to take the same position at the University of Utah 

Harlan took over as AD at USF in March of 2014 and had recently signed a contract extension in April to remain at USF through the 2020-21 academic year. 

Per the terms of his agreement, Harlan will owe USF a total of  $262,500  - the equivalent to half a year’s salary – for breaking his contract prior to July 1, 2020. 

Harlan has multiple ties to the west coast. A Los Angeles native, Harlan served as the senior vice president for Central Development at the University of Arizona Foundation. Following his time there, Harlan rose to become Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Communications at UCLA. 

The University of Utah sent out this tweet Friday afternoon, confirming the hire to their followers:

 

 

Under Harlan’s watch the USF Football team had back-to-back double-digit win seasons for the first time in program history in 2016 (11-2) and 2017 (10-2). Both years included wins in the Birmingham Bowl. 

Harlan was also instrumental in bringing football head coach Charlie Strong and men’s basketball head coach Brian Gregory to USF. 

Spectrum Sports 360 sources learned that Harlan had begun to explore his options away from USF this past winter. Harlan interviewed for the open Athletics Director position at Arkansas back in December.