Antonio Brown to assist CMU in hiring new athletic director

Antonio Brown, perhaps one of the most recognizable and definitely one of the most talented players in the NFL, is about is about to add something else to his extensive resume: human resources experience.

CMU Athletics announced the creation of a 16-person committee to “identify candidates for its next associate vice president and director of athletics” Friday morning, and the list included Brown. (He’s listed as a former student-athlete.)

The committee also includes CMU head football coach John Bonamego, CMU women’s basketball coach Sue Guevara, CMU women’s soccer student-athlete Kristen Knutson, retired former CMU AD Dave Keilitz and various other members of the Central Michgian community both on-and-off campus.

The committee is set to assemble to go over options for the new athletic director after Dave Heeke, who served as CMU’s AD for 11 years, accepted the same job at Arizona. The committee is expected to come up with and personally assess “three to five options” to replace Heeke, who leaves for Tuscon in three weeks.

The university went the committee route, rather than hiring a national search firm due to what the university calls “clear” interest in the job.

"It's clear to me the world knows Central Michigan University is hiring an athletics director," Central Michigan president George E. Ross said in a press release. "This committee will have many high-quality candidates to assess and interview."

Ross talked about what he was looking for in an athletic director when Heeke announced his departure in February.

"We will seek candidates committed to furthering our championship culture, who agree that athletes are students first, and who have an unwavering commitment to upholding CMU's reputation as one of just 13 universities without a major NCAA violation,” Ross said. "We seek a leader who represents all that CMU is, who is an excellent fundraiser and who will be an integral member of the CMU community."

Brown recently made his first appearance in Mt. Pleasant since departing for the NFL in February for Central Michigan men’s basketball game against Ball State. As a receiver at CMU, Brown had 305 receptions for 3,199 yards and 22 receiving touchdowns. Rush also had four rushing touchdowns and two kickoff/punt return touchdowns.

“It’s amazing to be back,” Brown told CM Life’s Greg Wickliffe in an interview in February. “It’s a tremendous opportunity to be here. To see the “C” is still flying right, a championship culture, to see things have gotten better and to see the growth is pretty exciting to be a part of.”

In the same interview, Brown intimated that he would be more involved with CMU and the community of Mt. Pleasant moving forward.

No timeline for the new hire was announced in the release.