Former Louisiana Tech Director of Athletics Tommy McClelland has been named the next Athletics Director at Rice University.

McClelland, who spent seven years in Ruston after being hired by Tech President Les Guice in 2013, has served the past two years as a Deputy Athletics Director at Vanderbilt after announcing his departure from Tech in October of 2020.

He is scheduled to begin his new job Aug. 14.

Rice President Reginald DesRoches announced McClelland’s new role in a message to the Rice campus on Sunday.

“I am incredibly grateful to President DesRoches, the search committee and the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to serve as vice president and director of athletics at Rice University,” McClelland said in the Rice release. “My family and I are thrilled to join the Rice family and the Houston community.”

McClelland will take over for former athletic director Joe Karlgaard, who left Rice this month for a position in the private sector.

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