Sources: Baylor set to hire McNamee as Bears’ AD

Baylor is finalizing the hire of Doug McNamee as its new athletic director, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Saturday, confirming a report.

McNamee, the president of Field and Stream, worked at Baylor from 2012-18, ultimately as the Baylor senior associate AD before departing to be the president at Magnolia, the Waco lifestyle brand run by Joanna and Chip Gaines, both Baylor alums. He joined Field and Stream in 2022.

McNamee replaces Mack Rhoades, who had been athletic director at Baylor since 2016, but stepped down to deal with personal issues.

Baylor president Linda Livingstone told ESPN recently that a new AD’s task would be to tackle the pressures of funding NIL and revenue sharing in college athletics.

“We have to really work with our donors to step up. We have to work with sponsorships, we have to work on companies that will walk beside us for NIL sponsorships,” Livingstone said. “That’s going to be a really big focus for a new athletic director. … That’s what many, many institutions are looking at right now. How do we supplement and grow financial support for athletics in a way that’s different than we’ve done it in the past that doesn’t put as much burden on our institutions?”

One of McNamee’s first tasks will be to help right the ship in football under coach Dave Aranda, who Livingstone retained despite Baylor fans’ growing dissatisfaction.

In 2021, Baylor went 12-2 and won a Big 12 championship, but since then, the Bears have gone 22-28 over four seasons.

News of Baylor’s decision was first reported by SicEm365.