Maine native Brian Gerrity is in the middle of changing college sports landscape
Brian Gerrity, a Maranacook Community School graduate, was recently named the athletic director at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. (Photo courtesy Mercer University by Leah Yeller)
College athletics is changing rapidly, particularly Division I college athletics. Brian Gerrity is right in the middle of it. A graduate of Maranacook High in Readfield and Bates College, Gerrity is in his first week as the athletic director at Mercer University, a private school in Macon, Georgia.
How many athletes are in the transfer portal? How are we going to divide up the revenue-sharing money? Gerrity, and every other Division I athletic director, is answering questions just a few years ago nobody thought needed to be asked.
Brian Gerrity
A modern athletic director’s best friends these days aren’t the coaches. They’re the compliance office, fundraisers and legal team.
“We’re right in the thick of monumental changes in athletics. You know, half of it is make sure of your research and (be) close to your campus legal department, because there’s a whole lot of changes,” Gerrity said in a phone interview last Thursday. “It is almost daily: a different lawsuit, a different rule — changes to you name it.”
It’s vastly difference from when Gerrity was an all-conference basketball player at Division III Bates College in the early 2000s. It’s not an apples to apples comparison, but it makes an important connection between Gerrity and Mercer’s student-athletes.
“I can say, look, you’re a Division I athlete. I played college basketball. I understand a portion of what you go through on a day-to-day basis,” Gerrity said. “It sounds simple, but change makes people nervous. It’s part of my job to keep this upward trajectory going. We want their time here to be special.”
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It helps that Gerrity has been at Mercer since 2012, the past five years as senior associate athletic director for the Mercer Athletic Foundation. He’s not spending the first few weeks of his new job getting to know people; the relationships are built and solid. His predecessor, Jim Cole, gave Gerrity increased responsibilities over the last few years. From conducting searches for new coaches to oversight of individual sports to fundraising, Gerrity has done it.
His job is to keep the train running. There’s the season-opening football game coming up on Aug. 29, when Mercer will host East Texas A&M in front of a national television audience on ESPN. There’s a new tennis/golf clubhouse to celebrate, along with a new baseball performance center. There will be two facility projects to announce in the coming months, Gerrity said. A new fund to help the revenue-sharing program with student-athletes is coming soon, too.
“There’s a multiple hats mentality, which I love, and that made the transition easier,” Gerrity said.
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When he wants to bounce ideas off someone, Gerrity can look close to home. He and Seth Woodcock, the University of Maine’s senior associate athletic director for development and capital planning, are longtime friends and have shared ideas for years. Mercer’s women’s soccer team will be in Orono to play the Black Bears on Aug. 20, but duties of the new job will prevent Gerrity from making the trip.
Mercer and Maine are similar, in that they’re small Division I schools trying to navigate the changing waters. Gerrity sees that as a strength.
“We are small enough, size-wise, that our donors, fans and friends can actually get to know our athletes, similar to UMaine. That’s probably harder at a place like the University of Georgia, where fans can’t get to know the quarterback or point guard,” Gerrity said. “We want our folks to have a personal bond with our athletes.”
Gerrity’s grandfather, Thomas Gerrity, was a college athletic director at Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University). His father, Bruce Gerrity, played basketball at UMaine in the mid-70s. To a young Gerrity, working in college sports sounded like the best job in the world. His experience at Bates cemented that thought.
As he prepares for a new role at Mercer that undoubtedly will offer challenges he hasn’t yet considered, Gerrity knows he was exactly right.
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Tagged: bates bobcats, Maranacook Black Bears, Sports Columns, travis lazarczyk
Travis Lazarczyk has covered sports for the Portland Press Herald since 2021. A Vermont native, he graduated from the University of Maine in 1995 with a BA in English. After a few years working as a sports. More by Travis Lazarczyk
