On Dec. 14, 2022, Mark Campbell, the current women’s basketball head coach, was named the next director of athletics for Union University following the retirement announcement of Tommy Sadler.
Campbell’s first official day as director of athletics will be June 1, and he will be the third person to fill this role in the past 50 years, with David Bladcock and Tommy Sadler preceding him. Sadler will retire after serving 16 years in this position. President Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver chose Campbell for this position due to the way he lives out Union’s four core values and the immense experience he has in athletics as a whole and athletics at Union.
“As President, one of my responsibilities is selecting senior leaders for the institution,” Oliver said. “So, when Tommy Sadler announced his retirement last April, I immediately asked the Lord to bring the very best person to us for this role. And, the first person on my list was Mark Campbell.”
Although Campbell was not open to the idea of this position when Oliver first approached him, Campbell soon began to see how the Lord was calling him to serve Union as director of athletics. He is confident this position will allow him to serve Union University and its mission. Campbell is in his 24th season as head coach of the women’s basketball team and is approaching his 700th career win. In his time at Union, the team has won five straight Gulf South Conference regular season titles and three straight GSC tournament titles.
“I’m following two men who embodied relational equity and spent time getting to know people,” Campbell said. “They love Union University and its missions, so for me it’s just being able to continue what people have done before me, and listening to the Lord on what He wants to do.”
Campbell will continue to serve as head coach and is thankful to the opportunity to steward both the position of coach and director of athletics.
“I trust my assistant Sean Blackburn and I trust Steven Aldridge to do this job with me to steward the athletic department. We are stronger as a group than the individual people in the group, so in order to have synergy we must get to know every single part. It’s about getting to know people relationally and understand their giftings and their weaknesses. I don’t think of it as balance, I think of it as me trying to steward everything I have well,” Campbell said.
Campbell was named to Union’s Bicentennial Hall of Fame as one of the university’s 100 most influential people. He has also won four NAIA National Championships, one NCCAA National Championship, one NCAA Division II South Region Title and made a Division II national semifinal appearance, as well as countless other awards.
“I’m excited for him to bring the same excellence and focus to the whole department that he brings to the Women’s Basketball Team,” Oliver said. “He and I are of one heart on mission and vision, and he loves this University. Everyone trusts him to advance our work in the very best ways possible.”
