Columbia Athletic Director M. Dianne Murphy announced in September that she planned to resign from her position at the conclusion of the academic year.
Now, six months after Murphy’s announcement and two months after football coach Pete Mangurian’s resignation following allegations of abuse and misconduct with players, Columbia has announced that Peter Pilling will take over as athletic director on April 13.
A graduate of Brigham Young University and Ohio University, Pilling is the former vice president of IMG College, one of the largest sports marketing companies in the country. Throughout his time with the agency, Pilling assisted in the negotiation of corporate sponsorships with the Mountain West Conference and West Coast Conference.
Prior to working for IMG College, Pilling established ties in the Philadelphia area as the associate athletic director at Villanova. After four years with the Wildcats, Pilling returned to his alma mater in the same capacity, serving as senior associate athletic director and taking part in the search committee that hired current BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Pilling’s experience with the Mendenhall hiring may come in handy over the course of the next few months. The Lions have been without a head football coach since Mangurian’s resignation on Dec. 5, and the newly hired athletic director has emphasized the need to find a coach that can put together a competitive program.
Columbia has lost 21 consecutive games dating back to the 2012 season, including back-to-back 0-10 campaigns in 2013 and 2014.
“We need to hire a football coach,” Pilling told the Columbia Spectator. “That’s priority number one.”
Murphy’s tenure as athletic director included one of the most dominant stretches in Columbia history. Over the course of her decade in charge, the Lions accumulated 26 Ivy League titles across 11 sports, as well as 128 individual Ancient Eight championships, the most of any in a 10-year span in school history.
Pilling emphasized that he hopes to cultivate the success generated under Murphy. While his current focus may be on hiring a football coach, the new athletic director has pledged to focus on all Columbia sports, similar to M. Grace Calhoun’s path at the beginning of her tenure with Penn Athletics.
“I’m going to meet with all the senior administration, meet with the coaches, meet with the staff and listen,” he said. “The entire athletic department is a priority.”
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