ASUN Conference Commissioner Ted Gumbart announced the hiring of Lee Moon as Associate Commissioner for Football on Monday afternoon. Moon served as the Director of Athletics for the University of North Florida for the past 12 years and recently retired from his position. In his new role, Moon will be the day-to-day point of contact for the operation and administration of ASUN Football, which begins this fall.
"We are extremely excited and pleased to have a new team member that has such a broad and thorough background in Football, in the NCAA, and in the ASUN," stated Commissioner Gumbart. "Coach Moon gives us experienced and proven leadership for our ASUN Football programs. This move also supports overall commitment that we will not reduce emphasis, focus or support for ASUN Basketball or any sport in the ASUN portfolio."
Moon, who was introduced as UNF's sixth athletic director in 2009, took the mantle of the Osprey Athletics department and skillfully guided it from the NCAA Division I transitional phase to a competitive and championship-producing Division I program. During his tenure, the UNF Ospreys became one of the top programs in the ASUN claiming 46 regular season and tournament championships. In addition, UNF teams made 81 NCAA postseason appearances in team and individual competitions. Over the past 12 seasons, UNF Athletics produced 41 ASUN Players of the Year, 31 ASUN Freshmen of the Year, 32 ASUN Coaches of the Year, 880 All-ASUN selections and 148 ASUN All-Freshmen honorees.
"I'm extremely excited to help impact the league through the growth of the ASUN with the addition of Football," emphasized Lee Moon. "As a former Football Coach and Administrator for many years, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get back to my roots with Football and help strengthen the ASUN for the long term, while also serving the mission of the league."
A veteran of collegiate administration, Moon's career featured executive-level positions with several other universities including senior associate athletics director at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2003-2009), director of athletics at Wyoming (1996-2003) and Marshall (1988-1996), and assistant athletics director (1985-1986) and associate athletics director (1986-1988) at Kansas State.
Moon is a graduate of Virginia Military Institute, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in History in 1970. While at VMI, Moon was a member of the school's football team from 1966-1969. He later went on to play semi-pro football for the Roanoke Buckskins before earning his master of education degree at the University of Virginia in 1971.
After serving as a graduate assistant coach for the Virginia football team during the 1972 and 1973 seasons, Moon served as an assistant football coach at Duke (1973-1976), Virginia (1976-1981), Mississippi State (1982-1984) and Kansas State (1985), where he was named the interim head football coach and also served as the assistant director of operations for the football team.
Throughout his career, Moon served on various NCAA leadership committees including the Division I Athletic Directors Association Executive Committee, the NCAA Football Issues Committee and the NCAA I-AA Football Committee, as well as serving as chair of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Committee. Earlier this year, Moon was named an Athletic Director of the Year (ADOY) for the Division I-AAA level by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).