'I feel truly blessed': Marty Scarano to retire as UNH athletics director in 2022
DURHAM — University of New Hampshire Director of Athletics Marty Scarano announced Monday he will retire from his position following the 2021-22 season, his 22nd year at UNH and his 41st in college athletics.
“I feel truly blessed and grateful to have served UNH as its athletic director for the last 22 years,” Scarano said in a prepared statement released by the school. “Together, as a department and an institution, we have achieved a great deal. I have cherished the privilege of working alongside many, many talented and dedicated colleagues who care as deeply about this University as I do. Most of all, I am so very proud of our student-athletes and am honored to have shared in each and every one of their accomplishments over the years.
“While we have done many wonderful things, there is still so much more to accomplish,” Scarano added. “I have always embraced change, and it is the appropriate time for UNH to find someone who will lead this department to new heights. I am very excited about the future of UNH athletics. I know that this place will always be a significant part of me. I will forever be a Wildcat, as will my family.”
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University President James Dean announced a national search to find a new director of athletics will begin immediately. Scarano is expected to remain at the university through the end of the academic year and assist in the transition process.
“It is with mixed feelings that I announce Marty Scarano will retire as director of athletics at the end of the current season after 22 years with the university,” Dean said. “I am grateful for Marty’s strong commitment to the university, the athletics program and all our student-athletes.”
In Scarano's time, the Wildcats have captured 60 league championships, produced more than 100 All-Americans, boasted 61 conference coach of the year recipients, one national champion (Elle Purrier, 2018) and a national championship runner-up (men’s hockey, 2003) during Scarano’s more than two-decade run.
Wildcat student-athletes have excelled in academics during his administration. In the spring of 2015, UNH opened the $2 million Watkins Center for Student-Athlete Excellence at the Field House, funded entirely by private donations, which provides all students who strive to balance the challenges of representing UNH as students and as Division I athletes. In November 2020, the UNH athletic department earned an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 95%, which was No. 2 nationally among land-grant universities, and the university has won the America East Academic Cup for highest cumulative GPA four times in the last seven years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019).
Scarano’s legacy includes the more than $60 million in capital improvements. Highlights include the construction and 2016 opening of Wildcat Stadium, a $27-million multi-purpose facility that replaced decrepit Cowell Stadium.
Phase 1 of the Tucker Field project, completed in the summer of 2019, featured a $3.7 million investment in a state-of-the-art synthetic field that serves as the current practice field and future home stadium for Wildcat men’s and women’s soccer programs and the women’s lacrosse program in addition to actively hosting Oyster River Youth Association events.
Scarano helped elevate UNH athletics onto the collegiate national stage by hosting many major NCAA championships, including multiple men’s hockey regional championships, women’s hockey Frozen Fours, NCAA ski championships and women’s gymnastics regional championships.
In 2007, Scarano was awarded the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) AD of the Year for the FCS. Additionally, he was named the All-American Football Foundation Athletic Director of the Year for FCS football in the Northeast region.
On the conference level, Scarano has served as a member of the NCAA D-I Football Championship Committee, Chairperson of Athletic Directors Council for America East, chair of CAA Football, chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee and is currently a member of the America East Executive Committee.
Before arriving at UNH, Scarano held the position of athletics director at Colorado College (1996-2000) and spent 13 years at Colgate University (1983-96), as assistant director of athletics, director of physical education, associate director, and senior associate director. The 1978 graduate of Penn State University started his athletic career as assistant ticket manager and the athletics events manager for his alma mater from 1980-83; he subsequently earned a master’s degree in environmental history from Colgate.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Marty Scarano to retire as UNH athletics director in 2022
