Miami AD Dan Radakovich breaks down decision to leave Clemson, return to Hurricanes

Dan Radakovich returned to Miami at the end of 2021 after leaving the program in 1985. Back then, he was labeled ‘athletic business manager,’ 37 years later, he’s labeled athletic director.

That decision didn’t come easy for Radakovich, who had been the athletic director at Clemson since 2012.

“No one ever said I was really smart to be able to make these kinds of big changes all at the same time. It’s a little bit of the the old chaos theory you have a lot of different things happening – so, maybe it’s a good time for change,” Radakovich explained.

Thankfully, Radakovich was familiar with the program from his short stint in the 80s and there was an opening at the same exact time he was looking for something new.

“I got to know some of the folks at the University of Miami when their job was was open, and having gone to school – there I have my MBA from there – live and work there, and then lived in South Florida throughout the 80s,” Radakovich said. “Really, I had a lot of affinity for the school when some of the folks on campus and had a chance to speak with them.

“[Something that helped was] the hiring of Mario Cristobal, which were running along similar railroad tracks to my conversations. It just seemed like the right time to make this sort of move.”

Before his stint with the Tigers, he spent six years at Georgia Tech in the same role. Prior to Georgia Tech, Radakovich was a senior associate athletic director at LSU from 2001-06, where he was instrumental in the renovation of Tiger Stadium.

When Radakovich arrived in December of 2021, one of his first major projects was calling a “full review” of Miami’s athletics facilities across campus – something he did when he took the job at Clemson as well. One of the projects that Radakovich has pushed for is revamping the football facilities, including the locker rooms which are currently under construction.

He oversaw a period of growth for Clemson, including the aforementioned facility improvements and an impressive run of College Football Playoff appearances from the Tigers’ football team, including two College Football Playoff National Championships.

Notice the facility improvements came before the CFP titles and believes the same can happen at Miami.

With former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal leading the Hurricanes into the future, who’s to say Miami won’t end up in the same place with Radakovich working diligently behind the scenes to improve the experience of playing football at Miami.