Damon Evans
Damon Evans began his tenure as SMU's Director of Athletics on March 31, 2025. Before coming to the Hilltop, Evans served as the top athletics administrator at two Power Four programs, Maryland and Georgia.
Evans was named the Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics at the University of Maryland in June 2018. Under his leadership, the Terrapins won 49 Big Ten championships and tournament titles. The program earned seven national championships while he was in College Park. There, he oversaw a department with 20 varsity sports, 500 student-athletes, a full-time staff of over 200 and an annual budget exceeding $120 million.
Before Maryland, Evans held several management roles in the private sector, including as managing partner at Evolution Sports Partners in New Jersey, vice president of fundraising at IMG College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina – where he was tasked with developing the company's fundraising arm – and vice president of business development at the Markley Group in Boston, Massachusetts.
As the University of Georgia's athletics director from 2004 to 2010, Evans oversaw a program with 600 student-athletes, a staff of 250, and an $85 million budget. During his tenure, the Bulldogs won 13 national championships and 19 SEC titles. Under his leadership, Georgia consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Learfield Director's Cup and grew its athletic department reserve fund by more than $56 million, reaching $65 million in just six years. In 2009, Evans was named the Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year for the Division I Southeast Region. He earned the Sports Business Journal's "Forty Under 40" award in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
Evans was a four-year starter on Georgia's football team, playing in three bowl games under the legendary Coach Vince Dooley. He earned a bachelor's degree in finance and a master's degree in sport management, both from Georgia. He and his wife, Kerri, have two children, Cameron and Kennedy.
The SMU Athletics Department has great momentum as Evans’ tenure begins. In 2023–24, SMU set a program record with eight championship teams, including a second straight National Equestrian Championship and seven conference titles. Mustang student-athletes won 28 individual or event conference championships and earned more than 100 all-conference honors across 17 programs.