MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Interim West Virginia athletics director Keli Cunningham acknowledged she’s playing a transitional role and doesn’t view herself as a potential replacement for NCAA-bound Oliver Luck.
Currently the school’s executive senior associate athletics director, Cunningham graduated from WVU in 2002 and held posts with the Big East and Maryland before rejoining her alma mater in 2010 to focus on compliance. Within the past year she worked more closely with Luck and became involved in the day-to-day operations—even helped to prepare defensive coordinator Tony Gibson’s new contract—but said “that may not be enough time” to match candidates the job could attract.
“I think the candidates that are out there with extensive experience are the ones we should take a look at,” Cunningham said Thursday during a media conference call. “I don’t plan to be a permanent candidate.”
While Cunningham aspires to run an athletics department someday, her immediate task is helping WVU president Gordon Gee land an action-oriented leader capable of raising enough revenue to fund Power 5 autonomy and who “genuinely cares about West Virginia University, our department, this state and Mountaineer Nation.
“I believe that person is out there,” she added.
Gee told MetroNews that Luck first spoke of an interest in taking the NCAA leadership position last month, a head start that will allow West Virginia to move swiftly.
While Cunningham said the search process may still consume weeks or months, she wants to be a go-to source for candidates and anticipates “being as active as the circumstances allow me to be.”