LAWRENCE, Kan. — There is a new athletic director at the University of Kansas and he faces many challenges ahead.
Travis Goff is coming from Northwestern University where he served as its deputy athletic director. Jeff Long had been serving as KU's athletic director until last month.
On Tuesday at a press conference, Goff was introduced to Jayhawk nation.
"We are going to unite, inspire our campus, our community and our alumni base," Goff said. "Together we will build and sustain a preeminent holistic intercollegiate athletics program."
Goff is no stranger to Allen Fieldhouse, David Booth Memorial Stadium or Mass Street. He graduated from the University of Kansas.
"You hear about dream jobs, destinations jobs. This is my destination job. This is where I received an incredible education, where I started my career and where I fell in love with college athletics," Goff said.
Coaches at the university said this new hire is the fresh start for a department that recently parted ways with high profile football coach, Les Miles.
On March 8, the former head football coach and KU agreed to part ways following an LSU investigation.
The football team went 0-9 last season and now with the exit of Miles, the team is relying on Goff to get the program headed in the right direction.
"I come in open minded. I come in wanting to listen and learn absorb, understand where we are at with this football programm," Goff said. "There is a plan. It's more about the when and the other understanding of how-to go forward with that plan."
Goff did not give a date on when a new head football coach will be hired.
"There are so many things that have happened that is out of the control of any individual person but this individual person I think is the guy as we move back to some normalcy [he's] the perfect guy to tie it together," Bill Self, KU's head basketball coach, said.
Goff will also have to handle the current NCAA investigation into its basketball program.
Former Jayhawks players believe Goff is going to do it right when it comes to hiring a new head coach.
"I think the infrastructure and building recruiting classes that is where is happens, from the ground up," David Lawrence, former KU football player, said. "That's really important and you gotta continue on that trend and get a football hire to come here and take it to that next level."
While Goff may have a lot of challenges ahead, he's looks forward to working through them.
"We are going to tackle those, address those and use those as really important building blocks because the most days are not today and next week and the week after. It's what we can do with the momentum we create," Goff said.
