Penn State Extends Athletic Director Sandy Barbour

For the past five years now, Sandy Barbour has been Penn State’s Athletic Director. While there had been talks for a while about extending her contract, the university officially announced today that she will continue to serve her role for at least another four years, extending her contract through August 2023.

As you may know, Sandy has served as AD for the entirety of James Franklin’s coaching career at PSU, overseeing the renaissance that the football program has gone through during that time period. PSU athletes have also maintained a 90 percent graduation rate and its athletic programs have earned a combined five national championships and 25 conference titles during her time here.

There have been some criticisms, as well. Namely, the fundraising ability (or lack thereof). As we all know, there is an ambitious plan in place to renovate numerous athletics facilities at the school over the next decade or so and while the football facilities have been getting some nice face lifts, the fundraising has reportedly been going slower than hoped for. The recent hire of Scott Sidwell as Deputy AD may help to remedy that issue, as Sidwell is apparently has a reputation for being a solid fundraiser. This may also be a move intended to get Sidwell’s feet wet for an eventual transition into the role of head AD come 2023 if Sandy chooses to retire then, but that is admittedly pure speculation at this point.

We here at BSD congratulate Sandy and wish her all the best over the next four years as Penn State athletics continues to strive for excellency all around.