Des Moines native Brian Hardin became the 17th Director of Athletics at Drake University on December 11, 2017. Since his arrival, he has guided Drake Athletics through the most successful era in school history, establishing the Bulldogs as a model NCAA Division I athletics department defined by sustained excellence in the classroom, competition, and community.
President Marty Martin has frequently referred to the last eight years as the “Golden Era of Drake Athletics,” marked by unprecedented success in competition, record-setting fundraising, and remarkable growth across the department.
In 2026, Hardin was named the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Athletics Director of the Year, recognizing the transformation of Drake Athletics under his leadership.
During Hardin's tenure, Drake captured the first Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) All-Sports Trophy in school history and became the first private institution in 63 years to finish atop the MVC standings. Drake has also become the first private institution in 42 years to finish in the top half of the MVC All-Sports standings four consecutive years.
The Bulldogs have won 31 regular-season or conference tournament championships, made 38 NCAA Championship appearances across 12 sports, and seen 14 of 18 athletics programs finish among the top three in their respective conferences.
Hardin's coaching hires and those he has retained have reshaped the Bulldogs' competitive success. From 2018-25, Drake’s football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball teams combined to win nearly 70 percent of its conference games with seven combined regular season titles and six conference tournament championships. Hardin hired five of the six coaches that led those teams.
Under Todd Stepsis (now at UNI) and Joe Woodley (now at Rutgers), two coaches Hardin hired, Drake football has won three consecutive Pioneer Football League championships and made three NCAA FCS Playoff appearances (2023-25). Entering 2026, the Bulldogs are 25-2 in their last 27 PFL games.
Men's basketball has experienced the most successful stretch in program history, including four NCAA Tournament appearances over two coaching tenures (2021, 2023-25). Hardin hired Darian DeVries (now at Indiana) and Ben McCollum (now at Iowa), and the two head coaches led the Bulldogs to an at-large NCAA Tournament selection (2021), three consecutive MVC Tournament championships (2023-25), a school-record 31-win season in 2025, the program's first NCAA Tournament victory in 50 years (2021), and the program’s first appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament since 1971 (2025). Drake’s men’s basketball program has the ninth-most wins among all NCAA Division I institutions since 2020.
Women's basketball has continued its place among the Midwest's premier mid-major programs with three MVC regular season championships, three MVC tournament titles, and four NCAA Tournament appearances (would have been five if 2020 NCAA Tournament was not canceled). The women’s basketball program is 91-21 in the last six seasons of MVC competition. Hardin promoted Allison Pohlman to replace Jennie Baranczyk (now at Oklahoma) in 2021 and Pohlman has continued Drake’s women’s basketball legacy. In her third season as head coach, Pohlman directed the Bulldogs to a program record 29 victories, including an MVC record 19-1 conference season.
Championship performances have not been limited to only football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball, under Hardin. Since 2019, men’s cross country, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s tennis, and women’s tennis have all won conference titles. Men’s track and field has produced eleven All-Americans and three times Drake volleyball has had the MVC Player of the Year.
Hardin's success in identifying and developing coaching talent is reflected in Drake's results. During his tenure, 12 Drake head coaches have earned a combined 19 conference Coach of the Year awards, including 11 earned by coaches Hardin hired.
Hardin has also overseen unprecedented fundraising and revenue growth within Drake’s athletics department. Since becoming Drake's athletics director, Drake has experienced six of the seven best fundraising years in department history. Overall fundraising has increased 97 percent compared to the previous eight-year period, while restricted giving has grown 115 percent. Unrestricted gifts to the Bulldog Club have increased more than 67 percent since 2021, and Bulldog Club fundraising records have been broken in three of the last four years. Most notably, Hardin cultivated the relationship that led to a transformational $28 million gift to Drake University, providing significant support for Drake Athletics and women's basketball.
These fundraising gains have enabled transformational investments in Drake Athletics facilities. Most notably, Hardin spearheaded a landmark public-private partnership with Des Moines Public Schools that resulted in the construction of the $24 million Mediacom Stadium, a 4,000-seat facility serving Drake student athletes, DMPS students, and the broader Des Moines community. In addition, more than $11 million has been invested in renovations to the Knapp Center, benefiting Drake's men's and women's basketball and volleyball programs. Facility enhancements have also included sports medicine facility expansion and upgrades, a new indoor golf suite, a cardio suite for rowing and cross country, and locker room renovations for football, softball, men's and women's soccer, women's cross country and track and field, rowing, volleyball, and men's and women's basketball.
Growth has extended beyond fundraising to revenue generation as well. Combined men's and women's basketball season ticket revenue has increased 143 percent since 2018. Men’s basketball season tickets improved by more than 193 percent and women’s basketball season ticket sales have increased by 40 percent since 2018. Drake Sports Properties established new revenue records each of the last four years and royalties from licensing established new records in three of the past four years.
The success within Drake Athletics under Hardin’s tenure has extended well beyond competition and fundraising. Drake student-athletes have established the highest academic standards in school history, recording at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average in each of the last 15 semesters while repeatedly setting new school records for annual GPA. More than 20 Bulldog student-athletes have earned Academic All-America honors during Hardin's tenure, placing Drake among the nation's elite institutions academically.
Community engagement has remained a cornerstone of Hardin's leadership philosophy. Under his direction, Drake student-athletes have contributed more than 15,000 hours of community service, and the annual "515 Day" initiative he created has become a hallmark event connecting every athletics coach and staff member with nonprofit organizations throughout Greater Des Moines. Hardin’s "Des Moines' Hometown Team" branding initiative has further deepened Drake Athletics' connection to the community while helping drive growth in attendance, corporate partnerships, and philanthropic support.
Hardin has also played an active leadership role at the university, conference, and national levels. He serves on Drake University's President's Council and has been a key contributor to the University's comprehensive capital campaign. Within the Missouri Valley Conference, he currently chairs the Athletics Directors Committee, Men's Basketball Committee, and Media and Marketing Committee, and previously led the Women's Basketball Improvement Working Group. Nationally, he served on the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Selection Committee from 2022-25. Hardin also serves on the boards of directors for the Iowa Sports Foundation and Catch Des Moines.
Before returning to his hometown of Des Moines, Hardin served as Deputy Athletics Director at Marquette University from 2015-17, where he led several business development and external engagement units, including marketing and fan engagement, ticket sales and operations, merchandising, licensing, and corporate partnerships. He also served as the department's primary liaison to its student-athlete alumni affinity group.
Prior to Marquette, Hardin spent nearly a decade at the University of Notre Dame and Ball State University. He served as Director of Football Media Relations at Notre Dame before joining Ball State, where he served as Deputy Athletics Director and Interim Director of Athletics. During his tenure at Ball State, he provided executive oversight for multiple areas of the department, including external operations, communications, marketing, ticket sales, development, and event management, while helping guide the strategic direction of the athletics program. Hardin also served as secondary sport administrator for the football program and developed the future non-conference schedules for the team.
Hardin earned his bachelor's degree from Marquette University, where he was a four-year track and field letterwinner and served as team captain during his senior season.
Hardin was born with a Bulldog spirit; his parents are Drake alumni. Bob and Jan Hardin graduated with bachelor's degrees from the School of Education in 1973. Bob, returned to earn his master's in education in 1987. Brian is a 1998 graduate of Valley High School, was a Drake Relays champion while in high school and competed at the Relays at the university level all four years while attending Marquette.
Brian and his wife, Cara, have three sons—Noah, and twins Elliot and Bennett.
Updated 8/1/26
