CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Austin Peay State University Athletic Director Gerald Harrison is a finalist for the AD job at the University of Toledo, according to reports Thursday in The Toledo Blade.

The University of Toledo search committee has a February deadline for finding a replacement for former AD Mike O’Brien. Three finalists visited campus this week, sources told the Toledo Blade, and UT is expected to announce its selection next week.

The other two candidates are Washington State deputy AD Bryan Blair, and Tom Moreland, Purdue’s senior associate AD for strategic initiatives and the athletic department’s chief revenue officer, The Blade reported.

Each of the three recently spent a day at UT meeting with university brass, search committee members, and head coaches.

The finalists all have broad experience in intercollegiate athletics, with an emphasis on fundraising, revenue generation, and facility improvements. All three have also been heavily involved in their university’s football program.

Clarksville Now has reached out to Harrison for comment.

About Gerald Harrison

Harrison, the only sitting AD in the group, was hired at Austin Peay in 2018. He helped engineer the school’s move from the Ohio Valley Conference to the Atlantic Sun, which is expected to significantly increase Austin Peay’s market reach as it enters a footprint exploding with population growth.

He was also involved in APSU becoming the primary tenant at the under-construction F&M Bank Arena, with the Govs basketball program making the new arena their home court and base of operations for program offices.

Harrison, a member of the NCAA’s Division I Competition Oversight Committee, spent 10 years at Duke, first as the assistant AD for football development, then as associate AD for human resources, and finally as senior associate AD for internal affairs.

He was part of Duke’s rise as a perennial bowl team, increased the number of women and minorities in athletics administration by nearly 20 percent, earning Duke’s Diversion Equity and Inclusion Award in 2012, and helped secure funding for a $100-million renovation of Wallace Wade Stadium.

Harrison, a 2001 Tennessee graduate, first worked for the Tennessee football program under head coach Phil Fulmer, serving as director of community relations and director of high school relations.

Kyle Rowland with The Toledo Blade contributed to this report.