Washington State University Athletics

Anne McCoy was named the 15th Director of Athletics at Washington State University June 25, 2024, after serving as the Cougars’ Interim Director of Athletics for the three months prior. In addition to being the 15th person to serve in the role, she is the first woman to the hold the position at WSU.
 
McCoy has served a variety of roles on WSU’s senior administrative team since arriving in 2001 as associate director of athletics for internal operations. Hired by former Cougar Athletic Director Jim Sterk, McCoy has risen within the athletic department. Most recently, she served as senior deputy director of athletics and senior woman administrator (SWA) before assuming the interim director of athletics title in March of this year.
 
Throughout her time on WSU’s senior leadership team, McCoy has been actively involved with all facets of the department, having a role in all head coaching hires since her arrival, including all current head coaches. McCoy has played a role in each area of Cougar Athletics during her tenure and served in a supervisory capacity for every WSU sport.
 
In her first year as WSU’s Director of Athletics, McCoy has played a large role in shaping the long-term stability of the new Pac-12 Conference’s membership. She has also been heavily involved with securing the conference’s media rights agreements that begin in 2025-26. McCoy also oversaw the completion of more than $30 million in facility projects with the addition of the Taylor Sports Complex (indoor training facility) as well as the Champions Center, which centralizes academic resources provided to student-athletes, including advising, tutoring, meeting and study spaces, as well as professional development services and mental health counseling. During McCoy’s first year, Cougar student-athletes posted a combined 3.36 cumulative GPA, the highest in program history. Additionally, 286 student-athletes posted a spring semester GPA of 3.00 or higher (71 percent), including 51 who achieved a perfect 4.00 GPA.
 
McCoy served as WSU’s interim director of athletics from late March -June of 2024. In the span of three months in the interim role, McCoy secured the hiring of WSU Men’s Basketball Head Coach David Riley, Head Swimming Coach Russ Whitaker and Head Women’s Golf Coach Kevin Tucker, extending the contract of Women’s Head Basketball Coach Kamie Ethridge, secured a home for baseball and women’s swimming through affiliate membership with the Mountain West Conference for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, and was involved with the Pac-12 Conference’ securing a media rights agreement with the CW Network and FOX for the 2024 football season.
 
Prior to serving in the interim role, McCoy served as senior deputy director of athletics/senior woman administrator where she was charged with supervising all aspects of WSU’s day-to-day operations. McCoy was also the athletic department liaison to WSU’s Compliance and Civil Rights office on all matters relating to Title IX.
 
In 2023, McCoy received the Chancellor’s Awards for Leadership, an honor bestowed to top leaders at WSU. McCoy had been active on national and conference committees throughout her time at WSU, which included an appointment as the liaison to the Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Coaches, being Vice President of the Pac-12 Executive Committee and serving on the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament and Nominating Committees, the Pac-12 Diversity Leadership Initiative, the Pac-10 Senior Woman Administrator and Television committees, the Pac-10 Budget, Finance, Compliance and Enforcement committee and past chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Rowing Committee.
 
Prior to arriving in Pullman, McCoy spent five years on the staff at Portland State University, beginning in 1996 as associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator, and was promoted to senior associate director of athletics in 1998. At PSU, she managed all internal staff and the daily operations of the department, representing the director of athletics as needed. McCoy also supervised men’s and women’s golf, cross country/track and field, and women’s volleyball, soccer, tennis and softball.
 
From 1989-95, McCoy served in several capacities at the University of Maine, lastly as associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator. At Maine, she supervised men’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and softball in addition to the athletic business office, ticket office, retail store and cheerleading staff and operations. She took a similar administrative position at Saint Louis University for the 1995-96 academic year.
 
A Wisconsin native, McCoy earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 1989 from the University of Massachusetts. While an undergraduate, she worked for the Pittsburgh Penguins professional hockey organization, expanding the club’s season ticket base. McCoy also served an internship as the assistant athletic business manager at the University of Connecticut.
 
McCoy and her husband Brian have two children, daughter Taylor, a former swimming student-athlete at Washington State who holds two school records, and son Jake, a highly decorated high school swimmer who is attending Tennessee beginning in the fall of 2025.