Rattler Nation has learned that officials at the highest level of the university have extended an offered to University of Miami Associate AD for Facilities Kortne Gosha to become the next Athletic Director at FAMU. Gosha would become the seventh AD in about a 12-years stretch at FAMU, not counting the three individuals who have served as interim AD.
In his current role at UM, Gosha, oversees the day-to-day facility and event operations, grounds, custodial, information technology, access control and capital projects. His previous experience includes serving as equipment manager, assistant AD for Equipment and Facilities and Associate AD and COO at Middle Tennessee State University over a seven-year period.
As associate AD/COO at MTSU, Gosha is credited with renegotiating the department’s multi-media rights contract, a new contract with apparel provider Nike. That contract requires Middle Tennessee State to pay as much as half a million dollars per year to outfit some of its lower-profile programs. The other programs purchase comparable items at a wholesale rate, a 50 percent discount.
Gosha made his way to Murfreesboro from Jacksonville State University where he worked three years as an equipment manager. He served as the Gamecocks student manager from 2007 until July 2011 before being hired full-time in August 2011 as the coordinator of operations and facilities
In his full-time role at JSU, Gosha handled the day-to-day operations, planned team travel, drafted athletic department apparel contracts, served as camp director for summer camps, and coordinated use of athletic facilities, student staff, and events.
What Gosha's resume appears to be lacking is fundraising experience or familiarity with compliance issues, something FAMU has struggled with lately.
Gosha is said to have been favored by FAMU Head Football Coach Willie Simmons. Both Gosha and Simmons worked at Middle Tennessee State Univeristy.
According to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, Gosha will be paid nearly $300,000 a year by FAMU, likely making him the highest paid AD at an HBCU.
Gosha earned a degree in political science from Jacksonville State in 2011 and a masters in sports management from Southern New Hampshire University in 2014. He was also accepted into the 2015 class of Collegiate Athletic Leadership Symposium and is a graduate of the 2016 Sports Management Institute at The University of Michigan Ross School of Business Executive Education and the University of Texas McComb Business School.