MSU names Brett interim athletic director as Cohen resigns

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WDAM) - A national search is underway at Mississippi State University for a new athletic director after MSU President Mark E. Keenum announced that John Cohen resigned from the position to accept the role of athletic director at Auburn.

“In many ways, MSU is a victim of our own success in that several former MSU athletics directors have transitioned into similar roles at peer institutions in the Southeastern Conference,” Keenum said. “That fact speaks to the growing culture of success among our student-athletes and the commitment of our university, our alumni and friends and our fans to competing at the highest levels of collegiate athletics and doing so in the right way. Together as the Bulldog family, we will move purposefully to find a new leader who can both embrace and build on that culture of success.”

Keenum has named MSU executive senior associate athletics director for compliance Bracky Brett, a Koscuisko native and MSU alumnus, interim athletics director.

“Bracky is well-known and highly respected in the Southeastern Conference and across the NCAA, and I know he will maintain stability and focus as we move forward with a search for a new athletics director,” Keenum said.

Cohen is also an MSU alumnus who served the university as a varsity student-athlete, head coach and athletics director.

Keenum said that Cohen leaves an enviable legacy in Starkville. During Cohen’s tenure, MSU won the 2021 College World Series in baseball – the first national championship in the institution’s history - and a total of five Bulldog programs have turned program-best seasons, including softball (2022), baseball (2021), volleyball (2021), soccer (2018) and women’s basketball (2017, 2018).

For more information on MSU and its athletic programs, visit the website at www.msstate.edu.

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