Southern Miss AD accepted position at East Carolina

They say where there’s smoke, there’s fire and that was certainly the case regarding the reports of Jon Gilbert’s departure as USM’s athletic director that turned out to be true.

Yesterday, Gilbert filed his resignation to University President Dr. Rodney Bennett to accept the AD position at East Carolina.

Brian Bailey of WNCT out of Greenville, North Carolina was the first to break the news. Rumors of mutual interest between the two parties started two weeks ago and really picked up steam last week when Gilbert flew to North Carolina for an interview.

In a letter to alumni, Dr. Bennett says he expects to name an interim AD in the coming days and will target a permanent replacement as soon as possible.

Gilbert took over for Bill McGillis in January 2017, leading USM for 22 months.