USM Introduces Jon Gilbert as next AD

At this same time last year, former Southern Miss head football Coach Todd Monken left Hattiesburg for the NFL. Fast forward one year to the day, USM is in the news again having officially announced Jon Gilbert as its next director of athletics.
The search to replace Bill McGillis is over. Formerly the executive senior associate athletics director at Tennessee since 2011, Jon Gilbert is next in line for the Golden Eagles, a new reality that must have sunk in during his opening comments.
Southern Miss President Dr. Rodney Bennett said“As we continue to build upon the historic success of our programs, Jon Gilbert is the right person for the right time.” Also the right fit for the right opportunity. Gilbert inherits a recharged football program that led the CUSA in attendance the last two years with 16 wins over that span. Baseball also led the league in fan support in 2016 on the back of its conference championship just eight months ago. As for basketball, well the ties are obvious with Donnie Tyndall being the common denominator between the Hub City and Knoxville. “Both institutions obviously suffered from that. I’m hopeful that we can all move on and continue the healing process that’s already begun,” said Gilbert.
Dr. Bennett said, “I really wanted a person that wanted to be at the University of Southern Mississippi. It was very important to me. It was almost a deal breaker. I mean, I had to believe it and sense that you wanted to be here.”
The goals Gilbert has in place for his tenure at USM would certainly suggest as much. In short, his three main pillars are education, supporting the student athlete, and community engagement. He’s already got that third one down, going full crowd pleaser with his closing remarks. “Today is a great day to be a Golden Eagle. Southern Miss to the top!”
“(What was it like for your first Southern Miss to the top chant?) It was good. I practiced a few times last night and I was hoping the first one went well because it’s hard to get a second impression.”
Gilbert also served in multiple roles at Alabama over the course of 17 years prior to his time with the volunteers.