As school looks for new leadership, WSU elevates deputy AD Anne McCoy to interim AD

PULLMAN – Washington State may not have an athletic director, but now the school has a stopgap replacement.

The Cougars are elevating senior deputy AD Anne McCoy to interim athletic director, the school announced Wednesday, giving the school a temporary replacement for former AD Pat Chun, who bolted Tuesday for the same job at rival Washington.

WSU is launching a national search for a new athletic director, university president Kirk Schulz shared in a news release.

“Anne is an outstanding administrator and a dyed-in-the-wool Coug,” Schulz said via release. “With more than two decades of experience in the WSU athletics department, she is uniquely qualified to ensure that Cougar athletics continues to excel as we search for the university’s next athletic director.”

McCoy, who has worked at WSU since 2001, ascended to deputy AD in 2013, the role she has held since. In that role, she oversaw all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the WSU athletics department, in addition to working as sport supervisor for women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer and rowing.

She also served as interim AD in February 2010, when former AD Jim Sterk departed for San Diego State, leading WSU to hire Bill Moos as new athletic director.

Washington State is also looking to replace former men’s basketball head coach Kyle Smith, who left Monday for the same job at Stanford.

McCoy also held administrative positions at several university athletic departments prior to joining WSU in 2001. She helped lead programs at the University of Maine, Saint Louis University and Portland State University. She has also served on a number of national intercollegiate athletic committees over the course of her career, including the Pac-12 executive committee, the women’s basketball tournament and nominating committees, and the Pac-12 Diversity Leadership Initiative.