Oregon Ducks Hire New Compliance Officer to Replace Retiring Gary Gray

Jan 3, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; General view of Oregon Ducks helmets during the 2013 Fiesta Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this month it was announced that after 28 years on the job Gary Gray, Oregon’s Compliance Officer(they guy who makes sure the Ducks are ‘good’ with the NCAA), announced his retirement. Oregon did not take much time in hiring his replacement. It was said that the decision to retire had nothing to do with the possible NCAA Sanctions that ‘could’ be headed Oregon’s way for recruiting violations. By the way, the Ducks could hear something this week…or not.

The Ducks welcome in someone with solid experience in the position with a resume that spans several colleges and universities. Jody Sykes, who was previously at Louisville doing the same job for the last seven years joins Oregon.

According to the U of O Press Release:

"Sykes’ role will include serving as a liaison between the Ducks’ athletics department and the NCAA and Pac-12 Conference regarding rules interpretations, education and monitoring of daily activities in coordination with the University’s faculty representative. She also will work with the academic support services for student-athletes.Sykes’ duties’ at Louisville included involvement in all aspects of its NCAA and Big East Conference athletics department’s compliance, helping with the daily functions of the Cardinals’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, assisting the director for student development and championships with life skills activities, programming and career development and serving as discipline coordinator for issues involving the University of Louisville’s dean of students office and University housing.“We are excited to welcome Jody to Oregon and our leadership team,” Mullens said. “She brings a breadth of experience at outstanding institutions and has had meaningful engagement at both the conference and national levels.  During the search process, it became very evident that Jody is widely respected in college athletics for her knowledge, integrity and commitment to the broad-based excellence of student-athletes.”"

Her new role at the University of Oregon begins on July 29th. Prior to her time at Louisville, she worked at the University of Pittsburgh and Robert Morris University handling compliance roles for both schools.

Oregon Ducks This Week: