‘ Time is right’ as SCSU AD Moran steps down
Burrell: ‘It’s a sad day for me and everyone at Southern’
Southern Connecticut State athletic director Jay Moran has been working from home most of this year with offices closed due to COVID-19.
It has given Moran the opportunity to reflect on his life and consider what might lie in the future.
“It’s been a long year with COVID-19 and a tough time to be an athletic director with no sports,” said Moran, who is in the unique position of currently being a third-term mayor in Manchester. “With no sports and a lot of down time, I’ve had a lot of time to think about what is going on in my life. It has given me time to consider what the next chapter might be.”
On Wednesday, the day after officials at the Northeast-10 Conference announced that the winter sports season would be canceled, Moran announced he is stepping down as the athletic director at Southern after six years in the position.
Moran will stay on until Dec. 31 and an interim athletic director will be announced by Tracy Tyree, vice president of student affairs at Southern. In a Southern press release, it was stated the interim athletic director will stay on for the remainder of the academic year and a national search for a new athletic director will begin in early spring.
“I have been planning the next step in my life the past semester,” Moran said. “Now, with no winter sports and with not much go ing on at Southern, the time is right to step down. I have had two careers, I’m still the mayor in Manchester and it’s not easy being the mayor of 60,000 people.
“I’m not at liberty to say right now, but I do have something ver y special that I am pursuing at this time. I also have my first grandson, Jack, and this is an opportunity to spend more time with him. COVID-19 continues to impact sports with NE-10 winter sports canceled. All of those things have combined to help me make this decision.”
Moran previously ser ved as athletic director at the University of Bridgeport and Albertus Magnus.
“I’ve been in this business for 30 years and the hardest thing to do is leaving the student athletes, coaches and staff,” Moran said. “Working with 18-20 (year old) students and watching them grow, I’ll miss that. Southern has great coaches and staff. When you move on, it’s all those relationships you built that are missed the most.
“At Southern, like Albertus and Bridgeport, I’d like to think I helped make a better life for ever yone. I’ve been known to be a coaches’ AD and I believe coaches have always felt I was there for them.”
Coaches at Southern echoed that sentiment.
“It was a joy coming to work ever yday with Jay as our director of athletics,” Southern women’s soccer coach Adam Cohen said. “The department became a f amily under his leadership.”
When Moran hired Scott Burrell as Southern men’s basketball coach in 2015, Burrell became the first Black men’s basketball coach in the Northeast-10 Conference.
“It’s a sad day for me and ever yone at Southern, I was a little surprised Jay stepped down,” Burrell said. “He gave me my first opportunity as a men’s basketball coach and I am so grateful for this coaching opportunity. I don’t know if that would have ever happened for me. Jay is great people, the kind of guy who makes you better.
“He reached out to athletes and provided a great environment for them at Southern. Jay reached out to ever yone here and made relationships at ever y level . ”
The Owls have won two national titles during Moran’s tenure, while competing in several team and individual NCAA championships. The release also notes Southern’s athletics programs have regularly won NE-10 Conference individual and team titles, and the department has set records in the number of Owls selected to the NE-10 Conference Commissioner ’s Honor Roll.
“Owls athletics has experienced many successes during Jay’s six years at Southern,” Tyree said in a message delivered to the campus community. “Jay supported the development of Athletes Fighting Injustice, oversaw the relaunch of the Athletic Hall of Fame, created the Athletic Hall of Fame Golf Outing and played a pivotal role in a variety of philanthropic endeavors. Jay is well-liked by student athletes, coaches and staff and will be missed by many across campus.”
Moran, only the fifth athletic director at Southern, has been ver y active in the athletic administration community, ser ving as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the East Coast Athletic Conference, helping to write the NE-10 2019-2024 Strategic Plan and currently serving as vice chair of the NE-10’s athletic directors’ council.
He also has seen the department through some very difficult times, including navigating the complexities that COVID-19 has brought to athletics during the last nine months.
“It’s been a tough year for everyone,” Moran said. “But Southern will survive with or without me. I’m ready for the next chapter in my career.”