By Tom Green
Former Auburn athletics director Allen Greene is back in the SEC West — and in a familiar spot, too.
Greene, who resigned at Auburn in August, rejoined the athletics department at Ole Miss as a senior deputy athletics director of external relations and business development, the school announced Wednesday morning. Greene previously worked in the Rebels’ athletics department from 2009-12, when he worked alongside current Ole Miss AD Keith Carter in the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation as an assistant athletics director for development.
Greene’s return to Oxford, Miss., comes after stints as athletics director at Buffalo, where he was deputy AD from 2012-15 and then AD from 2015-18, and Auburn, where he spent nearly five years overseeing the Tigers’ athletics department. Greene’s time on the Plains ended in August, when he resigned from his post after it became clear that his initial five-year contract would not be extended. That contract was set to expire Jan. 31, 2023, and it paid him $625,000 annually.
During his tenure at Auburn, the school’s programs won eight conference titles, the men’s basketball team made its first-ever Final Four appearance and climbed to No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in program history. Auburn also extended Bruce Pearl earlier this year under Greene’s watch, signing him to an eight-year extension. During Greene’s time on the Plains, the baseball team also made two College World Series appearances, including a trip to Omaha, Neb., in June. Greene also helped secure funding and approval for the new football performance center, which was completed last month and saw the program move its operations into this month.
Greene was also at the forefront of the decision to hire Bryan Harsin as the Tigers’ football coach at the end of the 2020 season in a power move that ultimately resulted in Auburn plucking Harsin away from Boise State. AL.com reported at the time that Greene’s decision to hire Harsin didn’t sit well with some boosters, who made clear to him that if he went against their wishes and his hire was not successful, they’d make sure to run him out of town. Things quickly went south for Harsin in Year 2, and he was fired on Oct. 31 amid a four-game losing streak and overall losing record at Auburn. His firing came two months after Greene’s final day as AD, Aug. 31, as the 45-year-old administrator informed Auburn president Dr. Chris Roberts of his decision to resign before the start of the football season.
Auburn ultimately hired John Cohen from Mississippi State as Greene’s replacement.
Now Greene is back in the SEC, and back with an Ole Miss program he has plenty of familiarity with. In his new role with the Rebels, Greene will serve as the department’s chief operating officer, oversee the department’s external operations and maintain sport oversight of the football program.
“We could not be more excited to add Allen’s leadership to our team,” Carter said. “Going back to our time together at OMAF, I know firsthand the type of person and leader that Allen is, and he represents everything that you want in your administration. We look forward to adding his wealth of experience to our department and welcoming his family back to Oxford.”
