Sources: Stanford hiring former Nike CEO John Donahoe as AD

As the new athletic director of Stanford School, former Nike CEO is set to appoint John Doahno, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The 65 -year -old Doahno will arrive with a huge self of business experience at the collegiat Athletic Director Space, as Stanford officials saw him as a “unicorn candidate” due to both his business relations and history in the school. Stanford represents an unaccompanied candidate for the role, and the fare of Dosaho offers an experienced CEO with Nike, Bain & Co. and EBay. He also worked as the board chairman of Paple.

Doahno also brings a strong Stanford relationship, as he is a 1986 MBA graduate. He also has two stents in the Advisory Board of Stanford Business School, currently serving in that role.

Doahno replaced Bernard Muir, who announced in February that he had been leaving school after serving in that role since 2012. Alden Mitchell is working as an interim athletic director of the school.

The Higher is a head-turning to Stanford, which brings someone with a high-level business experience of Dosaho. And it comes at a time when the Athletic Department has struggled in its highest profile sports, as the football is between four 3-9 sessions and the men’s basketball team has not reached the NCAA tournament since 2014.

In hiring Dosahin, they are aiming for someone who can find an innovative way to support General Manager Andrew Luck and Stanford Football Program, while detecting a permanent model for the future of Stanford’s Olympic Games.

Stanford’s Olympic sports are the best in the country, as Stanford athletes or former athletes were responsible for 39 medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. If Stanford was a country, they would have been tied with Canada for the 11th most medal. (Stanford has also won 26 out of 31 Director Cups for overall athletic success in the college, including 25 years of streaks from 1995 to 2019.)

Stanford officials approached Dosaho about the post in recent weeks, with both President Jonathan Levin and former female basketball coach Tara Wandarwar with the chief recruitments. Dosahin has a long relationship with the two, as he maintained a strong relationship with the school throughout his career.

According to ESPN sources, luck will report to Doahno in this role. Bhagya spent time with them in the interview process and is excited to work with them, per source. (This is a change from the pre -structure, as he was slated to report to Levin on the recruitment of Luck.)

Stanford is ready to start a football season in which it has been finalized in the 17-Team ACC. Former NFL coach Frank Reich is an interim coach, and both sides clarified that it is a certain interim position and will not return after the 2025 season.