Former Arkansas administrator could tip the balance between Razorbacks and LSU

Former University of Arkansas Deputy Athletic Director, Julie Cromer, was named Executive Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer at LSU over the weekend. The hire is pending a background check and approval by LSU’s supervisory board the university announced on their official athletic department website on Friday. 

In addition to currently serving as a member of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, the Women Leaders in College Sports Board, and a just-completed a term as Chair of the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics, Cromer has been serving as Ohio University’s director of athletics since she parted ways with the University of Arkansas in 2019. 

While in Fayetteville, Cromer also served as associate vice chancellor and and senior deputy athletic director under the direction of then Arkansas AD Jeff Long. Her brief tenure as interim AD in Fayetteville oversaw the firing of current Illinois coach Bret Bielema and directly preceded the disastrous hiring of former Razorback head football coach Chad Morris at Arkansas. 

Julie Cromer Bayou Bound

At Baton Rouge, Cromer will work under current LSU AD, Scott Woodward as the NCAA continues to grapple with the ever-unfolding challenges presented by controversies around NIL and House settlement revenue sharing agreements still facing major college athletics. 

“Julie is a widely respected leader in college athletics who brings tremendous experience at the highest levels to our university,” Woodward said. “Not only is her perspective as an established athletic director invaluable to charting our path forward, but her previous experience at the executive level impacting several institutions will help drive our continued growth and success.

"Julie’s expertise and vision will be major assets to LSU as we navigate this transformational time in college athletics, and we’re excited to welcome her to Baton Rouge.”

Among Cromer’s responsibilities will be “spearheading revenue generation, capital projects and strategic initiatives” for 21 of LSU’s varsity programs. 

Transformation Committee

Since 2022, Cromer (54) has also co-chaired the NCAA’s Transformation Committee with SEC Commissioner Greg Sanke. She also has an extensive history as an NCAA insider going back to a 10-year stint as Director of Academic and Membership Affairs prior to taking her first athletic director position at Wright State in 2010. She also worked as deputy AD at Indiana from 2010-2014.

At Arkansas, her duties included acting as senior woman administrator for Razorback athletics and serving on the executive leadership team overseeing the day-to-day administration of 19 varsity sports with a specific focus on football and women’s golf. Cromer also led the UA’s strategic planning initiatives and assisted the Razorback Foundation’s capital fundraising efforts. 

As recently as 2023, it was reported that LSU’s 51 national championships across all SEC programs (men and women) led Arkansas’ 50. The Tigers and Razorbacks remain in a dead heat for most in the SEC and the country. LSU’s cause was aided by eliminating Arkansas — in heartbreaking fashion — from the 2025 College World Series before going on to add an eighth national title in baseball. 

Cromer’s prominent role alongside Sanke on the Transformation Committee’s effort to get ahead of the NCAA’s ongoing struggle to manage the financial consequences of athlete compensation — which shifted the previous amateur athletics paradigm beginning in 2020 — likely made her an attractive candidate to join LSU athletics at this time. Her unqualified success in raising Ohio’s athletic profile at the Group of Five’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level only bolstered her candidacy as well. 

The Bobcats won a Mid-American Conference football title, men's basketball and women’s soccer during Cromer’s tenure in Athens, Ohio. The football program has won 10 games for three years running and finished with an 11-3 mark last season. 

According to the LSU press release, Ohio ranks among the FBS’s leaders in attendance, broadcast audience and social media reach in football and basketball. The release also highlighted Ohio’s record in fundraising donations and a doubling of season ticket sales.  

Campus of Champions Arms Race

However the Transformation Committee’s recommendations, which were handed down in 2023, were ineffectual at resolving the revenue sharing and fiscal fallout of player compensation. Those issues still remain unresolved despite the recent court decision outlining a revenue sharing plan, and President Donald Trump’s executive order in July. 

With LSU and Arkansas still neck and neck in an never-ending arms race atop the SEC for overall athletic excellence, Cromer’s arrival in Baton Rouge could be a tipping point one way or the other. 

“LSU is one of the most recognizable and successful brands in college athletics, and I am grateful to Scott Woodward for this opportunity to help the department reach greater heights,” Cromer said. “I look forward to working with our student-athletes, coaches, staff, campus partners, alumni and donors to elevate LSU Athletics.”