Dr. Michael McFarland, who was named director of athletics and assistant professor at Commonwealth University, Bloomsburg in August of 2011, enters his 15th year in 2025-26 leading the Huskies athletic department. The Chair of the Department of Athletics Faculty, McFarland was promoted to Full Professor with the start of the 2022 Fall semester and granted tenure in the fall of 2016.
McFarland is the primary overseer to an athletic department that continues to raise the bar on success. With the launch of a strategic comprehensive scholarship campaign, McFarland leads the charge for athletics to ensure and increase annual scholarship donations to provide new and added opportunities for student-athletes who wish to enroll academically and compete athletically at Bloomsburg.
McFarland is currently the Past President (2025-26) for the Division II Athletic Directors Association (D2ADA) and a member of the Board of Directors. He most recently served as President, First Vice President, and Third Vice President, following a two-term Board stint.
As Chair of the Department of Athletics Faculty, McFarland also teaches in the Management program. He has taught classes in Sales, Sponsorship, and Fundraising (SPMG 231) [face-to-face and multi-modal], Sport Management and Community Relations (SPMG 336) [multi-modal], and Introduction to Sport Management (SPMG 130) [multi-modal] through the Sport Management Bachelor’s Degree program in the Ziegler College of Business.
Academics, along with recruiting students who will be successful at Bloomsburg and retain through graduation, remains a key feature of the athletic program. Athletics continues to focus on retention goals from year-to-year with student-athletes with a current 96% rate and a six-year average of 89.66% (dips are based on coaching changes, etc.). Another element to underscore the importance of student success and success off the playing surfaces includes the Academic Success Rate (ASR) for Bloomsburg, which is our 87.4% rate.
One of the programs McFarland has implemented since arriving at Bloomsburg is the P.A.S.S. campaign. It focuses on Pride, Accountability, Student-Athlete Experience, and Success On-and-Off the Field. This initiative has also instilled a new sense of academic success, athletic prowess, and support of Husky athletics. The department is updating and finalizing a student-centered educational experience for Husky student-athletes through the implementation of a departmental strategic plan. By achieving competitive success within (and beyond) the PSAC, Bloomsburg Athletics continues to maintain its national leadership in the overall academic and athletic performance of Husky student-athletes.
Student-athlete team grade point averages continue to increase and this has been stressed as part of the P.A.S.S. (Pride, Accountability, Student-Athlete Experience, and Success on and off the field campaign) program. This is evident by men’s GPAs increasing from 2.82 annually in 2015-16 to 3.125 in 2024-25 and with women’s GPAs increasing from 3.18 annually in 2015-16 to 3.401 in 2024-25. The combined men’s and women’s grade point average for the 2024-25 is 3.263. The grade point averages are representative of the 717 student-athletes.
McFarland spearheaded the Athletics Branding Committee to select, bid, and award construction of the Athletic Hall of Fame, as well as completing the Nelson Field House and Danny Hale Field at Robert B. Redman branding improvements. The Hall of Fame was completed with the November 2012 induction class, while the branding initiative, which includes graphic enhancements throughout Nelson Field House and Danny Hale Field, culminated with the debut of banners displaying H-U-S-K-I-E-S Pride for all visiting upper campus. The banners were replaced and refreshed in the summer of 2023. Other facility improvement projects are being added to the Department’s ongoing Strategic Planning effort.
Since the 2022-23 season, numerous facility projects included resurfacing and refinishing the courts and viewing deck at the Burt Reese Tennis Center, new branding and re-turfing in Steph Pettit Stadium (completed during summer 2025), and the formal naming of the Bob Gibble Scoreboard at Danny Litwhiler Baseball field. Additionally, the student-athlete lounge in Nelson Field House was named the Sharon Gettel Student-Athlete Lounge with a furniture refresh and name. Jan Hutchinson Field debuted a new scoreboard for the softball team and the tennis facility welcomed new locker room enhancements in 2023.
In 2022, Bloomsburg Athletics was selected as one of the 28 finalists for the NCAA Division II Award of Excellence, for its "Protect Our Pack" student leader group. Protect Our Pack was formed in September of 2020 to bring awareness to current social justice topics and help students find assistance to overcome challenges they may face. As outlined in its mission, Protect Our Pack responded to student-athletes identifying issues of bullying, racism, LGBTQA, gender, and social issues; student-athletes have partnered with coaches and administrators to address these critical topics facing everyone today. The "Protect Our Pack" concept is being developed and led by student-athletes to create a safe space where you can speak up and protect yourself and your team while getting the necessary support to excel. We will be creating educational resources for the student-athletes, a resource page on BUHuskies.com, and campaigns to feature, but not limited to posters, videos, speakers, etc. Athletics, and most importantly, student-athletes and coaches, are attacking the ongoing social justice issues. Per the NCAA, its NCAA Division II Award of Excellence recognizes "initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement, and student-athlete leadership." Bloomsburg was chosen as the official entry from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
Fundraising
In December of 2019, Dr. Steph Pettit (’89/H) partnered with Bloomsburg Athletics and we proudly announced a $10 million gift with $5 million supporting athletic priorities, specifically scholarships, and a $5 million trust to support future university needs. In recognition of the impact this donation will have, in the Fall of 2021 the University's athletic complex was renamed to Pettit Athletic Complex. The gift makes Pettit the largest donor in University history, bringing his total contributions to more than $13.1 million.
The athletic annual scholarship fund, launched in July 2014, is designed to improve opportunities for current and future student-athletes. One landmark element includes Steph Pettit Stadium, named for Steph Pettit ‘89 who has made a $1,000,000 contribution for stadium improvements (soccer, field hockey, and lacrosse) and athletic scholarships. With the start of the 2018-19 season, a new high-definition video scoreboard was added to Redman Stadium at Danny Hale field benefitting the football, men’s and women’s track and field teams, and all other users of the facility. Thanks to the generous donation of NFL-standout and alum Jahri Evans ’07, the new Jahri Evans Scoreboard was secured with a major gift and installed in August of 2018.
Highlights
During the 2011-12 season, the Huskies won three PSAC conference championships and competed in seven NCAA championship tournaments during that time. That success helped Bloomsburg win its first Dixon Trophy since the 1996-97 seasons. The Dixon Trophy is awarded to the most successful overall athletic program in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
McFarland, based on feedback from the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), reassigned space in Nelson Field House for the creation of a student-athlete study lounge that was completed for the 2012-13 academic year. This area creates an environment for student-athletes to collaborate on group projects, study in a quiet setting, and to have an area to lounge prior to practices and contests. It houses four computer work stations, a seating area for group projects, and comfortable furniture for meetings.
McFarland initiated the Husky Tailgate Zone, a family-friendly environment, in 2014 based on an identified need to support the institution while celebrating at contests. The Tailgate Zone is the only parking area on campus where fans are permitted to tailgate on football game days. The initiative provides scholarship money opportunities for the 22 Husky Athletic programs.
Athletically, McFarland served as the Chair of the PSAC Athletic Administrators during the 2017-19 academic years and served as a member of Executive Committee in 2020. He was also a participant in the 32-member PSAC Athletic Administrators Committee and served as liaison to the PSAC Men’s Soccer Committee (2011-2019). From 2013 until 2016, he served on the NCAA women’s soccer Regional Advisory Committee (RAC). He was a member of the NCAA National Field Hockey Committee (2016-2021), was a member of the field hockey national ranking committee, and served as the Chair of the National Field Hockey National Committee in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, McFarland began a three-year term as a Board of Directors member for the Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2ADA). In the community, McFarland also has membership in the Bloomsburg Elks and the Sons of the American Legion Post 273.
The Athletic Department announced in 2017 the addition of its 21st sport, women’s volleyball. In the spring of 2017 McFarland coordinated the hiring of the first-ever head coach, Dan Kreiger, and developed the budget and framework for the addition of the sport. The fall of 2018 featured the first season of volleyball, which included a Title Sponsor – Wagner’s Trophies and Engravables – for the first-ever match.
During the summer of 2018, the Nelson Field House pool complex underwent a complete roofing project, which included repairs, relighting, tile replacement, and painting of the pool.
To summarize the 2019-20 academic year, student-athletes completed 4,000 community service hours in a semester-shortened year, and 208 Student-Athletes were named to PSAC Scholar-Athlete List. There were 61 D2 ADA Scholar-Athletes, four Academic All-Americans, eight athletic All-Americans, 22 All-Region / All-District Student-Athletes, 76 All-Conference Recipients, and three PSAC Top 10 Award winners. Sixteen student-athletes earned Athlete of the Week honors in the PSAC and the MAC in 2019-20, along with one PSAC Freshman of the Year and one PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year. Five teams earned Team Academic Awards and we boasted one PSAC coach of the Year and one Coaching Staff of the Year.
In 2019-20 Bloomsburg’s NCAA Division I wrestling program joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) after departing the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL). With the addition of Bloomsburg, Clarion, Edinboro, Lock Haven, Rider, George Mason, and Cleveland State, who all joined the MAC, it made the conference the second largest in NCAA Division I Wrestling with a total of 15 members.
Bloomsburg Athletics announced November 11, 2019 the addition of women's golf as a varsity sport to begin competitive play in the fall of 2021. The addition continues to provide Huskies' student-athletes with more opportunities to compete, and succeed, in 10 men's varsity programs and 12 women's varsity programs at the University. Women's golf is the second female sport to be added at Bloomsburg in the last three years as the announcement of women's volleyball as a varsity sport was made in 2017. Bloomsburg also announced that the Golf Course at Frosty Valley will serve as the host golf course for the Huskies' women's golf program.
In the summer of 2020, the University completed installation of a new turf field at Danny Hale Field at Redman Stadium. The turf field replaces the original field which was installed in 2008. In 2012, the field was dedicated in the name of former head coach Danny Hale, and with the new design, featuring the Roongo dog head, a clean, crisp endzone design, and now formally adorns Coach Hale’s name. Hale began coaching at Bloomsburg in 1993 and holds the school record for most coaching victories.
During the 2021 summer, Nelson Field House and Gymnasium underwent a floor resurfacing in the main gymnasium floor along with entire new lighting through the entire gym, replacing all lights with LED illuminations which meet NCAA hosting specifications and provided resource savings.
With a focus on increasing the retention of student-athletes, the Fall 2020 grades continued an upswing for the men (all team average 3.077) and for the women (all team average 3.413). The combined Fall 2020 athletic team GPA rests at 3.245, an increase from the 2019-20 year by 0.05. A school-record total of 208 Bloomsburg student-athletes were recognized by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) as Scholar-Athletes for the 2019-20 academic year. Bloomsburg's 208 student-athletes easily surpasses the school's previous high of 164 established last academic year and was tied for seventh-highest among the 18 league institutions. In order to earn PSAC Scholar-Athlete recognition, each student-athlete must have maintained a minimum GPA of 3.25 throughout the year. Bloomsburg student-athletes combined to post an overall grade point average (GPA) of 3.57 during the 2020 spring semester with all sports earning a team GPA of at least 3.0. In fact, all teams had team GPAs of 3.19 or higher for the term. A total of 275 student-athletes posted a 3.50 GPA or better during the spring, which included 52 earning a perfect 4.0 GPA. All told, Huskies' student-athletes have a combined cumulative GPA of 3.24, with 17 of the 19 programs maintaining at least a 3.0 overall GPA during their collegiate careers. In 2022-23 Bloomsburg featured a record 164 student-athletes earning D2ADA award honors. Following the 2023-24 season, there were 127 Husky student-athletes earning D2ADA Academic Achievement and 307 named to the PSAC scholar list.
The Athletic Department, under McFarland’s leadership, developed programming to ensure student success that outlines alumni networking and civility and social justice awareness. With student-athlete feedback, the Bloomsburg Athlete-Alumni Network was developed. The goal of the Bloomsburg Athlete-Alumni Network is to create opportunities for alumni to engage with current student-athletes and develop a system of support among current and former Husky student-athletes. A second initiative that was developed, through a discussion with a student-athlete in response to that individual’s athletic experience, is a group focusing on and identifying issues of bullying, racism, LGBTQA, gender, and social issues – “Protect Our Pack” concept was developed in August 2020.
In January 2021, McFarland was selected as one of the two athletic administrators to serve on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Advisory Council (2021-2023). The PSAC Advisory Council consists of twelve members, including two representatives appointed by and from each constituent group recognized by the Board of Directors. Also, among the members of the Advisory Council are two coaches, one sports information director, and one certified athletic trainer. The Advisory Council serves as the liaison between the commissioner and the associate commissioners within the conference and the constituent groups – vice presidents, athletic administrators, sports information directors, athletic trainers, faculty athletic representatives, coaches, and the student-athlete advisory committee. The Advisory Council may pass "consent" recommendations from the constituent groups to the chairperson of the Board of Directors. It may also deem specific recommendations "controversial" and ask for further input from the constituent groups.
Through Integration, which led to Commonwealth University, and as the Director of Athletics at one of the three Northeastern PASSHE institutions, McFarland served as a Working Group member of the Northeastern Integration Athletics team. In representing Bloomsburg Athletics as a Co-Lead on behalf of the Bloomsburg coaches, student-athletes, faculty, staff, and alumni with the NEI Athletics Working Group, the charge of this group was to: Identify and research all elements of each institution’s athletics program that is offered/sponsored on each campus, based on their impact on enrollment-recruiting-retention, diversity, Title IX compliance, academic/athletic success, community/alumni engagement/service, career placement, revenue generation, pride/spirit, and campus identity, brand and traditions. The group was responsible in making recommendations to support the NE Integration efforts which lead to Commonwealth University and each athletic department remaining autonomous and maintaining its identity, mascot, and colors, as approved by the NCAA in April 2022.
Two grants were received in 2023-24, with the NCAA Division II Coaching Enhancement Grant and the USTA Collegiate Community Hu Award. The DII Coaching Enhancement Grant allowed expansion of our track and field coaching staff to support our student-athletes, while the USTA grant supports operating the varsity tennis facility and assisted in expanded community membership usage.
During the 2023-24 season, the Huskies men’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA tournament and won its first-ever match in the post-season. Additionally, there were 307 student-athletes who earned PSAC Scholar-Athlete accolades and 318 BL Scholar-Athletes. The department boasted 28 PSAC and MAC Athletes of the year, with four student-athletes earning Newcomers of the Year (Genna Bush [Field Hockey], Owen Hollobaugh [Men’s Soccer], Kayla Stressman [Women’s Lacrosse], Denis Dementev [Men’s Tennis]). There was one Coach of the Year (Nikki Hartranft, field hockey) and two All-Americans (Bella Culp and Aydan McFarland, field hockey), along with 10 All-Region selections, 46 All-Conference recipients, and 58 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honorees.
In 2024-25, the Huskies saw continued success on the field and in the classroom. The Bloomsburg men’s soccer team captured the 2024 PSAC Championship Title, the first in program history, and hosted the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The field hockey team won its first-round game of the PSAC Tournament and earned a bid to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2011. Kelly Leszcynski capped an incredible sophomore season for the women’s track & field team with a National Championship in the javelin. She is now a two-time All-American and the first National Champion for the women’s track & field program. Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams earned a berth to their NCAA Championship tournaments. The Huskies had six athletic All-Americans (two-time honoree Aydan McFarland [Field Hockey], Kody Besser, Owen Hollobaugh, Brady Rimple, Patrick Walsh [Men’s Soccer], and Kelly Leszcynski [Women’s Track & Field]), 19 All-Region honors, and 52 All-PSAC accolades. Women’s Basketball Coach Alison Tagliaferri and Men’s Soccer Head Coach Mark Bassett were named PSAC East Coaches of the Year for their respective sports. The men’s soccer staff, led by head coach Mark Bassett were honored by the United Soccer Coaches as the Atlantic Region Staff of the Year. Academically, a school-record 313 student-athletes were named PSAC Scholar-Athletes, and 224 student-athletes were honored as BL Scholar-Athletes. Two student-athletes were named to their respective PSAC Top-10 Lists as Brady Rimple (men’s soccer) earned the honor in the Fall and Kelly Leszcynski (women’s track & field) captured the honor in the Spring. Patrick Walsh (men’s soccer), Brady Rimple (men’s soccer), Emma Little (softball), and Kelly Leszcynski (women’s track & field) brought home College Sports Communicators Academic All-America honors to highlight the academic success. Steph Pettit Stadium received important updates ahead of hosting the 2025 Field Hockey National Championship. A brand-new field turf was installed during the summer of 2025, complete windscreen replacement, and new LED lights were installed to illuminate the field during the fall of 2024.
Community Service
With McFarland’s arrival came a focus on the student-athlete, including community engagement and experience. In 2011-12 alone, Husky student-athletes and the athletic department participated in over 2,100 community service hours and events establishing the ‘One Town, One Team’ message. Additionally, McFarland helped spearhead an athletic department recovery effort that featured student-athletes, staff, and other volunteers that featured over 2,500 additional community service hours due to the tragic flood of Bloomsburg and surrounding areas, which included the University closing for an unprecedented 10 days. In 2018-19, the Huskies completed over 7,800 hours of community service – showing the strong connection between the athletic department and the community. Even with the shortened academic year in 2019-20 due to COVID, student-athletes amassed over 4,000 community service hours, which would have been on track to exceed 8,000 hours. In 2023-24, Bloomsburg continued to provide services to the community amassing another 6,343.15 hours of support. In 2024-25, Husky student-athletes volunteered 5,852.5 hours to community service. Community service and engagement remains a focus for the student-athletes through athletics. Since the 2015-16 academic year, including the COVID shortened year of 2019-20, the yearly average number of volunteer work is 6,084.33 hours during the fall, winter, and spring from all teams, the SAAC, and administration.
It has become mandatory for each athletic program, under McFarland’s leadership, to support Bloomsburg’s Community Government Association’s (CGA) The Big Event that provides clean-up efforts throughout the Town of Bloomsburg and within greater Columbia County. Bringing 500-plus workers to multiple sites, yearly, creates long-term relationships and support both ways with many of the ‘clients’ now attending sporting events and cheering on their ‘volunteer workforce’ friends. Bloomsburg athletics continues to be a leader in the PSAC with student-driven community services hours – everything from moving furniture for the elderly to cause-driven collections and community service projects.
Every year since McFarland’s arrival in 2011, Bloomsburg Athletics has hosted in Nelson Field House, in partnership with Exercise Science and our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), an educational and physical clinic. The event features an activities fair, food, and free admission to the basketball games in February open to boys and girls aged K-8 designed to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD). In partnership with Journey Bank (formerly First Columbia Bank & Trust Co.), Bloom has successfully hosted – 2017, 2018, and 2019 – a High School girls’ basketball two-day tournament, which returned in 2022 and still runs annually. This local partnership allows for community engagement and filled Nelson Field House opening the venue and campus to new visitors who may not have visited the campus otherwise.
One of the key NCAA initiatives for programming and education is a partnership for all of NCAA Division II sports with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Bloomsburg Athletics, for the collections raised in 2016-17, raised enough funds to be selected and granted a “Wish Reveal.” The “Reveal” became a reality in the spring of 2018 when a recipient was paired with Bloomsburg athletics. The overall Make-A-Wish donation totals average $2,051.29 per year. Additionally, the Bloomsburg student-athletes continue to achieve raising $10,000 and were awarded a “Wish Reveal” in 2022-23 and another in 2023-24 and 2024-25. The most recent Reveal marks the fifth time, overall, that Bloomsburg has been able to provide this life-changing opportunity since 2011.
National Championships
Under McFarland’s watch, the Department of Athletics has hosted National Championships in Field Hockey (2011, 2015) and Women’s Lacrosse (2017) and was scheduled to host the NCAA Division II Field Hockey National Championship in 2020. The 2020 Field Hockey National Championship, due to COIVD-19, was postponed and Bloomsburg was selected and will host this fall’s 2025 Field Hockey National Championship at the newly remodeled Steph Pettit Stadium.
Also, the University is now web streaming football, men’s and women’s basketball, and the 2018 PSAC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championship. The fall of 2018 included the addition of web streaming for volleyball and selected women’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s soccer games. In the spring of 2021 women’s lacrosse, baseball, and softball games were added to the webstream platform.
Academics/Professional Development
Academically, McFarland serves as a member of the President’s Leadership Council. He also serves the University academic community as a member of the General Education Council (GEC), Curriculum Committee Chair for Student Affairs, and as a Co-Chair for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) Standard I Sub-Working Group. Additionally, he holds membership on the University’s Master Facility Planning Steering Committee, Emergency Management Group, Housing Task Force, Student Affairs Directors Group and Strategic Planning Committee (SPARC), Wellness Committee, Evaluation Committee for Temporary and Grant-funded positions, University Risk Assessment Committee Member as a manager of the Athletics Department, and First and Goal Campaign Committee Member. He also has served as a member of numerous campus faculty and coaching search committees, and is a part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and Student Affairs Leadership Team (SALT). Since 2019, McFarland has served as the Chair of Space and Facilities for Bloom’s campus and reports out to the Planning and Budget Committee regarding space changes. Campus involvement remains important for McFarland with service on the Campus Commencement Committee (2019-present) and the COVID Campus Task Force.
With an eye on professional development, McFarland attended the exclusive Collegiate Athletics Leadership Symposium (CALS) in October 2016. He continues to attend professional and personal educational sessions with a goal of constant improvement. McFarland has served three times as a D2Athletic Directors Association / NCAA Mentor/Mentee Participant (2014-15, 2017-18, 2019-20, and 2021-22), and remains as a program advisor during the 2024-25 academic year. The informative and educational year-long Mentor/Mentee program featured monthly webinars, book club readings and discussions, in-person meetings, hosting sessions on Bloomsburg’s campus, and journaling the interactions with my mentees.
As a co-leader author and as Director of Athletics, Bloomsburg was awarded, in 2017, an NCAA Choices Grant through 2020, focused on alcohol education. Through the Be the Best U CHOICEs program, Bloomsburg aimed to (1) reduce the prevalence of underage drinking at Bloom; (2) reduce the academic ramifications of alcohol use at Bloom; (3) reduce experiences of sexual misconduct, harassment or violence due to alcohol use at Bloom; and (4) establish accurate perceptions regarding alcohol use across the Bloom campus. Bloomsburg strived to meet these objectives by augmenting historically successful programming and developing new, engaging and peer driven programs including (1) health education and promotion for high-risk students, including student-athletes, delivered in a novel approach that is more engaging and relevant to Bloomsburg students; (2) students engagement activities that seek to involve students in a more relevant and interactive style of learning; (3) student-driven/peer-led programming that capitalizes on the relevancy of current student needs and perceptions; and, (4) a shift in campus culture that challenges and corrects misperceptions of the effects of alcohol use on student academic, athletic, social, and emotional performance and students’ future success, retention, and positive development.
McFarland has been published nine (9) times in print and online through Coach & AD Magazine with articles focused on adding a sport, COVID, and the 40-year plan for Bloomsburg Athletics, in PASSHE Connectivity on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, with Athletics Administration published by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and Soccer Journal, from the former National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA – now United Soccer Coaches).
McFarland continues to present and moderate educational sessions at the NCAA convention and the NACDA Convention, and has co-presented to the Central Association of College and University Business Officers (CACUBO) on Fiscal resiliency: Evaluating intercollegiate athletic programs, along with the PASSHE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summer on 12 Essential Factors Needed to Create an Effective Athletic Department: Social Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan in 2021.
Prior to Bloomsburg
McFarland came to Bloomsburg after six years as Bucknell University's associate athletic director for facilities and event operations. Prior to Bucknell, he was the Patriot League's associate executive director for five years.
At Bucknell, McFarland served as the day-to-day supervisor of athletic facilities and coordinator of all facility scheduling. He monitored marketing and promotional activities for all 27 Bison varsity sports and handled scheduling, maintenance, preparation and event management issues for all activities. He also managed Bucknell's facilities for all athletic events, university functions and outside special events; was the liaison with the campus facilities division and other university offices; and directed the official licensing of Bucknell athletics merchandise.
McFarland had varied duties with the Patriot League, as well, including oversight for each of the 23 league-sponsored championships. He managed the conference's basketball television package, including the scheduling and production of games and oversaw the league's marketing and sponsorship strategy while supervising the league's media relations team. He was the chief liaison with several Patriot League committees, including facilities and operations, sports information, sports medicine, marketing, ticketing and television.
Before joining the Patriot League staff, McFarland spent five and a half years at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA – now United Soccer Coaches) in Mission, Kan., first as the communications director and later as the assistant executive director. He is a 1991 graduate of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in corporate communication and was an all-conference soccer player. He received a Master of Science degree in sport administration from Western Illinois University in 1994. McFarland completed his Doctorate degree in educational administration with an emphasis in athletic administration from Northcentral University in January 2016.
Personal
McFarland, a native of Fenton, Mo., and his wife, Cari, who was born and raised in Bloomsburg, Pa., are the parents of two daughters, Raely (a Marketing graduate from Bloomsburg) and Aydan (a Professional Sales and Marketing graduate with a minor in Communication Studies and former two-time All-American Field Hockey student-athlete at Bloomsburg).
8/5/2025
