University of Minnesota Athletics
Staff Directory
Mark Coyle
- Title:
- Thomas O. Moe Director of Athletics
- Email:
Updated June 29, 2026
Mark Coyle serves as the Thomas O. Moe Director of Athletics at the University of Minnesota. He was named to this position in May 2016. A former athletic administrator at Minnesota, he returned to Gopher Athletics after serving as athletics director at Syracuse University and Boise State University and as deputy athletics director at the University of Kentucky.
At Minnesota, Coyle oversees an athletic department that sponsors 22 varsity sports, supports more than 600 student-athletes and employs more than 260 staff members. Under his direction, the Golden Gophers have excelled in the classroom, in competition and across the collegiate community. He guides an athletic department that generates $473.7 million annually in economic impact in Minnesota and draws more than 1.3 million people annually to a Gopher athletic facility.
In competition, Minnesota finished 32nd out of 301 universities in the 2025-26 Learfield Directors’ Cup race, which measures broad-based success across all programs. That puts Minnesota in the top 10.6 percent of all Division I athletics departments in the country. Since Coyle's arrival, Minnesota has won 26 conference championships (18 regular-season and eight tournament) and 22 individual NCAA national championships (four in 2025-26). Those titles have come from 11 different programs, from baseball and volleyball, to hockey and soccer.
In the classroom, Minnesota has produced 93 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans, 313 CSC Academic All-District selections and posted a school-record cumulative GPA of 3.48 in spring 2026 under Coyle. Minnesota had 360 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and 126 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars in 2025-26, and in the most recent APR scores, seven programs had a perfect 1,000 multi-year score, while 17 programs recorded perfect single-year APR scores.
In the most recently released data (November 2025), Minnesota had a 93 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and has now recorded the eight highest GSR statistics in school history during the last eight years with a school-record 96 percent mark in 2021, 95 percent in 2023 and 2024, 94 percent in 2022, 2020 and 2019, and a 93 percent rate in 2018 and 2025.
Under Coyle's leadership, Minnesota has achieved record fundraising while significantly expanding corporate partnerships. The department secured naming rights for the home of Gopher men's hockey (3M Arena at Mariucci) and Gopher basketball (The Barn by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota), while also adding competition-surface branding at basketball (Cambria), football (Huntington Bank) and men's hockey (3M) venues.
Minnesota opened the world-class Athletes Village in January 2018 that directly benefits every student-athlete on campus. The all-inclusive facility provides ample space for student-athletes to study, train and eat. In the last several years, Minnesota has also opened new facilities for gymnastics, golf and wrestling and constructed a new outdoor track stadium.
Minnesota continues to prioritize the mental health and well-being of its student-athletes under the direction of Coyle. The department has expanded its mental health resources and nearly 60% of Gopher student-athletes have used these services.
Coyle was a member of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee from 2021-26 and is a former member of the Rose Bowl Management Committee.
While at Syracuse, Coyle guided the Orange during a year (2015-16) in which two of its programs won national titles and three, including both men's and women's basketball, competed in Final Fours. The Orange also won five Atlantic Coast Conference titles under Coyle's watch.
During Coyle's tenure at Boise State, Bronco teams posted the highest grade-point average in school history and 18 teams setting program GPA records. Boise State also won 12 conference championships in six different sports during Coyle's leadership. In the 2014-15 academic year, Boise State was the only Football Bowl Subdivision school in the country to win conference titles in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.
Prior to joining Boise State, Coyle served in several athletics roles at the University of Kentucky, eventually rising to the title of Deputy Director of Athletics. At Kentucky, Coyle led a team that raised more than $140 million in annual donations and capital pledges, while also serving as a sport administrator for multiple teams. He was also the sport administrator for the men's basketball program, which reached the NCAA Final Four in 2011.
During his first tenure at Minnesota, from 2001 to 2005, Coyle served as Associate Athletic Director for External Relations, a role in which he was responsible for managing the marketing and sales unit, athletic communications, the ticket office and licensing.
A former football student-athlete, Coyle graduated from Drake University with his bachelor’s degree in English in 1991. He earned his master's degree in teaching from Drake in 1992 and a master's degree in sports administration from Florida State University in 1993.
Coyle and his wife Krystan, a physical therapist, have three adult children, daughter Grace and sons Nicholas and Benjamin.
Mark Coyle serves as the Thomas O. Moe Director of Athletics at the University of Minnesota. He was named to this position in May 2016. A former athletic administrator at Minnesota, he returned to Gopher Athletics after serving as athletics director at Syracuse University and Boise State University and as deputy athletics director at the University of Kentucky.
At Minnesota, Coyle oversees an athletic department that sponsors 22 varsity sports, supports more than 600 student-athletes and employs more than 260 staff members. Under his direction, the Golden Gophers have excelled in the classroom, in competition and across the collegiate community. He guides an athletic department that generates $473.7 million annually in economic impact in Minnesota and draws more than 1.3 million people annually to a Gopher athletic facility.
In competition, Minnesota finished 32nd out of 301 universities in the 2025-26 Learfield Directors’ Cup race, which measures broad-based success across all programs. That puts Minnesota in the top 10.6 percent of all Division I athletics departments in the country. Since Coyle's arrival, Minnesota has won 26 conference championships (18 regular-season and eight tournament) and 22 individual NCAA national championships (four in 2025-26). Those titles have come from 11 different programs, from baseball and volleyball, to hockey and soccer.
In the classroom, Minnesota has produced 93 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-Americans, 313 CSC Academic All-District selections and posted a school-record cumulative GPA of 3.48 in spring 2026 under Coyle. Minnesota had 360 Academic All-Big Ten honorees and 126 Big Ten Distinguished Scholars in 2025-26, and in the most recent APR scores, seven programs had a perfect 1,000 multi-year score, while 17 programs recorded perfect single-year APR scores.
In the most recently released data (November 2025), Minnesota had a 93 percent Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and has now recorded the eight highest GSR statistics in school history during the last eight years with a school-record 96 percent mark in 2021, 95 percent in 2023 and 2024, 94 percent in 2022, 2020 and 2019, and a 93 percent rate in 2018 and 2025.
Under Coyle's leadership, Minnesota has achieved record fundraising while significantly expanding corporate partnerships. The department secured naming rights for the home of Gopher men's hockey (3M Arena at Mariucci) and Gopher basketball (The Barn by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota), while also adding competition-surface branding at basketball (Cambria), football (Huntington Bank) and men's hockey (3M) venues.
Minnesota opened the world-class Athletes Village in January 2018 that directly benefits every student-athlete on campus. The all-inclusive facility provides ample space for student-athletes to study, train and eat. In the last several years, Minnesota has also opened new facilities for gymnastics, golf and wrestling and constructed a new outdoor track stadium.
Minnesota continues to prioritize the mental health and well-being of its student-athletes under the direction of Coyle. The department has expanded its mental health resources and nearly 60% of Gopher student-athletes have used these services.
Coyle was a member of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee from 2021-26 and is a former member of the Rose Bowl Management Committee.
While at Syracuse, Coyle guided the Orange during a year (2015-16) in which two of its programs won national titles and three, including both men's and women's basketball, competed in Final Fours. The Orange also won five Atlantic Coast Conference titles under Coyle's watch.
During Coyle's tenure at Boise State, Bronco teams posted the highest grade-point average in school history and 18 teams setting program GPA records. Boise State also won 12 conference championships in six different sports during Coyle's leadership. In the 2014-15 academic year, Boise State was the only Football Bowl Subdivision school in the country to win conference titles in football, men's basketball and women's basketball.
Prior to joining Boise State, Coyle served in several athletics roles at the University of Kentucky, eventually rising to the title of Deputy Director of Athletics. At Kentucky, Coyle led a team that raised more than $140 million in annual donations and capital pledges, while also serving as a sport administrator for multiple teams. He was also the sport administrator for the men's basketball program, which reached the NCAA Final Four in 2011.
During his first tenure at Minnesota, from 2001 to 2005, Coyle served as Associate Athletic Director for External Relations, a role in which he was responsible for managing the marketing and sales unit, athletic communications, the ticket office and licensing.
A former football student-athlete, Coyle graduated from Drake University with his bachelor’s degree in English in 1991. He earned his master's degree in teaching from Drake in 1992 and a master's degree in sports administration from Florida State University in 1993.
Coyle and his wife Krystan, a physical therapist, have three adult children, daughter Grace and sons Nicholas and Benjamin.
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