DETROIT — Detroit Mercy athletic director Robert Vowels is retiring at the end of the 2026-27 athletic calendar, the university announced Wednesday morning.
Vowels has been at Detroit Mercy for 13 years, the lonest-tenured current Division I athletic director in the state and in the Horizon League. A national search for his replacement is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
“I want to thank Robert for his leadership, the many ways he has shaped our program and supported our student-athletes over the past 13 years,” Detroit Mercy president Donald Taylor said in a statement. “We look forward to honoring him throughout this academic year and working together on the next chapter of UDM athletics.”
Said Vowels, also in a statement: “I appreciate the opportunity to lead this historic program. College athletics has experienced many changes over the past decade, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. I am grateful for the support of the administrators, alumni, staff and students with whom I have worked during my time in Detroit.”
Vowels, 67, was named athletic director in May 2013, and while the university’s flagship program, men’s basketball, didn’t make the NCAA Tournament during his tenure — he hired three different coaches, including current head coach Mark Montgomery — there were successes on other fronts, including facility upgrades to historic Calihan Hall and the athletic programs’ training facilities.
Still, success at the Detroit Mercy level (without a football program) is judged on men’s basketball, and that’s been a rocky road, including late. The program is on NCAA probation and ineligible for postseason play in 2027 because of NCAA violations over years of academic issues.
The NCAA ruling, particularly crushing given how close Detroit Mercy came to the NCAA Tournament in 2026 (falling to Wright State, 66-63, in the Horizon League title game) came down this past spring, making Detroit Mercy men’s basketball the only Division I program ever to be sanctioned more than once for NCAA APR violations.
The latest sanctions led the Titan Club, Detroit Mercys chief booster wing, to meet with Vowels in May, and in June, the Titan Club took the unusual step of taking a no-confidence vote on Vowels. The resolution passed, even though it had no official bearing on his job status.
“The Titan Athletic Club is UDM’s official booster organization for University athletics,” a university spokesperson said in a statement to The News in late June. “We appreciate the club and all they do to support our student athletes. However, the club and its members do not play a role in university personnel matters.”
Before arriving at Detroit Mercy, Vowels worked for the NCAA, as vice president of membership and student-athlete affairs. Before that, he had stints as a conference commissioner at the Division I and II levels, with the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, respectively. He also has been an associate commissioner with the Big Ten and assistant athletic director for compliance at Vanderbilt.
Detroit Mercy said CSA Search & Consulting, which assisted in the hiring of Montgomery as men’s basketball coach, will oversee the search for Vowels’ replacement. Former Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage will lead the search.
Detroit Mercy is one of three Division I schools in Michigan looking for an athletic director. Warde Manuel is leaving Michigan at the end of the year, and Western Michigan is looking to replace Dan Bartholomae, who was hired as athletic director at Michigan State.
tpaul@detroitnews.co
@tonypaul1984
