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UNT reducing athletic department staff to help free up funds to pay athletes

The North Texas athletic department is reducing its staff as revenue sharing arrives in college athletics.
DRC file photo
The North Texas athletic department is reducing its staff as revenue sharing arrives in college athletics.

North Texas is restructuring its athletic department staff in the wake of the House v. NCAA case settlement.

Athletic director Jared Mosley has spoken extensively over the last few months about how UNT is adjusting to the new landscape in college athletics that has schools paying players directly for the first time through revenue sharing as well as name, image and likeness opportunities.

Mosley acknowledged Wednesday that those adjustments include layoffs.

"As we've planned and prepared for the changes posed by the NCAA House Settlement, a reorganization and restructuring of various units across our department was necessary to ensure long-term sustainability and advancement of Mean Green Athletics," Mosley said in a statement provided to the Denton Record-Chronicle on Wednesday. "This strategic reorganization did include both the elimination of positions as well as a decision to not replace several vacant positions across the department. We are beyond grateful to the impacted individuals for their hard work, dedication, and service to UNT Athletics."

Garrett Loges, who served as UNT's assistant director of football creative, posted on his X account that his position has been eliminated due to budget cuts. Loges oversaw the production of video content for social media and managed interns.

Taylor Bryan, UNT's senior associate athletic director for brand advancement, recently left the school to join the staff at Auburn. UNT is not expected to bring in a new employee to fill that role.

Several other schools are also planning to reduce athletic department staff, including Texas A&M.

UNT has added to its athletic department personnel in recent years in an effort to better position the school at a time of change in college athletics.

The school reported $6.8 million in administrative and support staff compensation in its financial report to the NCAA for the 2019 fiscal year. That figure jumped to $9.6 million in UNT's report for 2024.

Schools across the country are looking to cut costs so that they can direct more of their resources to cover the cost of sharing revenue with athletes.

The American Athletic Conference earlier this year set a minimum of $10 million for its schools to share with their athletes over a three-year span once revenue sharing began. That point arrived on July 1.

Mosley said this spring that UNT will direct any new funds it generates toward revenue sharing.

UNT officials have expressed confidence in the school's ability to reach that $10 million threshold and then exceed it in the revenue-sharing era.

"We've always got our eyes on how we can continue to improve and structure ourselves for success," Connor Smith, UNT's associate vice president and chief operating officer for athletics, said this summer. "From a structure standpoint, we feel we've put the necessary pieces in place to set ourselves up for success in this new era in the American Athletic Conference."

That plan continued to take shape in the last few days as UNT restructured its athletic department staff.

Copyright 2025 KERA

Brett Vito | Denton Record-Chronicle