Jared Benko, who has nearly two decades of experience in collegiate athletic administration, including serving as director of athletics at Georgia Southern University since April 2020, was named executive deputy athletic director at Auburn in November 2024.
As the landscape of college athletics shifts, Benko’s role will include strategic planning and implementation of a structure to ensure Auburn can continue to compete at the highest level. Benko also oversees business operations, contracts, personnel, and funding mechanisms for capital projects.
Prior to joining Georgia Southern in April 2020, Benko spent more than a decade of progressive leadership experience in the Southeastern Conference with stops at Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi State.
Benko served as assistant athletic director for finance at Auburn and also spent three years at Georgia as assistant director of business operations and four years in business operations at Arkansas, including serving as the director of business operations from 2012 to 2015.
Under Benko’s leadership, Georgia Southern Athletics set four consecutive fundraising records from 2020-2024, amassing over $40.95 million in donations, including 216 major gifts. The $12.99 million raised in FY24 alone represents a 185 percent increase over the previous school record before FY21. He also secured the largest gifts in the history of Georgia Southern Athletics on three separate occasions and oversaw over $100 million in capital projects.
Benko’s impact extended beyond fundraising and facilities. He led the creation and implementation of a five-year strategic plan (2021-26) for Georgia Southern Athletics, and during his tenure, the department achieved its first NCAA Baseball Regional host bid in 2022. He also served as chair of the Sun Belt Conference Athletic Directors Committee from 2022-2024.
Benko made improvements to the student-athlete experience, implementing the APEX Program, the Georgia Southern Athletics Leadership Institute, multiple nutrition fueling stations and a Women's Leaders program to prepare student-athletes for life after sport.
At MSU, Benko assisted Cohen with strategic planning, personnel decisions, and public relations initiatives while also serving as the CFO and supervised the day-to-day operations of the football program. With the football program, he was responsible for scheduling, game day execution, supervision of coaches, strategic planning and social media engagement. Benko served on a three-person search committee for the hiring of Mike Leach and administered day-to-day operations for 16 varsity Bulldog sports.
A noted fundraiser with a strong background in revenue generation, Benko secured gifts of $1 million and $500,000 for indoor tennis facility and finalized a five-year, $28.8 million contract extension with adidas. He also created a financing plan and worked closely with the school’s development staff to strategize fundraising $20 million for a $68 million baseball stadium project and had oversight of a combined $105 million operating budget for the Athletic Department and the Bulldog Club.
Benko arrived in Starkville after serving as the assistant athletic director for finance at Auburn, where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business office for two years (2015-16). While at Auburn, Benko helped secure a $121 million multi-media rights deal with FOX Sports. He was tabbed the 2015 College Athletic Business Management Association’s Rookie of the Year for his efforts within the organization.
Benko spent four years in business operations at Arkansas, including serving as the director of business operations from 2012 to 2015. He was promoted to that role after 16 months as the department’s business manager, which he was hired as in 2011.
Before his time at Arkansas, Benko served as the assistant director of business operations at his alma mater of Georgia from 2008 to 2011. He assisted in all financial management functions and was responsible for reviewing and processing all invoices for the University of Georgia Athletic Association.
Benko, from Watkinsville, Georgia, earned a bachelor of science in sports studies from Georgia in 2005 and then a master of public administration in Athens in 2007. He got his start in the athletic business field as an intern at Georgia from 2007 to 2008.
He also spent seven years in sports communications at Georgia, including five years as a student and two years as a graduate assistant, while assisting with the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Braves.
Benko and his wife, Sarah, have two sons, Hudson and Cooper.