Lamar University Athletics

Jeff O'Malley was named Lamar University Director of Athletics in June 2022 and took on the added title of Vice President prior to the start of the 2024-25 academic year. O'Malley makes his way to the Golden Triangle after spending 20 years at Marshall University. During his time with the Thundering Herd, O'Malley served as the Associate Director of Athletics/Chief of Staff and was the liaison to the University's General Counsel. He oversaw many facets of Marshall's athletics program, including men's basketball, men's soccer, men's golf and baseball, as well as the department's academics and compliance offices.

O'Malley's impact on athletics has been immediate and transformational. Coming off a 2022-23 season that saw the Red and White win the SLC Women's All-Sports Trophy for the first time in program history, LU followed that up by raising the bar in 2023-24. The Cardinals won the 2023-24 SLC Commissioner's Cup - another program first - to go along with the men's all-sports trophy. The 2023-24 season was highlighted by four conference regular-season titles (women's cross country, soccer, women's basketball and baseball), to go along with improved finishes from several sports including football who recorded the nation's fourth-largest single-season turnaround at the NCAA FCS level under first-year head coach Pete Rossomando. 

Heading into the the 2022-23 season, Lamar had never won a Southland Women's All-Sports Trophy or a Commissioners Cup, just three years later the Cardinals have won five of the nine trophies handed out by the league as Big Red repeated as Commissioner's Cup and Men's All-Sports Champions. The 2024-25 season saw women's cross country repeat as SLC Champions in addition to historic seasons from football and men's basketball. On the hardwood, the Red and White advanced to the conference championship game for the first time since 2012 while the football team spent four weeks in the STATS Perform FCS Top 25 poll - a first in program history - and LU finished the year with a second-straight winning season. Over the course of the past two seasons LU has had four teams ranked in the top 25 polls (soccer, women's basketball in the mid-major poll, baseball and football).

After winning just five games combined in three seasons on the gridiron, the Cardinals have recorded consecutive winnings seasons for the first time since 1966 and 1967, a mark which also includes the first back-to-back winning seasons in conference play since 1971 and 1972.

During spring 2024, LU baseball reasserted itself as a dominant figure in the Southland, while also stealing the national spotlight. Under the direction of the conference coach of the year Will Davis, Lamar posted a 44-win season (tying for 12th nationally in wins), won its first conference title since 2004, jumped into the national rankings following a nation's-best 13-game win streak and sweeping No. 25 Oklahoma in Norman before cruising to the league's No. 1 overall seed. 

Baseball followed a similar path to that of soccer and women's basketball. The soccer team repeated its conference regular-season and tournament titles to return to the NCAA Championships, while women's basketball posted a 24-win campaign, including a 17-1 conference mark, to win a regular-season title and return to the SLC Championship game. Lamar put an exclamation on the 2023-24 season by sending two athletes to the U.S. Olympic Trials in track and field. Kenson Tate represented Lamar in the long jump while Chloe Rodriguez (400-meter hurdles) became the first female in school history to represent LU at the trials. 

Over the course of his first two seasons in Beaumont, O'Malley played an integral role in Lamar's successful transition back into the Southland Conference where Lamar has won six conference team titles (two in soccer, women's cross country, women's basketball, women's indoor track and field and baseball). Prior to O'Malley's arrival, the Cardinals had won just one conference title in the previous two seasons combined.

Facilities have also seen an upgrade during O'Malley's arrival. A new videoboard was installed at Provost Umphrey Stadium while the Neches Federal Credit Union Arena got a new videoboard and new lights. A new sound system was installed at Vincent-Beck Stadium to go along with a new videoboard while the weight rooms in both Dauphin Athletics Complex and Neches Arena were both renovated. In March 2025, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Teri and Glen Morgan Baseball Complex - a state-of-the-art 8,500-square faacility that will consist of a new locker room, coaches' offices, training room, film room, lounge and equipment room.
 
Before arriving at Lamar, O'Malley took on the title of Interim AD in July 2021 and held the position for eight months, while also being tabbed as the NCAA's Secretary-Rules Editor for Men's Basketball. That came on the heels of Marshall's men's soccer team (for which he served as sports administrator) winning the 2020 College Cup - the first team national title in Conference USA history.

During his tenure as Interim AD, O'Malley successfully navigated conference realignment and negotiated Marshall's move to the Sun Belt Conference, in addition to leading the department through the challenges of COVID-19 and a transition in university leadership.

The men’s basketball and men’s soccer programs reached the NCAA tournament, the former of which snapped a three-decade NCAA tournament drought, and the latter of which made the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. In 2017-18, the men’s basketball program won the Conference USA championship and upset No. 4 seed Wichita State in the first round of the NCAA tournament to capture the program’s first NCAA win. In 2019-20, the men’s soccer program captured a double championship – regular season and postseason tournament – defeating WVU in the NCAA tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16. Marshall finished that season ranked No. 11 nationally.

O’Malley assisted former Athletics Director Mike Hamrick in the planning and launch of the department's capital campaign, which was a $30 million initiative that was used to construct an indoor practice facility, a soccer complex, a Hall of Fame and an academic support/sports medicine translational research center. O'Malley has also been a member of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee and served on the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee.

At Marshall, he had direct contribution to the planning of the department's $30 million budget and a shift in conference affiliation. He also played major roles in personnel issues such as the high-profile hires of football and men's basketball coaches and the negotiation of media and marketing rights with IMG. During his tenure, Marshall's budget has nearly tripled and he has overseen the department's development efforts, raising $1.5 million for student-athlete scholarships and $500,000 for sport-specific purposes.

O'Malley has also had a hand in the improvement of Marshall's athletic facilities, which has included the construction of a 3,000-square foot weight room, the installation of FieldTurf at Joan C. Edwards Stadium, baseball field make over and the locker room renovations for football, basketball and volleyball among others. He was also involved with the naming and renovation of the Edwards Stadium press box and improvements to the Thundering Herd's basketball home, the Cam Henderson Center.

O'Malley came to Marshall after serving as Associate AD for Compliance and Regulatory Affairs for six years at the University of Massachusetts. His duties at Massachusetts ranged from overseeing all compliance related issues, to serving as the department's liaison to the University General Counsel on all legal issues, to overseeing the sport of men's ice hockey, which included a budget in excess of $1 million.

A 1990 graduate of Miami (Ohio) with a degree in Accounting, O'Malley received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Dayton in 1994 and he is a member of the Ohio Bar.

In addition to his time at Massachusetts, O'Malley also served as Compliance Coordinator at Dayton from 1994-96. He served on the board of directors of the Marshall University Child Development Academy and is a member of the Southeastern Babe Ruth Board of Directors. He also served two terms on the board of directors of the United Way of the River Cities.

Outside of his interests within the athletic department, O'Malley worked as a college basketball official for 24 years and was a member of the National Association of Sports Officials.

A Union, N.J. native, O'Malley and his wife Julie have a son, Austin, and a daughter, Mary Margaret.