Inside Athletics

A proven administrator with 20 years of diverse experience in intercollegiate athletics as a student-athlete, graduate assistant, coach, and administrator, Jeff Mitchell is in his 12th year at Santa Clara and currently serves as Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations.  Mitchell served as the University’s acting Executive Director of Athletics from April to August of 2015.

In his current role, Mitchell is a chief advisor to Athletic Director Renee Baumgartner and manages the day-to-day operations of the department with a directed focus on external operations and revenue generation while providing guidance and support to the department’s administrative and coaching staffs.  Mitchell is the department’s chief financial officer, chief revenue officer, and primary legal liaison. In addition, he serves as the sport administrator for the Broncos’ men’s basketball and baseball programs. Mitchell is a member of the West Coast Conference basketball cabinet and recently completed a three-year term (2015-2017) on the NCAA Division I Baseball Regional Advisory Committee for the West Region. 

Mitchell has played an integral role in the department's growth over the last decade by helping build a strong infrastructure to support student-athlete success both academically and athletically. He was named Senior Associate Athletic Director in December of 2014 and has since led the department to three consecutive years of record financial growth with year-over-year increases in operating budgets and in revenue generation. 

Mitchell has tripled the size of the department’s external operations staff and has negotiated deals to partner with The Aspire Group to grow the department’s ticketing efforts and with Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment to develop a comprehensive corporate sponsorship program.  Mitchell also finalized the department’s current Nike apparel agreement, which supplies all Bronco athletics programs with Nike uniforms and practice gear.

Under Mitchell’s guidance, the external operations staff has launched creative new campaigns to promote Santa Clara athletics through various social media platforms.  His team has introduced a student fan rewards app produced by SuperFanU, has re-organized the Ruff Riders student organization, and has increased community engagement through the offering of popular fan-experience packages to give fans special moments of engagement with their favorite student-athletes and coaches. His team has also generated improved creative content leading to award-winning pre-game introduction videos and has facilitated a revamped SantaClaraBroncos.com website, which consistently offers fresh stories about the accomplishments of Santa Clara student-athletes. 

As an Associate Athletic Director from 2011-2014, Mitchell supervised the athletic department’s compliance, academic support, and student services staff.  During the 2010-2011 academic year, Mitchell helped guide the University through a successful NCAA re-certification process. 

Mitchell began his career at Santa Clara as a volunteer in May of 2006 and then was hired as the Director of Compliance in October of 2006.  He was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance in 2008.

In keeping with the educational mission of the University, Mitchell developed a successful internship program in partnership with the Santa Clara Law School for University law students to earn class credit by working in a legal-related field.  In the program’s nine year existence, Mitchell has helped ten interns upon graduation earn positions in athletics administration.

A native Mississippian, Mitchell is a 2001 graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was a four-year member of the varsity baseball team and a four year member of the athletic department’s sports information staff. After graduation, Mitchell was hired as the Director of Sports Information at Millsaps and served as an assistant coach for the 2003 Millsaps baseball team, which advanced to the NCAA Division III South Regional Tournament. Mitchell also earned an MBA from the Millsaps College Else School of Management in May of 2003.

Mitchell's career in athletic administration was nurtured while he was in law school at the University of Mississippi, from which he earned a Juris Doctorate in December of 2005. While at Ole Miss, Mitchell served as a graduate assistant in the external relations unit and primarily worked with the Ole Miss football and men’s basketball programs.

Mitchell is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Mitchell has been a guest lecturer on the NCAA and intercollegiate athletics for the Sports Law class at the Santa Clara School of Law and has been a panelist at multiple Sports Law forums. On campus, he regularly serves as a master of ceremonies for University events and has served as a member of the University Staff Affairs Committee.  During the 2016-2017 academic year, Mitchell served as the chairman of the Institutional Advancement and Community Engagement Working Group for Santa Clara University's Sustaining Excellence Project.  Mitchell has also co-authored a text book entitled Sports Ethics and Leadership, which was published in July of 2017.

As an accomplished public address announcer for 20 years, Mitchell has announced Division I baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and volleyball in the SEC, PAC-12, and/or WCC, Division III football and basketball in the SCAC, and Division III NCAA Tournament basketball.  He currently announces Santa Clara's men's basketball games.

Mitchell resides in Campbell, California, with his wife, April.  They have one daughter, Harper Wynne, age 8, and one son, Carson James, age 4.