Hockey
Matt Maher
- Title:
- Sport Administrator
- Email:
- matthewmaher@omavs.com
| Experience |
- Senior Deputy Athletic Director, Omaha (NCAA Division I - Summit League) 2025-Present
- Executive Associate Athletic Director, Internal Affairs, Omaha – 2022-25
- Senior Associate Athletic Director, Administration, South Dakota State (NCAA Division I – Summit League) – 2016-22
- Associate Director, NCAA – 2012-16
- Assistant Director, NCAA – 2009-12
- Post-Graduate Intern, NCAA – 2008-09
- Compliance, Academics and Life Skills Coordinator, Omaha – 2007-08
- Compliance Intern, Nebraska (NCAA Division I – Big Ten) – 2006-07
- Compliance and Marketing Extern, Creighton (NCAA Division I – Missouri Valley) – 2006
- Marketing Intern – Nebraska, 2004-05
| Personal |
- Omaha native
- Bachelor of Science, Finance – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Juris Doctor (Concentration and Certification: Intercollegiate Sports Law) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law
- Maher, his wife Aimee and their three children (Sophia, Dean and Olivia) reside in Elkhorn, Neb.
| At Omaha |
- Advises the Vice Chancellor / Director of Athletics on short and long-term strategic planning
- Implements, oversees and enhances all internal controls and departmental policies and procedures
- Serves an integral role in support of Omaha’s holistic student-athlete support including establishing a comprehensive partnership with OrthoNebraska; integrating a nutritional training table program for all female student-athletes; created a partnership with Opendorse and campus specific to a micro-credentialing program that is sold nationwide and formulated a comprehensive Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) program with Opendorse and the Omaha Bull Market Collective
- Oversees the athletic business, human resources, equipment/apparel and facilities and operations units
- Holds oversight over Omaha’s sport administrators and directly serves as the sport administrator for men’s basketball, men’s ice hockey and women’s volleyball
- Since Maher’s arrival, Omaha has advanced to eight NCAA tournaments, won 10 conference titles and participated in more than a dozen conference tournament finals
- Oversees 50 full-time staff and more than 250 part-time employees
- Serves as athletic liaison with the office of general counsel, office of business and finance, office of human resources and the office of risk management
- Negotiated numerous contracts on behalf of Omaha Athletics which have resulted in millions of dollars in revenue and savings for the institution
- Contracts include: Coca-Cola; adidas; BSN SPORTS; CCM Hockey; Ticketmaster; Daktronics and SAVOR
- Oversee all athletic facilities (Baxter Arena, Maverick Park, Caniglia Field and Sapp Fieldhouse)
- Manages the maintenance and repair of all facilities, including short and long-term capital planning
- Oversaw execution of several projects, including the Caniglia Field enhancements and Maverick Hospitality Room at Baxter Arena
| South Dakota State Highlights |
- Facilitated the development of South Dakota State University’s 2023 Athletics Strategic Plan
- Oversaw the athletic business, sports medicine and strength and conditioning offices
- Supervised men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, wrestling and men’s and women’s tennis
- Men’s basketball won either the Summit League regular season and/or tournament title each year in Maher’s tenure
- Wrestling is an associate member of the Big 12 Conference
- Negotiated several contracts for SDSU ranging from transportation (Shorts Travel and Windstar) to apparel (Under Armour) to ticketing (Paciolan)
- Created and implemented COVID-19 testing protocols for the athletic department and 19 sport programs. South Dakota State teams did not have a single contest cancelled during 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years based on established testing and contact tracing protocols
- Hired SDSU’s first-ever Mental Performance Coach to assist student-athletes in managing stress and anxiety related to practice and competition
- Led head coaching searches for men’s basketball, wrestling and women’s volleyball
- Served an integral role in all facility project discussions based on oversight and management of the athletics department budget and strategic plan
| NCAA Highlights |
- Managed approximately 1,000 student-athlete reinstatement cases
- Led the Division I Council Financial Aid Working Group in the adoption of Cost of Attendance legislation
- Served as a liaison with other Division I Council initiatives: Division I Sport Organizational Structure Working Group (commissioned by the Division I Board of Directors); Amateurism Ad Hoc Working Group (established by the Division I Council) and Student-Athlete Experience Committee (established by the Division I Council)
- Served as the secondary liaison to NCAA Division I Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement
- Served as the primary liaison to NCAA Enforcement and Eligibility Center staffs
- Collaborated with Division I Directors of Athletics, Conference Commissioners and Chief Financial Officers in implementation of the Fiscal Management unit within the NCAA Institutional Performance Program
- Provided guidance and support as liaison to the NCAA Baseball, Ice Hockey, and Soccer Coaches Associations
- Presented at CABMA meetings, in association with NACDA, regarding capabilities of the Fiscal Management unit in the Institutional Performance Program: June 2012, 2013, 2015
- Prepared Division I institutions for NCAA Committee on Academic Performance (CAP) hearings
| Featured Presentations and Committees |
- Served as the Resource Development Committee Chair for the Boys & Girls Club of Brookings, S.D., raising over $1 million annually.
- Served on the NCAA Division I Wrestling Academic Enhancement Working Group during 2019-20 academic year
- Served as an advisory board member of the inaugural Master of Arts in Business with a Specialization in Intercollegiate Athletics Administration (MAIAA) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
You’ve Got Messages: Modern Technology Recruiting Through Text-Messaging and the Intrusiveness of Facebook
Published article by the Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law, Michigan State University College of Law
Graduate-Transfer Rule: A Reward for the Student-Athlete Who Excels in the Classroom or the Creation of Intercollegiate Free Agency?
Wednesday, August 26
Wednesday, August 26
Friday, August 21
Tuesday, April 21
