Outgoing AD will finish out fiscal year, no timetable offered on replacement 

Bobby Staub has resigned after nearly nine years as ULM’s athletic director.

The resignation goes into effect on July 1 at the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Staub told The News-Star on Tuesday afternoon that ULM President Nick Bruno informed him he has “decided to go in a different direction” with the athletic department.

Staub has been working without a contract since September 2011 when his previous deal expired. The athletic director serves in the president’s administrative council as an at-will employee.

In a statement released by the university, Bruno thanked Staub “for his nine years of service to ULM.”

Staub would not comment further on his resignation, but released a statement through ULM sports information thanking the “Warhawk family” and expressing his gratitude to the ULM coaches, staff and student athletes.

Bruno has yet to name an interim athletic director and no timetable has been offered on the process of hiring a replacement.

When reached for further comment, ULM director of media relations Laura Clark said Bruno will not make any more public statements until he has spoken with the university’s coaches and athletic department staff members.

Head football coach Todd Berry said he met with Bruno on Friday morning, but would not offer specifics on the meeting.

“I’m shocked and surprised. I didn’t have any feeling that this was going to happen. It seemed like everything was going well,” Berry said.

After spending the 2005 season at ULM as the offensive coordinator, Berry said one of the reasons he took the head-coaching job in 2010 was because of Staub’s presence.

Staub was named the 12th athletic director in ULM history in the summer of 2004 after spending 20 years in various capacities at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. July would have marked his ninth year overseeing Warhawk athletics.

ULM’s 8.3 million dollar athletic budget currently ranks last among FBS schools. Despite the financial constraints, ULM produced its best athletic season since joining the FBS level in 1994.

The football team captured its first winning season and bowl birth in 2012 with an 8-5 record.

ULM baseball won the 2012 Sun Belt conference tournament and advanced to its first NCAA regional in 12 years.

ULM joined the Sun Belt conference as a football member in 2001 while other sports followed during the 2006-07 academic year.