Former Troy director of athletics Steve Dennis is in his second season as the director of football administration at Georgia Southern. Dennis spent seven full years running the Troy athletics department and saw his student-athletes flourish both on the field and in the classroom. The Trojan student-athletes regularly posted grade point averages of 3.0 or better, allowing Troy to enjoy the highest level of success possible under the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report for the 2008-09 and the 2009-10 school years as all 16 NCAA sports registered above the mandated 92.5 percent.
Under his tutelage, Troy’s baseball program had 17 players drafted or signed to professional contracts while the football program sent 27 players into professional football, including first-round draft picks DeMarcus Ware and Leodis McKelvin.
The Troy football program was especially successful under his watchful eye. The Trojans won five consecutive Sun Belt Conference titles and appeared in four bowl games during his tenure as director of athletics and Troy led the Sun Belt Conference in football attendance in five of his final six seasons.
His tenure as Athletics Director was marked by construction and growth of Troy University’s athletics facilities. The soccer and track teams moved into a brand-new facility. Riddle-Pace Field underwent $5 million in renovations that included the construction of the Lott Baseball Complex. Veterans Memorial Stadium saw the addition of two new luxury boxes and prior to the 2012 season a brand new playing surface. The crowning achievement of the facility improvements under Dennis was the new Trojan Arena that opened for the 2012-13 basketball season. It is also the home of the Troy volleyball team and houses the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame.
Externally, Dennis was instrumental in the formation of the Trojan Warriors, the athletic department’s booster club, as well as “The Legion” a student support group. Both groups grew to more than 1,000 members in a short time and continued to grow annually. The athletics department also entered into a marketing agreement with IMG College, an agreement that was renewed in 2009. Other external accomplishments have included chartering the “T” Letterman’s Club as a chapter of the Troy University National Alumni Association and the establishment of the Al Lucas Endowment for Student-Athlete Excellence.
Dennis went to Troy from Auburn University, where he served in a variety of capacities beginning in 1985. His final assignment was as the Associate Director of Tigers Unlimited, the Athletics Department’s Development office. In that position, he was responsible for identifying, cultivating and soliciting support from individuals, private industry and corporations for the Athletics Department.
A native of Macon, Georgia, Dennis graduated from the University of Georgia, cum laude, in 1978.
While at Georgia, he was the Bulldogs’ defensive captain in 1978 and was an Academic All-Southeastern Conference selection that same season. During his playing career, he played in three bowl games for the Bulldogs.
Dennis started his professional career as a high school teacher, football coach and baseball coach in Windsor (Ga.). He started his collegiate coaching career at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1981. In four-plus seasons, he coached outside linebackers, the defensive line and special teams for the Moccasins. Dennis went to work as the defensive backs and special teams coach at Auburn in 1985, and he remained on the Tigers’ staff for eight seasons. He was named the SEC Working Coach of the Year in 1986 by The Birmingham Touchdown Club.
Dennis returned to his alma mater in December of 1993, and worked as the defensive backs and special teams coach for the Bulldogs for two seasons.
From 1997 until 2002, Dennis was out of college athletics. He worked in sales, marketing and promotions for Georgia Southern Wood, Inc., serving in that role from 1997 until 2000. He then worked at Cleveland Brothers Construction from 2000 until 2002.
Dennis returned to Auburn to coach tight ends in 2002, before moving to fund-raising within the Auburn Athletics Department in 2003. During his college coaching career, he was part of seven bowl teams and one Division I-AA playoff team.
Dennis and his wife, Lisa, have four children - Chris, Cale, Corey and Allison.
