Auburn Athletics announced the hiring of Georgia Southern athletics director Jared Benko as the executive deputy athletic director at Auburn Wednesday morning. Benko had been the athletics director at Georgia Southern since April of 2020.
“My family and I are thrilled to return to Auburn,” Benko said. “Statesboro and Georgia Southern have been incredibly special to us, and we are grateful for the four and a half wonderful years we have spent there. The chance to work alongside John Cohen and his team during such a pivotal time in college athletics is an amazing opportunity and I cannot wait to come back to The Plains.”
Per Auburn's release, Benko’s role will focus on strategic planning and implementation of a structure and will also oversee business operations, contracts, personnel, and funding mechanisms for capital projects.
Under Benko’s leadership, Georgia Southern Athletics set four consecutive fundraising records from 2020-2024, amassing over $40.95 million in donations, including 216 major gifts.
“Jared is creative, diligent and detail oriented. As we navigate the changes in college athletics, his expertise will allow our team to continue to function at a high level.” Cohen said. “Jared’s unique experience as an athletics director and stops at four SEC institutions brings valuable insight to our department.”
Prior to joining Georgia Southern in April 2020, Benko spent more than a decade in athletics departments in the SEC with stops at Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn and Mississippi State.
Working alongside John Cohen at Mississippi State, Benko assisted with strategic planning, personnel decisions, and public relations initiatives while also serving as the CFO and supervising the day-to-day operations of the football program.
Benko served as assistant athletic director for finance at Auburn and also spent three years at Georgia as assistant director of business operations and four years in business operations at Arkansas, including serving as the director of business operations from 2012 to 2015.
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Patrick is a junior from Auburn, Alabama, double majoring in journalism and marketing. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2022.
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