By Preston Williams
Brad Edwards puts on a Mason Patriot hat while being introduced as the new Mason Athletic Director during a press conference at the Mason Inn. Photo by Craig Bisacre.
Vowing to “aggressively build on that foundation and forge forward on a new path … with great energy, great enthusiasm and a highly competitive spirit,” new George Mason University athletic director Brad Edwards met the university community Monday morning in a ceremony at the Mason Inn on the Fairfax Campus.
Edwards, a former Washington Redskins free safety who helped the team win Super Bowl XXVI, will officially become the university’s fifth athletic director July 1.
“It would be impossible for me to overstate how excited we are to be joining the George Mason University family,” Edwards said in reference to his wife, Marlana, as he addressed a curious and spirited crowd that included student-athletes, school officials, faculty, staff, alumni, coaches, community members and media.
“I’m so impressed by the energy of the Mason Nation,” he said. “One thing that’s becoming very clear to me is that there is a real sense of purpose here. You really begin to gather a perception of the students, the staff, the faculty, the alumni all pulling together as one. I’ve got to tell you, that’s unique in our business.”
Edwards, known for an ability to build a donor base by establishing relationships with “friend-raising before fundraising,” previously had served as athletic director at Newberry College in South Carolina for three years and at Jacksonville University in Florida for the past two.
Edwards is not entirely new to Mason. When he played for the Redskins, he frequently trained at the university—he recalled the “infamous” hill near the Field House—and also attended family shows at the Patriot Center with his wife and children.
That was before what he called the “meteoric” growth of the university in the past 20 years.
President Ángel Cabrera introduces new athletic director Brad Edwards and his wife, Marlana, during a press conference at the Mason Inn. Photo by Craig Bisacre.
“George Mason is an institution that I’ve enjoyed, that I’ve admired, that I’ve followed and that I’ve rooted for, for more than two decades,” Edwards said. “The potential for continued growth here in our minds is tremendous.
“Given my personal history here at George Mason University and the Washington, D.C, greater metropolitan area, returning to this region is really a homecoming for me, so we are so much looking forward to being part of this family.”
Edwards thanked his predecessor, Tom O’Connor, who is retiring after 20 years as Mason athletic director, and he noted the four Atlantic 10 Conference titles that Mason recently won during its first year in the league—men’s soccer, women’s indoor and outdoor track, and baseball.
“That really makes a statement in my mind,” Edwards said.
University President Ángel Cabrera also saluted O’Connor and how he “stood for student-athlete success,” a trait that he also admires in Edwards.
“Brad is the right person at the right time to continue George Mason’s progress in intercollegiate sports, both in the Atlantic 10 and nationally,” Cabrera said at the welcoming. “Brad Edwards is not only a Super Bowl champion, he is a champion in higher education.”
Cabrera joked that Edwards’s nine years in the NFL was all in preparation to take over as Mason athletic director, a notion that drew a nod and a smile from the new hire.
After a nine-year NFL career that included a three-year starting stint at free safety for the Redskins, Edwards immediately began making an impact in education, first at his alma mater, the University of South Carolina. It was there that he rose to assistant athletic director for development, oversaw all financial operations and assisted with day-to-day oversight of design and construction of a new basketball arena and football facility.
Edwards then took his first athletic director job at Newberry, where he later served as senior vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics and Institutional Advancement, which involved all of the college’s external affairs in fundraising, alumni affairs, and communication and marketing. While in that role, total giving to the university grew by 92 percent over the previous year.
During his two years at Jacksonville, Edwards raised a department record of approximately $3 million in new capital gifts for athletic facilities. The Dolphins won 13 regular season or conference tournament championships and had the highest cumulative program grade-point average on record with nine teams achieving a 3.2 GPA or higher.
Edwards, a Fayetteville, N.C., native, earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from South Carolina, where he also was a second-team football All-American in 1987. The Minnesota Vikings drafted him in the second round of the 1988 NFL draft.
Edwards also is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Strategic Marketing Management Program, as well as the Executive Management and Leadership Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Edwards earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix and currently is pursuing a master of arts in education from Michigan State University.
The Edwards family includes three sons—Jackson, Thomas and Colton.