“We need more drip,” athletic director Donnie Brooks told The Mac Weekly in his first sit-down with paper in 2019. He wanted to inspire Macalester’s athletes to play with confidence. Over the past seven years, his vision has come to fruition through conference titles and program records.
In March, Brooks got some drip of his own: the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) named him AD of the Year for Division III. Each year, the NACDA gives this distinction to 28 athletic directors across the country, four in each division.
In March, Brooks got some drip of his own: the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) named him AD of the Year for Division III. Each year, the NACDA gives this distinction to 28 athletics directors across the country, four in each division.
When Brooks arrived in St. Paul in spring 2019, Macalester athletics needed a steady hand. The previous athletic director, Kim Chandler, had abruptly departed over the summer after nine years at the helm. There had been four head coaching changes in the fall term, starting with the resignation of men’s basketball coach Tim Whittle, who left with a 35-191 record over nine seasons. Whittle’s team generated Mac’s biggest gaffe of the millennium when it made SportsCenter Top 10 for allowing Loras College to score 100 points in the first half of a 2017 game.
Other programs were floundering too: the football team had left the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) altogether in 2001 and was competing in the milquetoast Midwest Conference. Players across the department despised their coaches and even quit their teams.
Brooks knew Macalester athletes needed a new mentality.
“We need to walk into games feeling like we can and should win every [time],” Brooks said. “That’s the sense of pride I got to play with at Springfield College [as an offensive lineman]. I just walked into every game believing we should win. Why not Macalester? Why shouldn’t we [have that]?”
Over the past year, Brooks has found proof of concept. In November, the men’s soccer team won the first MIAC title of Brooks’ tenure. Last week, the water polo team won its first conference championship since 2019. Women’s swim and dive placed second at MIACs in spring 2025, and women’s golf followed suit in the fall — the highest placement in program history for either team. Brooks has been unrelenting in his determination for each team to reach new heights.
“Donnie has delivered everything we discussed in my interview process: High standards and high support,” football head coach Phil Nicolaides wrote in an email to The Mac Weekly. “His vision for the department and drive for championships is contagious. He leads with a genuine belief that we can accomplish bold, audacious goals and that trickles down to our coaches and student-athletes.”
Of course, prior to Brooks’ arrival, Macalester still had its victories: baseball won the 2017 MIAC Playoff Championship. Water Polo three-peated in its conference across the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. Football won the Midwest Conference and made the national tournament in 2014.
The difference now is the success across the department. The Learfield Directors’ Cup rates the holistic success of athletic programs across the country on a team-by-team points system. As of April 7, the Scots rank 97th in Division III and seventh in the MIAC. If that rank holds through the end of the year, it will be Mac’s first time in the nation’s top 100 since 1998.
“The biggest changes I have seen since Donnie [Brooks] has gotten here are in the collaboration across campus in the different divisions and programs,” associate director of athletics Steve Murray wrote. “I feel that we are much better aligned and working towards the same goals … I see us continuing to get stronger in our values of community, development and competing. We will continue to elevate the competitive success of all programs.”
A top-100 finish would put Mac among the top 30 percent of Division III schools. Brooks thinks the Scots can — and should — go even higher.
“Where I think we should be is in the top 15 percent of schools in the country,” Brooks said. “The goal is to continue to battle in the MIAC: if you can battle in the MIAC and be championship-driven in the MIAC, you are nationally competitive. That will put us in the upper echelon of Division III schools … The schools that are on that list — the top 15 percent — they all look like us.”
Macalester’s ascension will not be immediate. Four major programs — volleyball, football and men’s and women’s basketball — all turned in sub-.300 records this year. The fighting fold is headed in the right direction, though — and its shepherd seems to know what he’s doing.
“For athletics to truly thrive, the vision has to be driven from the top,” baseball coach Matt Parrington wrote. “Donnie [Brooks] and President [Suzanne] Rivera are clearly aligned, and that alignment has created a different feel than in the past. There’s a strong sense that athletics has a meaningful place on campus, and our coaches, student athletes and fans can feel that momentum.”
Brooks stressed that it isn’t his work alone that won him ADOY. An athletic director can only do so much: it is the work of the whole department that will take the Scots to the next level.
“Awards are always hard because the award will have my name on it, but it’s only possible through the hard work of the administrators, coaches, players, who don’t always get named,” Brooks said. “I want to name folks like [associate director of athletics] Steve Murray, [business operations specialist] Maureen Johnson, [assistant athletic directors] Devyn Smith [and] Paula Natvig. All the coaches and staff who work tirelessly to support students … That’s [the] reason why this kind of award is even possible for me. I really thank them for believing in the vision and the direction of where Macalester athletics is going.”
