PEARL – Former Jones College soccer player and track and field athlete and current University of Louisville Athletic Director Josh Heird was inducted into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame Tuesday night at the Muse Center on the Hinds-Rankin County campus.
Heird becomes the 23rd Bobcat enshrined into the state Hall of Fame.
Heird, who has over 19 years of experience in athletics administration at the University of Louisville and at Villanova University, was named the Cardinals' Director of Athletics on June 3, 2022. Prior to that appointment following a comprehensive national search, he had been operating as the Cardinals' Interim Athletic Director since December 2021.
Heird, a Fort Collins, Colorado, native, played soccer and ran track at Jones in 1998-2000. He scored the first goal in Jones soccer history with a penalty kick in a 1-1 tie vs. East Mississippi. Heird also scored a goal in the next game vs. Hinds.
"Josh was the face of the inaugural Bobcat soccer team," said Mark Easley, who coached Heird aat Jones. "He was the epitome of hard work, leadership, and sportsmanship. He helped lay the foundation for the success the Bobcat soccer program is reaping today."
Heird received his BA degree in history from Jones and then went to Mississippi College where he ran track, cross country and played football.
In addition to being the American Southwest Conference 800-meter champion in 2001, Heird was an all-conference cross country selection in 2001 and was an academic all-conference honoree every semester of his career. He graduated from MC in 2002 and earned an MBA from Louisville in 2009.
Under Heird's leadership, he has shaped the path of the department by hiring hometown hero Jeff Brohm to lead the football program and adding another alumnus to head the men's basketball program in Kenny Payne.
The 2022-23 academic year yielded another accomplished campaign on the playing field. Heird saw 13 teams reach the top 25 in the national rankings and six squads received invitations to the NCAA Tournament. The women's volleyball team finished as the national runners-up and women's basketball made their fifth consecutive trip to the Elite Eight.
Academically, the department earned a 92 percent graduation rate and a 3.28 grade point average, both high marks in the history of the athletic department. Ten programs achieved perfect APR marks and 510 student-athletes achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or better during the 2022-23 school year.
Led by Heird's vision, he spearheaded the department's fundraising efforts to establish a new naming rights deal and completed several key capital projects.
Heird finalized a $41 million naming rights deal to rename Cardinal Stadium to L&N Stadium, one of the highest gifts in school history, and secured a $4 million commitment to open the Angel's Envy Bourbon Club. He also received a $1 million donation for the enhancement of Jim Patterson Stadium and finished Denny Crum Hall, a state-of-the-art residence hall on the UofL campus.
Additionally, over $5 million was raised to renovate the Keuber Center and $3.5 million was pledged for the New Standard project to advance equity and advancement in women's athletics.
Committed to providing a world-class student-athlete experience, Heird has improved NIL alignment and advancement for student-athlete acquisition and retention, launched an expanded Elevate NIL Program and improved alignment and communication with 502 Circle, a collective to support UofL student-athletes.
In inking a recording-break deal with UofL Health, Heird's department became the ACC leader in mental health by increasing resources. The athletic department added 10 mental health professionals and personnel commitment to support mental health, sports performance and sports science — tops in the industry.
After a previous stint at UofL, Heird returned to Louisville as the Deputy Athletic Director in April 2019. In that role, Heird serves the sport administrator for baseball, men's basketball, and football, as well as providing administrative oversight for championships, facilities/events, capital projects and equipment operations; plus sport oversight for men's and women's golf and men's and women's swimming and diving.
Heird served as Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief Athletics Operating Officer at Villanova in 2018-19 after operating nearly two years as Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations and Finance. In those roles, he provided leadership for all internal units of the athletic department and had administrative oversight with finance and budget, capital projects, ticket and equipment operation, food service, camps and overall project and event management. He also was the sport administrator for the men's lacrosse and men's soccer programs, as well as the secondary administrator for men's basketball.
Before moving to Villanova, Heird worked nearly 10 years at UofL (2007-16), most recently as Assistant Athletic Director for Championships and Facilities from 2012-16. In that role, he had oversight of capital projects approved by the UofL Athletic Association. He also assisted with the day-to-day management of facility operations. Heird was responsible for the management of all ACC and NCAA postseason events hosted by UofL.
During his time at Louisville, Heird helped design and oversee the construction of the Jim Patterson Baseball Stadium expansion, the Ulmer Softball Stadium expansion, the building of the Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Soccer Stadium, the lacrosse stadium press box, as well as the Thornton's Academic Center of Excellence.
Heird coordinated several postseason events hosted by Louisville, including the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Regional. Louisville also served as home to the 2015 and 2012 Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championships, the 2015 and 2012 Men's Basketball Second and Third Rounds, the 2014 Women's Basketball Regional, the 2012 Women's Volleyball National Championship and the 2012 Field Hockey National Championship.
He began his career at UofL as Assistant Director of Championships in April of 2007 before being promoted to the Director of Championships in 2009. Before starting a career in collegiate athletics, Heird spent five years in Washington, D.C. working for Congressman Mike Simpson of Idaho and Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado.
Heird is married to the former Abbey Woolley. The couple has two children, Hadley and Gus.
Jones members in the MCC Hall of Fame:
Sim Cooley, Joe Flowers, A.B. Howard (2007)
Randall Boone, John Perkins (Class of 2008)
Gene Tullos (Class of 2009)
Gwen Magee (Class of 2010)
L.D. Ready (Class of 2011)
Parker Dykes (Class of 2012)
Mike McClellan (Class of 2013)
Jackie Parker (Class of 2014)
Elmer Higginbotham (Class of 2015)
Deion Branch (Class of 2016)
Joe-Michael Robertson (Class of 2017)
Sandra Sumrall (Class of 2018)
Hill Denson (Class of 2019)
Jay Ladner (Class of 2020)
Katie Herrington (Class of 2021)
Kevin Jackson (Class of 2022)
Pauline Love (Class of 2023)
Wendy Hogue (Class of 2024)
Bonnie Lee Graham (Class of 2025)
Josh Heird (Class of 2026)
