UNC AD Bubba Cunningham moving to new role in 2026 when NASCAR exec takes over

In order to adapt to the evolving college sports landscape, UNC announced a two-year contract extension for athletic director Bubba Cunningham through July 2029 on Tuesday morning while also outlining its succession plan. Cunningham has served in the position since 2011.

“When I look back on our baseball program, field hockey, soccer — when you think things are going pretty well [and] you think you’ve gotten to a pretty good spot, you might want to hand if off,” Cunningham said. “I think that probably came up and [I] said, ‘Yeah, I think we’re in a pretty good spot. I’m getting toward the end of my contract. Let’s see if we can’t figure out a way to make this work.’”

The university also announced the hire of Steve Newmark, the current president of NASCAR’s Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing, as Executive Associate Athletic Director. Starting on August 15, Newmark will focus on revenue-driving initiatives for UNC football and the men’s and women’s basketball teams in addition to revenue share, NIL and commercial strategies.

In the summer of 2026, Newmark will succeed Cunningham as director of athletics when Cunningham transitions to a new position: Senior advisor to the chancellor and athletic director. In this new role, Cunningham will report to chancellor Lee Roberts concerning forward-thinking athletic projects.

The university decided not to hold a public search for the athletic director position, like what was conducted for hiring UNC football head coach Bill Belichick and what is currently being used to find the next executive director of The Rams Club.

“The chancellor has the authority to forgo a search process for high-level positions when circumstances call for it,” a university spokesperson said. “We believed the best fit for our program could be identified through a deliberate, careful and quiet process. The fact that we landed on such a qualified individual to work with Bubba to continue to modernize our approach to athletics is confirmation that saving the resources a search firm would have required was appropriate.”

Newmark has operated a professional sports team at RFK Racing for the last 15 years. Recently, he served on the advisory committee for the hiring of UNC football head coach Bill Belichick, and he is currently serving on the advisory committee for the hiring of a new executive director of The Rams Club.

“I look forward to working with Bubba and the entire Tar Heel Nation to continue to elevate UNC’s status as a premier brand in college sports with top-tier programs across the board, and with student-athletes who represent North Carolina’s flagship institution with class on and off their respective playing fields,” Newmark said in a statement. “With collegiate athletics undergoing massive changes at all levels, UNC is well positioned to take advantage of the new landscape.”

During Cunningham’s time as athletic director, eight North Carolina teams have combined for 24 of UNC’s 63 all-time national championships. Twenty-two Tar Heels have taken home individual national titles in seven different sports.

While Cunningham acknowledged that he’s had other opportunities at other schools “over the last few months or few years,” he decided he wanted to stay at UNC in order to be a part of the decision-making process of projects like Carolina North and a potential Dean E. Smith Center renovation or relocation. Before Newmark succeeds him, Cunningham said he also hopes to help the future athletic director meet people and become a part of the industry network.

“We’ve had this conversation ongoing for over six months, eight months and just saying, ‘OK, we’ve got a lot of transition going on in college sports,’” Cunningham said. “‘We’re doing what we can as a department, but how do we continue to push and to get to an ever better place?’ We’ve been working with Steve on a couple of different projects. Working with him directly in the college space for the next year would be helpful. Then, for him to take over the athletic department and me to start working in different capacity with the university that can help drive the university. I think it’s just the right time.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 10:19 AM.