FIU hires UCF's Scott Carr as school's athletic director

MIAMI (AP) — Scott Carr was hired Tuesday as FIU’s athletic director, coming to the Panthers after nearly six years in the athletic department at UCF.

It’s the first step toward what FIU hopes is a revamping of athletics, a process that will begin with the hiring of a new football coach. The school had previously announced that Butch Davis, who coached at FIU for five years, would not be retained and that the new AD would pick the next coach.

Carr held a number of roles at UCF, including executive associate athletics director and deputy athletics director for brand activation. Earlier this year, he was promoted to interim director of athletics after Danny White left for Tennessee.

“FIU family, my family and I could not be more excited to join you as your new director of athletics,” Carr said in a video announcing the hire. “We know there’s a lot of pride, a lot of Panther pride, here in the community. We look forward to building on what has already been built and taking things to new heights here.”

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Carr, who returns to Miami after working for the Orange Bowl from 1997-2001. He also was a senior associate athletic director for external affairs at Auburn, and he spent eight years working at Southern Miss.

He’s a Gainesville, Florida, native and a holder of two degrees from Florida. At FIU, he replaces Pete Garcia, who spent 15 years as athletic director before stepping aside earlier this fall.