Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina and Director of Athletics
Alex Gary announced the addition of Oregon State Senior Associate Athletics Director
Kyle Pifer as deputy athletics director and chief operating officer Thursday.
A member of the WCU Athletics Senior Staff and second in command within the department, Pifer will manage and coordinate all internal functions for the Catamounts including business and budgetary operations, sport administration, human resources, equipment, and facility operations. Among other responsibilities, he will work with Gary to manage all day-to-day internal operations for Catamount Athletics.
"We are extremely fortunate to welcome such an experienced leader in intercollegiate athletics to our team here at Western Carolina," said Gary, who worked alongside Pifer on the athletics executive staff at Oregon State. "Kyle's experience at all levels of college athletics, including his time as a student-athlete here in the southeast, will be a tremendous asset to our department and further help prepare us for future success."
Pifer, who officially starts at WCU on Nov. 16, is a skilled college athletics administrator that has spent the past 18 years of his professional career working in higher education and intercollegiate athletics. Most recently as the senior associate AD for compliance at Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., Pifer possesses a vast experience within on-campus and department operations including a wealth of knowledge on NCAA compliance.
As a part of the OSU athletics executive staff, Pifer was provided with invaluable experience as the sport supervisor for the Beavers' men's golf and the women's cross country/track & field teams. He provided tremendous leadership and direction for the OSU compliance program during his tenure. He was also particularly influential in the development of Oregon's States emerging track & field program, rekindling the program after a nearly 20-year hiatus from the sport sponsorship.
During his eight-plus years at OSU concluding as the senior compliance administrator, Pifer served on a variety of campus committees including the Enrollment Management Leadership Team, the High Incident and Event Group, and the Criminal History Attendance and Participation Committee.
Pifer began his professional career as an NCAA compliance officer in 2003 at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., employed there for four years. He departed in 2007 for the first of two stints at Oregon State beginning as an Assistant Director of Compliance. He then took on the role o the Director of Compliance at the University of Washington in Seattle, working his way to an Associate Athletics Director position and served on the UW Athletics Department Senior Staff before returning to Corvallis in 2013.
A native of Frankfort, Ind., Pifer earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., in 1999. While at FMU, Pifer was a four-year letter winner in track & field, earning academic all-district honors and graduated summa cum laude.
Pifer and his wife Sydney are the parents of three girls; Reese, Delaney and Ellis.
