{
  "id": 15007734,
  "title": "Auburn deputy AD Jared Benko announced as Iowa State's next athletics director",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/16/auburn-deputy-ad-jared-benko-announced-as-iowa-states-next-athletics",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-16T17:48:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/auburn-deputy-ad-jared-benko-174803054.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Auburn University's executive deputy athletics director Jared Benko is set to become the next athletics director at Iowa State University, according to the Cyclones' official announcement on October 16, 2026. Benko, who has been with Auburn since November 2024, previously served as the athletic director at Georgia Southern since March 2020, marking his first-ever role in that position. His responsibilities at Auburn included business operations, NIL management, revenue-sharing, strategic initiatives, player management, contracts, human resources, IT, equipment, sports performance, and sports medicine.\n\nIowa State's announcement of Benko's appointment as the Jamie and Ellen Pollard Endowed Director of Athletics was met with enthusiasm. Prior to Georgia Southern, Benko held positions at four different SEC schools, starting at his alma mater, Georgia, in 2008. He served as assistant director of business operations at Georgia for three years before moving on to Arkansas, where he was the director of business operations from 2012 to 2015. Benko then spent two years at Auburn, where he served as assistant athletic director for finance under former AD Jay Jacobs, before joining Mississippi State.",
  "summary": "Jared Benko, who has been a deputy athletics director at Auburn since November 2024, has been announced as Iowa State's next athletics director.",
  "key_points": [
    "Jared Benko named Iowa State's new athletics director",
    "Benko previously Auburn's executive deputy AD",
    "Appointed October 16, 2026"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}