After serving 15 seasons as ETSU’s men’s tennis coach, Dave Mullins was named the Buccaneers’ Director of Intercollegiate Athletics on April 14, 2003. He had served as interim director since December of 2002.

During the subsequent eight years, Mullins has guided the athletic program through major transformations ranging from general day-to-day operations to a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign for new on-campus facilities. Now enjoying its best fiscal standing ever – with a balanced operational budget in each season since 2003 – the program has also set records for private giving to the Buccaneer Athletic Scholarship Association, as well as revenue generation for corporate marketing dollars. The Buccaneer Sports Network was also launched under Mullins’ direction in 2003, bringing the program’s radio and television broadcasts under the complete management of the ETSU athletic department. The network has ultimately grown to generate record revenue of over $150,000 each year.

Mullins’ improvements to the Buccaneers’ fiscal standing has helped the program refocus on the construction of new on-campus athletic venues in recent years. In addition to a $500,000 renovation of the ETSU-MSHA Athletic Center in 2004, the Bucs have or will complete construction on four new venues by the spring of 2011 (golf, soccer, softball and baseball), totaling over $14 million. Having not built a new on-campus facility in over 30 years (the last being the ETSU-MSHA Athletic Center in 1976), the Bucs will have four new facilities in under seven years with Mullins at the helm.

In addition to the improved financial health of the department, Mullins also directed the program’s NCAA Recertification in 2005, oversaw the program’s conference affiliation change from the Southern Conference to the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005, and has worked diligently to keep the Bucs in compliance with Title IX Gender Equity since taking his current post.

On the field of play, the Bucs have had their most successful seasons in school history during Mullins’ time as AD.  In 2008-09, the program set single-season records for team championships with nine in all, while also having a record five squads make appearances in NCAA postseason play.  Programs such as women’s basketball, women’s golf and men’s soccer have won conference titles for the first time during Mullins’ tenure, while the traditionally strong men’s basketball program has made six trips to the postseason – four to the NCAA Tournament, one to the NIT, and one to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Bucs have also had nationally ranked teams, as well as nationally ranked individual players, including the No. 1 men’s golfer in the nation during 2006-07.

Away from the field of play, ETSU student-athletes have excelled both academically and in their service to the community. Academically, Mullins has provided more financial support to the program’s academic services area, and the Bucs have responded by accomplishing feats such as finishing first in the Atlantic Sun with 71 percent of its student-athletes reaching All-Academic A-Sun in the spring of 2008. In addition, the Bucs have never had a team post an APR (Annual Performance Rate) score under the NCAA cut line, meaning ETSU’s program is reaching the goals for retention and graduation set forth by the NCAA. In the area of community service, the Bucs have enjoyed 100 percent participation by student-athletes, administration and coaches since Mullins became AD, serving by helping feed the homeless, building Habitat for Humanity homes, and volunteering to assist the elderly.

Prior to his promotion to AD, Mullins was a widely respected coach, leading the ETSU men’s tennis team from 1987 to 2002, and the women’s program from 1987 to 1996. In his time as a tennis coach, the Buccaneers won five Southern Conference Tournament titles and five SoCon regular season championships, while making two trips to the NCAA Championships. His teams posted a 70 percent winning percentage (237-103) in regular season action and a remarkable 78 percent winning percentage (85-24) in league play. He coached 28 all-conference players during his tenure, including five SoCon Most Outstanding Players, as well as numerous regionally and nationally ranked ITA players. He helped guide the school’s first All-American, Yaser Zaatini, who was honored in both 1992 and 1993. Mullins himself was named SoCon Coach of the Year five times.

In addition to his team’s success on the court, the Bucs also maintained a high standard in the classroom. In 2002, the squad was named an ITA All-Academic Team for the second time (1999) and six of the team’s eight players managed a GPA of over 3.6, including a 3.9 GPA in the fall of 2002. Mullins ultimately coached five players who earned Academic All-America honors.

Mullins earned his B.S., cum laude, in English from Samford University in 1968 and his master’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee in 1974.