TAMPA, Fla. – University of South Florida CEO of Athletics Rob Higgins announced today the appointment of Delaney Ryan as Vice President of Student-Athlete Development/Senior Woman Administrator for USF Athletics and a member of the department's senior leadership team effective immediately.

A native of St. Petersburg, Fla., Ryan comes to USF Athletics after nearly 10 years of service in the athletic department of her alma mater Mercer University in Macon, Ga. Most recently, she served as Assistant Athletics Director for Support Services/Senior Woman Administrator.

"We're thrilled to welcome Delaney back to Team Tampa Bay and to USF Athletics," Higgins said. "Delaney brings a decade of college athletics administration experience and will be invaluable to helping with our student-athlete development efforts. We could not be more excited with how our leadership team continues to come together."

During her tenure at Mercer, Ryan was responsible for overseeing seven academic advisors and support specialists who provided academic guidance to MU's more than 400 student-athletes. She also led the process of developing academic success plans to ensure that all academic goals and requirements were met.
 
In addition to providing academic guidance at Mercer, Ryan was responsible for coordinating all areas of academic support, including monitoring, evaluating, and determining student-athletes' academic performance for eligibility purposes. Mercer won the Southern Conference's Barrett-Bonner Award for 10 consecutive years upon joining the conference. The honor is presented to the SoCon institution that places the highest percentage of its student-athletes on the league's academic honor roll.

Ryan also served as Senior Woman Administrator at Mercer, representing the university in the Southern Conference's administrative decision-making processes, including reviewing, improving, and implementing conference bylaws and sport regulations. She coordinated the department's leadership team to ensure strategic alignment, oversaw student-athlete welfare, gender equity and Title IX compliance, and served on various campus committees related to curriculum, scheduling and awards. She also provided sport oversight for the men's and women's tennis programs.

Ryan joined Mercer Athletics in 2016 as an administrative assistant and served a variety of key roles for MU over the next four years while pursuing her undergraduate degree. Her duties expanded as a graduate assistant in the department, including stints as a student-athlete academic support specialist and an administrative support role in the department's daily operations. She also served as an academic advisor for the Bears.

Ryan earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education and special education from Mercer and completed her graduate work in higher education leadership at MU.

About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 21 varsity teams, with 20 competing at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference, including the recent additions of women's lacrosse and women's beach volleyball. The Bulls' athletic program, founded in 1965, will enter its 60^thseason in 2025-26.
Nearly 500 student-athletes train and compete in the Tampa General Hospital Athletics District on the east end of USF's Tampa campus. The Bulls have won 154 conference titles across 16 sports, with 82 men's championships and 72 women's championships. Men's tennis and men's soccer lead with 20 titles each, while women's programs have been headlined by women's tennis (14) and volleyball (13). Since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013, USF has secured 36 conference team titles.
Academically, USF student-athletes have achieved a program record of 21 consecutive semesters with a combined GPA of 3.0 or above as of spring 2025. Since 2015, more than 800 Bulls have earned their degrees.
 
Follow South Florida Athletics
For the latest updates from USF Athletics, visit GoUSFBulls.com. Follow USF Athletics on Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
 
Get your tickets today!
Call 1-800-GO-BULLS (1-800-462-8557) or email BullsTickets@usf.edu to claim your season or single-game tickets. You can also download the USF Bulls app on the Android or Apple stores to purchase tickets and parking. Visit USFBullsTix.com for more information.