University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Incoming AD Steve Newmark Looking Forward To The Future
June 2, 2026 | General, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Like many young Tar Heel fans of the 1980s, Steve Newmark grew up with two posters hanging on the wall of his room.
One was a photo of James Worthy in his familiar Carolina jersey with the tagline, "A tradition of excellence." And the other was a shot of Michael Jordan elevating for a jumper against NC State with the caption, "The tradition continues…"
Unlike many young Tar Heel fans of the 1980s, Steve Newmark grew up to become the athletic director at the University of North Carolina, entrusted with carrying that tradition across the athletic department into a new generation of college sports. Newmark and outgoing athletic director Bubba Cunningham are completing their year-long job transition in the upcoming days.
His 11 months watching Cunningham operate on the inside of the Carolina athletic department made it obvious to Newmark that there are some very significant financial realities at the top of a major college athletic department that expects to compete for national championships across a deep roster of 28 sports. But he's also realized his job isn't entirely about finances.
"Those posters are a great reminder to me that we have a great foundation but we have to continue to evolve," Newmark said in a new Carolina Insider podcast interview. "We still have to lean in on what has made us so special. I don't want this to become just an economic analysis. We are different than professional sports, and we sometimes forget that. When you interact with our student-athletes and show up at the academic luncheons or attend the Rammys, you see that there's still a purity to what these student-athletes are going through. They're leaving home for the first time without their families and tackling academic challenges and thinking about what their career is going to be."
Of course, Newmark is also realistic that his department can't provide the services those student-athletes need or the competitive rosters the Carolina head coaches require to compete for championships without prioritizing generating revenue. When he purchased those posters in the 1980s, none of the sales price went back to Worthy or Jordan. Times have changed.
Creating more dollars requires an all-encompassing approach. It's being creative about finding new ways to capitalize while also giving student-athletes the opportunity to utilize the nationally coveted Carolina brand.
"We're going to have to get out of our comfort zone," Newmark says. "We have to evolve while still staying true to what makes Carolina so special. We're going to have to unlock different sponsorship categories. We will continue to look at how to bring in corporate partners. The NCAA is allowing jersey patches and different naming rights. How can we monetize our content? We have 750 athletes and we have a great history and tradition, so we have a leg up because we don't have to establish who we are. We will use what we have and continue to upgrade our facilities to give fans different amenities and choices, whether that's premium seating or a different experience. It doesn't mean we will get rid of our current seating structure, but we will provide more options for people who are willing to pay extra dollars to support the athletic department."
Newmark's indoctrination into an executive role in college sports has involved watching Cunningham closely—and trying to keep up with the outgoing athletic director's tireless schedule, where he is often the last person to leave any sporting event or networking activity. He's spent time at the Blue Zone training table introducing himself to current Tar Heel student-athletes (and only once with disastrous results, as he laughingly described in the podcast).
All of those experiences have combined to give him a clear idea of how he wants to move forward, including some ideas that will help the Heels find new ways to reach a continuing standard of excellence.
"We're going to lean into sports science and data analytics programs," Newmark says. "Data analytics has become way more important in the success of programs than it has ever been. We're looking at creating cross-functional sports sciences programs that recognize we have unbelievable advantages at Carolina. It's not just the athletic department. We have a world-class hospital system with cutting edge medical capabilities and a great exercise and sports science program. We are a top-10 research university. We want to bring all those folks together and create a sports science program that uses data analytics for performance, recovery and injury prevention. And then we can also use it for talent evaluation, in-game strategy and improvement for our student-athletes."
Listening to him describe a completely new endeavor for Carolina athletics, it's obvious that Newmark has a sharply defined idea of how he wants to direct the department. His last 11 months have included big wins, like Seth Trimble's game-winner against Duke and multiple conference championships. But it's also featured some challenges, most notably being involved with a coaching transition in men's basketball. His close involvement with that process was a reminder that he wants to make sure he utilizes the resources—both financially and with personnel—available to a national organization like Carolina athletics.
It is, ultimately, a business. It requires dollars to operate at a high level. But he's also observed that the day-to-day operations are not powered exclusively by finances. A week later, he's still talking about his experience with women's lacrosse as that program advanced to the national championship game. Senior leader Sarah Gresham had suffered a torn ACL in the quarterfinals, but wanted to find a way to help her team in the national title contest.
"She's a draw specialist, and by the way also on the All-ACC Academic Team," he says. "Despite what most would assume would have been a season-ending injury, I'm watching the NCAA finals and noticed she's running on the field to take the draws because she didn't want to let her team down. She plays most of the game on a torn ACL and wins 14 of 24 draws, sprinting on and off the field with this big, bulky brace. Her toughness and resilience exemplify our mission which is to educate and inspire through athletics. I'm constantly amazed at how often our student-athletes teach and uplift all of us through their actions and make us proud to be associated with the entire University."
Sounds like the Tar Heels might have their next poster.
One was a photo of James Worthy in his familiar Carolina jersey with the tagline, "A tradition of excellence." And the other was a shot of Michael Jordan elevating for a jumper against NC State with the caption, "The tradition continues…"
Unlike many young Tar Heel fans of the 1980s, Steve Newmark grew up to become the athletic director at the University of North Carolina, entrusted with carrying that tradition across the athletic department into a new generation of college sports. Newmark and outgoing athletic director Bubba Cunningham are completing their year-long job transition in the upcoming days.
His 11 months watching Cunningham operate on the inside of the Carolina athletic department made it obvious to Newmark that there are some very significant financial realities at the top of a major college athletic department that expects to compete for national championships across a deep roster of 28 sports. But he's also realized his job isn't entirely about finances.
"Those posters are a great reminder to me that we have a great foundation but we have to continue to evolve," Newmark said in a new Carolina Insider podcast interview. "We still have to lean in on what has made us so special. I don't want this to become just an economic analysis. We are different than professional sports, and we sometimes forget that. When you interact with our student-athletes and show up at the academic luncheons or attend the Rammys, you see that there's still a purity to what these student-athletes are going through. They're leaving home for the first time without their families and tackling academic challenges and thinking about what their career is going to be."
Of course, Newmark is also realistic that his department can't provide the services those student-athletes need or the competitive rosters the Carolina head coaches require to compete for championships without prioritizing generating revenue. When he purchased those posters in the 1980s, none of the sales price went back to Worthy or Jordan. Times have changed.
Creating more dollars requires an all-encompassing approach. It's being creative about finding new ways to capitalize while also giving student-athletes the opportunity to utilize the nationally coveted Carolina brand.
"We're going to have to get out of our comfort zone," Newmark says. "We have to evolve while still staying true to what makes Carolina so special. We're going to have to unlock different sponsorship categories. We will continue to look at how to bring in corporate partners. The NCAA is allowing jersey patches and different naming rights. How can we monetize our content? We have 750 athletes and we have a great history and tradition, so we have a leg up because we don't have to establish who we are. We will use what we have and continue to upgrade our facilities to give fans different amenities and choices, whether that's premium seating or a different experience. It doesn't mean we will get rid of our current seating structure, but we will provide more options for people who are willing to pay extra dollars to support the athletic department."
Newmark's indoctrination into an executive role in college sports has involved watching Cunningham closely—and trying to keep up with the outgoing athletic director's tireless schedule, where he is often the last person to leave any sporting event or networking activity. He's spent time at the Blue Zone training table introducing himself to current Tar Heel student-athletes (and only once with disastrous results, as he laughingly described in the podcast).
All of those experiences have combined to give him a clear idea of how he wants to move forward, including some ideas that will help the Heels find new ways to reach a continuing standard of excellence.
"We're going to lean into sports science and data analytics programs," Newmark says. "Data analytics has become way more important in the success of programs than it has ever been. We're looking at creating cross-functional sports sciences programs that recognize we have unbelievable advantages at Carolina. It's not just the athletic department. We have a world-class hospital system with cutting edge medical capabilities and a great exercise and sports science program. We are a top-10 research university. We want to bring all those folks together and create a sports science program that uses data analytics for performance, recovery and injury prevention. And then we can also use it for talent evaluation, in-game strategy and improvement for our student-athletes."
Listening to him describe a completely new endeavor for Carolina athletics, it's obvious that Newmark has a sharply defined idea of how he wants to direct the department. His last 11 months have included big wins, like Seth Trimble's game-winner against Duke and multiple conference championships. But it's also featured some challenges, most notably being involved with a coaching transition in men's basketball. His close involvement with that process was a reminder that he wants to make sure he utilizes the resources—both financially and with personnel—available to a national organization like Carolina athletics.
It is, ultimately, a business. It requires dollars to operate at a high level. But he's also observed that the day-to-day operations are not powered exclusively by finances. A week later, he's still talking about his experience with women's lacrosse as that program advanced to the national championship game. Senior leader Sarah Gresham had suffered a torn ACL in the quarterfinals, but wanted to find a way to help her team in the national title contest.
"She's a draw specialist, and by the way also on the All-ACC Academic Team," he says. "Despite what most would assume would have been a season-ending injury, I'm watching the NCAA finals and noticed she's running on the field to take the draws because she didn't want to let her team down. She plays most of the game on a torn ACL and wins 14 of 24 draws, sprinting on and off the field with this big, bulky brace. Her toughness and resilience exemplify our mission which is to educate and inspire through athletics. I'm constantly amazed at how often our student-athletes teach and uplift all of us through their actions and make us proud to be associated with the entire University."
Sounds like the Tar Heels might have their next poster.
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