Elliott Daniels - Staff Directory - Michigan State University Athletics

Staff Directory

Elliott Daniels

Title:
Senior Associate AD/Student-Athlete Engagement
Email:
Phone:
353-1498

Elliott Daniels, an experienced athletic administrator, faculty member, and higher education professional with more than 20 years of experience, currently serves on the athletic director’s leadership team as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Engagement. In this role, Daniels is the sport supervisor for nine of MSU’s 23 sport programs, supervises Athletic Performance and Sports Science units, and directs student-athlete engagement initiatives. He serves as the department’s liaison to the Prevention, Outreach and Education Department of the Office for Civil Rights and Title IX Education and Compliance, championing overall departmental compliance and engagement.

As a sport supervisor, Daniels has served in a sport supervision capacity for 14 of MSU’s sport programs including baseball, softball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s track and field, ice hockey, volleyball, wrestling, and provided sport supervisor support for football. During his time at MSU, he has contributed to one of the most successful periods in athletics history including Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championship appearances in multiple sports along with Final Four berths in both football and men’s basketball.

Daniels is a key department liaison, managing several strategic partnerships on campus, and has represented athletics on several MSU and Big Ten Conference committees.

Daniels has played a substantial leadership role in the department, preparing MSU Athletics to strategically address some of college athletics more recent national topics including Title IX education, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Name, Image, and Likeness.

Recognized nationally as an industry leader, Daniels was nominated and selected to the LEAD1 Diversity Fellowship Program Class of 2022-23. The LEAD1 Association, now known as the FBS Athletics Directors Association representing the athletic directors of the 134-member schools of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), announced Daniels as one of 12 administrators nationwide deemed most ready to assume the athletics director position. A fellow in the prestigious, year-long immersion program, Daniels was a two-time invitee of the then LEAD1 Institute and served as a panelist in 2023. Daniels has also been a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), National Association of Academic Advisors and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A), and Minority Opportunities Athletic Administration (MOAA). He was elected to the N4A Board of Directors in 2018 and garnered national recognition as the Professional Excellence Award recipient in 2020.

Promoted to athletic administration in 2017, Daniels was appointed Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Engagement to provide executive leadership for the Athletic Director on matters related to the student-athlete experience, provide sport supervisor support for football, and serve as sport supervisor for several Olympic sports. Previously, Daniels held positions in Student-Athlete Support Services, concluding a 14-year stretch as one of three directors within the unit. He also served as special assistant to the chair and faculty athletic representative for MSU’s Athletic Council.

A faculty member at MSU, Daniels is the Lead Faculty and Director of the Sports Business Management Minor in the Eli Broad College of Business. He leads all aspects of Sports Business Management, a program he created for MSU’s nationally ranked college of business in 2015. Daniels garnered college-wide recognition in 2022 and 2023 as an Instructor of Excellence Award winner, an honor presented to faculty who demonstrate high-quality instruction in a top-rated business course.

Active in the community, Daniels has been nominated and elected to several board and leadership positions. Since 2020, he has served on the Board of Directors as Vice Chairperson and Community Director of the Desk Drawer Foundation (DDF), an organization supporting MSU Federal Credit Union and Oakland University Credit Union communities. Daniels was also nominated and voted as Chair of the Membership Committee of the DDF Board in 2023. Recognized as a leader in the community, Daniels was nominated and accepted in 2020 to Leadership Lansing, a talent initiative of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce designed to develop a new generation of community leaders in the Lansing region. In 2020 and 2021, he also supported Women Working Wonders (W3) of the Sparrow Foundation as a Dapper Dad contestant with all proceeds supporting the mission of women’s health through the signature Dapper Dads Challenge fundraiser. Daniels has also served on the Trinity Enrichment & Development Center (TED Center) Board of Directors since the center’s founding in 2024.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Daniels attended Eastern Michigan University where he lettered as a starting defensive end for the Eagles football team and was the team representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Daniels earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from EMU in 2003 and a Master of Science in Sports Administration from MSU in 2005.

He and his wife, Tisha, have a daughter.