Marcus Hilliard - Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Marcus Hilliard

Title:
Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff
Email:
Phone:
(865) 974-7660

Updated: September 2023

A Tennessee graduate, Marcus Hilliard returned to Tennessee as a member of the executive leadership team in February of 2021 after administrative tenures at Austin Peay and Central Florida. He serves his alma mater in the role of Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff.

Hilliard oversees Tennessee Athletics’ human resources and NIL efforts while working closely with Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White on strategic planning and other special projects. He is the sport administrator for the track & field and cross country/distance programs and also serves on the Tennessee Athletics executive leadership team.

In August of 2023, he was selected to the Leadership Knoxville Class of 2024. Also, in November of 2022, Hilliard earned a spot on the University of Tennessee's Volunteer 40 Under 40 listing.

During the 2021-22 academic year, Hilliard oversaw the development of Tennessee Athletics' comprehensive five-year strategic plan, Rise Glorious. The living document was a result of months of deliberate and thoughtful study and collaboration by working committees comprised of Tennessee campus and athletics staff and alumni as well as active student-athlete representation.

From the fall of 2018 until his hiring at Tennessee, Hilliard served as senior associate AD for external affairs at Austin Peay, where he oversaw external operations that included communications, development, marketing and fan experience, branding and licensing, ticketing, video production and social media. He also served as sport administrator for the Governors’ football and baseball programs. Hilliard worked closely with APSU’s corporate sponsors and served as the department’s contact for branding and licensing.

During his tenure at Austin Peay, the Governors secured the two highest fundraising years in athletics history—highlighted by the two largest major gifts in university history—won their first conference championship in football since 1977 and hosted the largest crowd ever for a home football contest in school history.

Beginning in 2016, Hilliard worked alongside White at UCF as director of constituent relations before his promotion to assistant AD for administration in the summer of 2017. White's chief of staff at UCF, Hilliard also shouldered development and corporate sponsorship responsibilities for the Knights' athletics department. During his time at UCF, Hilliard played an integral role in helping to achieve consecutive record-breaking years in fundraising, aided in part by the football program's 13-0 finish in 2017 that was capped with a Peach Bowl triumph over Auburn.

Prior to his two years at UCF, Hilliard spent seven years at Duke, where he ultimately served as director of the Iron Dukes Varsity Club.

Hilliard's father, David Cutcliffe, currently serves as the special assistant to the commissioner for football relations at the Southeastern Conference. Cutcliffe previously served as the head football coach at Duke (2008-21) and was a longtime assistant and offensive coordinator at Tennessee (1982-98, 2005-07) and head coach at Ole Miss (1998-2004).

A native of Oxford, Mississippi, Hilliard earned his bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from Tennessee in 2009 while also serving as a student equipment manager for the football program. He completed his master's degree in Sport Management from NC State in 2015 and is currently working to complete a PhD in Higher Education Administration from Tennessee. He currently serves as a board of directors member for both the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley and the McLendon Foundation. He is also a member of NACDA, NACMA and NAADD.