Skip to Main Content
Boston University
  • Bostonia
  • BU Today
  • The Brink
  • University Publications

    • Bostonia
    • BU Today
    • The Brink
  • School & College Publications

    • The Record
Other Publications
BU Today
  • Sections
News, Opinion, Community

The newest team on Babcock Street: three associate athletic directors

Athletics Department's reorganization shores up student services, communication

There have been some major changes in the BU varsity sports scene during the past 15 months — and not just with the opening of Agganis Arena and the upgrading of women’s hockey from club to varsity status. A new senior administrative team is now in place as well.

In August, Drew Marrochello was named associate athletic director for internal affairs. He joins Nancy Lyons, who was appointed senior associate athletic director for compliance and student services in June 2004, and Rebecca Collet, who last April stepped into the newly established position of associate athletic director for marketing communications.

“We’ve basically split the department into three units: compliance and student services, external affairs, and internal affairs,” says Mike Lynch, assistant vice president and director of athletics in the Department of Athletics. “This creates a more traditional operation that allows me to rely on three senior-level managers rather than having everyone in the department reporting to me directly.”

Lynch says the new alignment lets him pursue a more external focus in his role as athletics director. “In trying to raise the profile of our athletic program locally as well as regionally,” he says, “I’m in the community and visiting with alumni quite a bit, which means that I have to depend on other people more to run the day-to-day operations of the organization. I think the new organization is working quite well.”

Lyons (SED’89), who had been associate director of athletics and the senior woman administrator at Northwestern University since 1996, is no stranger to BU’s athletics department, having served in several management positions from 1984 to 1993. She did postgraduate work in counseling at Southern Connecticut State University from 1994 to 1996. At BU, Lyons oversees the department’s compliance with the rules of the NCAA and the Terriers’ athletic conferences, a role filled previously by Averill Haines, who retired after serving the athletics department for 30 years.

Before joining BU, Collet was principal of Collet Communications, LLC, a private firm she founded in 2004. Prior to that, she was director of corporate affairs for John Hancock Financial Services, taking the lead in communication strategies for a number of high-profile business initiatives, including work related to the company’s 2004 merger with Manulife Financial, as well as promoting and publicizing such John Hancock sports marketing programs as its Boston Marathon and Olympic Games sponsorships. At BU her responsibilities include the integration of a new Terriers brand identity, oversight of all marking and public relations initiatives, including the development of the new GoTerriers.com Web site, and being the primary contact with Agganis Arena on basketball- and hockey-related activities.

Marrochello had been director of athletics at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., since 1997 and was responsible for overseeing all phases of the college’s 14 sports programs, including personnel management, fundraising, development, and preparation of the annual budget, as well as policy formation and implementation. Administratively, he restructured the college’s academic-athletic coordination system, which resulted in a 92 percent retention rate.

“All three of these administrators have brought a wealth of experience and knowledge into their positions,” says Lynch. “I am very confident that our senior management team can compare with the best at the Division I level, which bodes well for our student-athletes.”

Explore Related Topics:

  • Men's Sports
  • Staff
  • Women's Sports
  • Share this story

Share

The newest team on Babcock Street: three associate athletic directors

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Brian Fitzgerald

    Brian Fitzgerald Profile

Latest from BU Today

  • Rowing

    BU Rowing Teams Prepare for IRA National Championship Regatta

  • Things-to-do

    To Do Today: Beacon Hill Art Walk

  • In the City

    Getting to Know Your Neighborhood: Davis Square

  • Things-to-do

    To Do Today: The Light in the Piazza

  • Jobs

    Job-Hunting as a New Graduate: What You Need to Know

  • Education

    What’s Behind the Rise in Violence Against Teachers?

  • Fine Arts

    How I Made This: Jacob Whitchurch (CFA’26)

  • Things-to-do

    To Do Today: Seaport Sweat

  • Film & TV

    Did You Win Free Tickets to See Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning Tonight?

  • COMMENCEMENT 2025

    Experience BU’s 2025 Commencement from a Terrier Point of View

  • Obituaries

    Remembering Leslie Epstein, Pillar of BU’s Creative Writing Program

  • Voices & Opinion

    POV: This Memorial Day, Remember BU’s Fallen Heroes by Visiting the New Online Honor Wall

  • University News

    23 Charles River Campus Faculty Promoted to Full Professor

  • Commencement 2025

    Photos: A Look Back at BU’s Commencement

  • Theatre

    It’s “Prom Season” at Wheelock Family Theatre

  • Things-to-do

    Six Spots to Check Out This Memorial Day in Boston

  • Commencement 2025

    Video: Class of 2025: What We’ll Take with Us as We Begin a New Chapter

  • Health & Medicine

    What Does Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis Mean?

  • Watch Now

    BU’s Class of 2025: What Are Your Plans After Graduating?

  • Fitness

    BU Sports Rehab Therapists on Jayson Tatum’s Achilles Injury and Recovery Ahead

Section navigation

  • Sections
  • Must Reads
  • Videos
  • Series
  • Close-ups
  • Archives
  • About + Contact
Get Our Email

Explore Our Publications

Bostonia

Boston University’s Alumni Magazine

BU Today

News, Opinion, Community

The Brink

Pioneering Research from Boston University

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Weibo
  • TikTok
© Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
© 2025 Trustees of Boston UniversityPrivacy StatementAccessibility
Boston University
Notice of Non-Discrimination: Boston University prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex or gender, age, national origin, ethnicity, shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, military service, marital, parental, veteran status, or any other legally protected status in any and all educational programs or activities operated by Boston University. Retaliation is also prohibited. Please refer questions or concerns about Title IX, discrimination based on any other status protected by law or BU policy, or retaliation to Boston University’s Executive Director of Equal Opportunity/Title IX Coordinator, at titleix@bu.edu or (617) 358-1796. Read Boston University’s full Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Search
Boston University Masterplate
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
The newest team on Babcock Street: three associate athletic directors
0
share this