Matt Kilcullen, Jr. was named the Director of Athletics at Mercy College on July 8, 2014, and officially began his tenure on July 28, 2014. Kilcullen was promoted to Assistant Vice President for Athletics in December 2022.
Kilcullen was named a 2022-23 NACDA Cushman & Wakefield Division II Athletics Director of the Year on March 27, 2023. He was one of four athletics directors to earn the award from Division II and became the first Mercy College Athletics Director to earn the award. Kilcullen was recognized for this achievement in conjunction with the 58th Annual NACDA & Affiliates Convention in Orlando on June 13, 2023.
Kilcullen has overseen the most successful era of Mercy athletics during the last nine years, leading a department that has posted over a 3.0 GPA in each semester. Mercy also earned the NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence for the first-time last year. The department has ranked in the top-20 nationally in Division II in community service in each of the last five years, including being ranked No. 2 nationally in 2021 and earning the ECC Community Cup. Mercy teams have made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances and won 12 ECC Championships in the last nine years.
Kilcullen has served on the NCAA Division II Championships Committee, Championship Appeals Subcommittee, PROP (Playing Rules Oversight Panel) and D2 ADA Board of Directors.
Kilcullen brings 35 years of experience in fundraising and building successful collegiate athletics programs, most recently as the Assistant Vice President of Athletic Fundraising at the Florida Institute of Technology, where he raised over $1 million between the 2014 Sporting Affair Fund Raiser and football program Founders Club. He also provided daily operational management of athletic fundraising for Florida Tech’s 22 sports, increased the Panther Club’s financial support, and brought multiple high-profile sports figures to various events as speakers.
Prior to his time at Florida Tech, Kilcullen spent two years as the Assistant Athletic Director at the University of North Florida, where he was also heavily involved in significant fundraising campaigns. He helped to triple the Osprey Club’s membership and organized various fundraising and alumni events.
Kilcullen also has an extensive background in men’s basketball, having served as the head men’s basketball coach at North Florida for 10 years, including during the school’s transition to Division I. He has also spent time at Western Kentucky University and Jacksonville University as a head coach and served as an assistant coach at Manhattan College, the University of Notre Dame and Siena College over his 31-year coaching career. In 1995, Kilcullen was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year at Western Kentucky University after receiving the same honor at Jacksonville University in 1994.
He completed his Master of Education degree in athletic administration at North Florida in December 2012 and earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Herbert H. Lehman College in the Bronx, where he was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. He is also a member of both the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
