Jim Cole
| Title: | Director of Athletics |
| Phone: | (478) 301-2737 |
| Email: | cole_jm@mercer.edu |
Jim Cole assumed duties as Director of Athletics for Mercer University on July 1, 2010. Prior to being named Director of Athletics, Cole served as Mercer’s Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Affairs, heading up the Mercer Athletics Foundation while also serving as a State Representative in Georgia and working in private business.
During his time as Director of Athletics, Cole has imparted visionary leadership which has helped vault Mercer into the upper echelon of Division I athletic programs. Since his arrival, Mercer student-athletes have made NCAA Tournament appearances in baseball, men’s basketball, men’s golf, women’s golf and women’s soccer. Under Cole’s watch in 2014, the Mercer’s men’s basketball team made a splash on the national landscape with a stunning 78-71 defeat of No. 6 Duke in the NCAA Tournament second round.
Cole’s tenure has seen numerous postseason successes from the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Mercer men’s basketball is the only program in the nation to win a game in each of the four postseason tournaments – CIT (2012), NIT (2013), NCAA (2014) and CBI (2015), while the women have participated in two WBI Tournaments including a semifinal berth in 2015.
Cole helped Mercer Athletics grow to 18 intercollegiate programs with the introduction of football, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, track & field and sand volleyball during his tenure. Most notably, he played key role in the university’s revival of the football program, which took the field in the fall of 2013 after a 72-year hiatus from the gridiron. The Bears went on to post a sterling 10-2 record in their first season back, setting an NCAA record for single-season wins by a Division I start-up program.
Numerous facility upgrades have also taken place under his watch, including the construction of the Moye Family Football & Lacrosse complex as well as the installation of a state-of-the art LED video scoreboards at the football, basketball and baseball venues. Under Cole’s guidance, Mercer has also secured funds for upcoming major renovations to the program’s baseball, football and soccer facilities.
A native of Augusta, Cole came to Mercer as a student-athlete on academic scholarship in 1990 and lettered in baseball from 1990 to 1993. He was recipient of the Charles C. Morgan Outstanding Student-Athlete Award and graduated with honors from the University in 1993.
Cole was drafted as a pitcher by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993 and was named the franchise’s Organizational Pitcher of the Year and a finalist for the TOPPS Minor League Player of the Year Award in 1994.
After an injury ended his professional baseball career, he returned to Mercer in 1997 to earn his MBA while serving as a graduate assistant and pitching coach for the baseball team. Following his graduation, he served as pitching coach during the 1998 season for the Madison Black Wolves minor league team in Madison, Wis., giving him the unique distinction of having coached and played in both the collegiate and professional ranks.
Cole then entered private business before being elected to the Georgia House of Representatives, where he served from 2004-2010.
He served as the legislative voice under the Gold Dome for the constituents of House District 125 - which includes Jasper County and parts of Monroe, Jones and Lamar Counties. His legislative duties included membership on the Appropriations Committee. In addition, Cole served on the Rules, Judiciary Non-Civil and State Planning and Community Affairs Committees.
Gov. Sonny Perdue appointed Cole to serve as senior administration floor leader in early 2009, having served formerly as assistant floor leader from 2007-2008.
After leaving the political arena to assume the role as Mercer's A.D., Cole was called on to continue his commitment of service to the people of the state of Georgia. Starting in 2010, he began a three-year post on the state’s Department of Transportation Board after being elected by his former constituents in Georgia’s House and Senate as representative of the 8th Congressional District.
Cole is an active community leader throughout the state, serving as a board member for local chapters of the Salvation Army and Methodist Children’s Home. A graduate of Leadership Georgia, he is also a member of Forsyth United Methodist Church.
Cole is married to the former Gaylyn Lawson, a coach and teacher at Macon’s Stratford Academy. The couple resides in Forsyth with their two children, Caroline and Lawson.
