Chris Massaro - Director of Athletics - Staff Directory - Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

Staff Directory

Chris Massaro

Title:
Director of Athletics
Email:
Phone:
898-2986

Updated August 1, 2025

Chris Massaro enters his 21st campaign at MTSU as the third longest tenured FBS AD in the country at their current school. Massaro was hired on April 8, 2005.

In March 2025, Massaro was appointed to the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee by the CFP Management Committee. He will serve on the prestigious 13-person selection committee for the next three football seasons.

During Massaro’s tenure, Middle Tennessee has realized its greatest athletic and academic successes as evidenced by the record-setting performances by all 17 sports.

Under his 20-year reign, the Blue Raiders have brought home 89 conference championships and three individual National Championships. There have been 45 championships in the Sun Belt Conference and 44 so far in Conference USA. The 44 titles are the most in CUSA since the Blue Raiders entered the league in 2013.

The Blue Raiders have realized tremendous growth with their athletic facilities. In 2021, Massaro launched ‘Build Blue’ which is a $100 million facility improvement plan that is transforming the entire athletic program. Prior to that announcement, more than $40 million in facility upgrades and capital improvements have come under Massaro’s watch, including the largest unrestricted gift in athletic department history and the most substantial gift in women’s athletics history. Among the capital improvements are:

- $66 million Student-Athlete Performance Center that opened in July 2025
- $8 million tennis center opened on Feb. 1, 2024
- $1.5 million Football Videoboard and Broadcasting Control Room (2024)
- Currently in design phase for Phase II of Master Plan Renovation which includes renovation to Murphy Center
- $4 million for Murphy Center smart glass windows
- New video boards for Murphy Center that are the largest in CUSA (October 2023)
- $17 million Murphy Center renovation (2014)
- $6 million for Reese Smith Jr. Baseball Stadium renovation
- $7.1 million new Adams Family Indoor Tennis Complex
- $4 million for new Dean A. Hayes Track and Soccer Stadium
- Football stadium renovations, including new turf, outdoor suites, an upgraded video board and new LED ribbon boards, Hendrix Club and the SRM Concrete Club.
- $1.1 million state-of-the-art men’s and women’s golf practice facility at The Grove Club
- $1.5 million for new sound system in Murphy Center
- $500,000 for softball stadium enhancements

Academic enhancement has also skyrocketed under Massaro’s leadership. Massaro inherited a football program with a national-low score of 812 and saw it increase to 990 (on a 1,000-point scale) in 2009. In November 2024, Middle Tennessee’s student-athletes posted a Graduation Success Rate of 94 percent which led CUSA. The Blue Raiders have set a school record in GSR 10 times in the last 11 years.

For the last 15 years, all 17 of Middle Tennessee's athletic teams have earned a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) of over 930. Football, men’s golf, women’s golf, volleyball, baseball, women’s basketball, women’s tennis, softball, and men’s cross country have each received NCAA Public Recognition Awards for being ranked in the top 10 percent of their sport.

Massaro’s success at Middle Tennessee can also be seen in his hiring practices. There has been a tremendous track record for hiring quality coaches with former head football coach Rick Stockstill, women’s head basketball coach Rick Insell, former men’s golf coaches Whit Turnbow and Brennan Webb, current men’s golf coach Mark McEntire and men’s tennis coach Jimmy Borendame – five Massaro hires – each earned Coach of the Year honors in their first seasons. In all, Massaro’s guidance has provided coaches with the resources to produce 89 conference titles, 62 NCAA team postseason appearances, the 2007 NCAA National Championship doubles team of Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom, two Conference Overall Athletes of the Year, four CUSA Athletes of the Year (3 female, 1 male) and 55 Coach of the Year awards.

Middle Tennessee can boast of a complete athletic department as evidenced by capturing six of a possible eight Sun Belt Conference All-Sports Trophies under Massaro. The Blue Raiders also have had their seven highest NACDA Cup finishes in school history during Massaro’s tenure with five appearances in the top 100 the last 10 years and being CUSA’s top team four times in a possible 11 years (most of any school during that span).

Along with growing the Middle Tennessee athletic program, Massaro has been instrumental on numerous national boards and committees. He was appointed to the NCAA Football Issues Committee in March 2008, served as a member of the prestigious NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee for the 2010-11 season, and was appointed to the NCAA Division I Leadership Council.

The Glenwood Springs, Colo., native earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 1983 and his master’s degree in sport administration from Ohio University in 1986. At UNC, Massaro was a five-year football team member.

Massaro is also heavily involved in community service projects and organizations. He is currently a member of the Noon Rotary Club and the Murfreesboro Tennis Commission. He has also served on the Rutherford County United Way Board, the City Golf Commission, the Red Cross Board, and the search committee for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce president. Massaro is also on the State of Tennessee Athletic Hall of Fame Board and is the chairman of the nominating committee.

Massaro and his wife, Cindy, have four grown children: Hank, Lainey, Rachel, and Ben.