Staff Directory

Josh Brooks

Title:
J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics
Phone:
706-542-9037
Email:

J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks has led the University of Georgia Athletic Association through historic success since being named the program's 12^th athletic director on Jan. 6, 2021.

Under his leadership, the Bulldogs have earned nine team national championships, 14 Southeastern crowns and 32 individual national titles, while setting new academic and fundraising standards each year.
Brooks continues to build Georgia Athletics into a national academic and athletic powerhouse, leading the Bulldogs to top-10 finishes in the Learfield Directors’ Cup in two of the last four seasons, including a No. 8 national ranking in 2026.
The latest high mark came after a banner year for the Bulldogs that included three national championships and various school records, including back-to-back SEC titles in football for the first time since 1980-82, new single-season win records for both men’s basketball and baseball, a SEC regular season and tournament championship in baseball and national titles in women’s tennis and women’s track and field.

The GymDogs posted their best finish in over a decade under the leadership of head coach Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, while Keidane McAlpine led Georgia soccer to a fourth-straight NCAA tournament appearance.

Additional highlights include football national championships in 2021 and 2022, a trio of national championships in women's tennis, the first-ever national title for women's track and field, and a pair of equestrian national championships.

In 2023, Georgia earned the school’s highest mark in 18 years with a No. 7, as Brooks become a finalist for the Sports Business Journal’s Athletic Director of the Year.

For all his success, Brooks has also become a leading voice in college athletics. He serves on the SEC Executive Committee, is vice chair of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee and is chair of the NCAA Football Practice and Playing Seasons Committee.

With a focus on maintaining the University’s mission of excellence in teaching and learning, Bulldog student-athletes have excelled academically. Recently, UGA swimmers Abby McCulloh (2025) and Callie Dickinson (2023) garnered the prestigious H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award – the highest honor earned by a student-athlete in the SEC.  Women’s tennis star Dasha Vidmanova – only the third female tennis player to win the NCAA’s triple crown – was named the 2025 recipient of the Honda Award and was the Roy F. Kramer SEC Female Athlete of the Year.

From academic and athletic success to historic fundraising and a multitude of facility projects, Brooks has continued to sustain Georgia’s standing as a national powerhouse. The Georgia Bulldog Club set new fundraising records in each of the last three years with $86.4 million raised in 2022, $102 million in 2023 and $113 million in 2024.

Brooks has overseen substantial facility upgrades that include the brand-new Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Tennis Courts, improvements to the south side of Sanford Stadium, a $45 million renovation to Foley Field, a $38 million upgrade to the Jack Turner Softball Stadium, a new $1.8 million men’s and women’s basketball weight room as well as expansive updates to Stegeman Coliseum and a renovation project in the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.

Georgia also built a new, state-of-the-art track and field locker room and a one-of-a-kind track facility off South Milledge Avenue is nearing completion.

While facility upgrades have been at the forefront, Georgia’s emphasis on Name, Image, and Likeness has further enhanced its commitment to the student-athlete experience. Georgia Athletics was one of the first departments to announce a comprehensive NIL program, which provides wide-ranging education, multi-media management tools and brand-building training. The Bulldogs became one of the first schools to build an in-house NIL department with an Athlete Manager to help student-athletes navigate this space.

Under his guidance, Georgia re-branded the mental health and performance department, bringing in a new full-time director and an additional clinical counselor as well as adding sports psychology services for every team.

Before returning to UGA in 2016 as Executive Associate Director of Athletics, Brooks served as Deputy Athletics Director at the University of Louisiana Monroe from 2015-16 and Director of Athletics at Millsaps College from 2014-15. He also served in capacities as Director of Football Operations (2008-11) and Assistant and Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations (2012-14) in his previous stint at UGA.

A native of Hammond, La., Brooks also served as director of football operations at the University of Louisiana-Monroe beginning in 2004. He gained experience as a student at Louisiana State University, working as an equipment manager and a student assistant coach.

Brooks graduated from LSU (’02) with a degree in Kinesiology and completed his master’s degree in Sport Management from UGA (‘14). He and his wife, Lillie, have twin sons, Jackson and James, born in July of 2009 and a third son, Davis, born in March of 2012.

He and his wife Lillie have become a vital part of the Athens community. On January 20, 2021, just two weeks after becoming Athletic Director, Brooks pledged $100,000 to create a need-based scholarship to support UGA students from Athens-Clarke County. His gift created a Georgia Commitment Scholarship (GCS), adding to the more than 550 endowed, need-based scholarships created under the GCS program since its launch in January 2017.