MOBILE, Ala. – South Alabama Athletics has named Jack MacDonald its Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications & Creative Strategy.

MacDonald joins the Jaguars after five years at Southern Miss, where he most recently served as Assistant Athletic Director of Athletic Communications. He brings experience in athletics communications, digital content, social media strategy and NCAA postseason media operations.

"I am incredibly thankful and honored to join South Alabama and the Jaguar family," MacDonald said. I am looking forward to working with our staff, coaches, and student-athletes to elevate the South Alabama brand both locally and nationally. I want to thank Daniel McCarthy and the leadership team for giving me this opportunity, and I'm excited to play a role in the continued climb of this department. My family and I could not be more excited to make Mobile and the South Alabama community home."

MacDonald returned to Southern Miss in August 2021 as Director of Athletic Communications, serving as the primary contact for men's basketball and women's golf and the secondary contact for football. He was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director in February 2024. In December 2024, MacDonald was named a College Sports Communicators 30 Under 30 honoree, recognizing his contributions as an emerging professional in athletics communications.

At Southern Miss, MacDonald helped guide the department's social media strategy and expand its digital reach. Since August 2021, the men's basketball program's combined following on Instagram and X grew by 207 percent, including a 332 percent increase on Instagram. Across the main athletics, football and men's basketball accounts, the combined following on those platforms increased by 72 percent.

MacDonald also guided content strategy for Southern Miss' transition to the Sun Belt Conference in 2022. He served as the department's lead contact for its website redesign on SIDEARM Sports' NextGen platform and helped launch SouthernMade.TV, an in-house home for athletics content.

His postseason experience includes serving as Regional Media Coordinator for the NCAA Hattiesburg Baseball Regionals in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026, along with the 2022 Hattiesburg Super Regional.

Before returning to Southern Miss, MacDonald spent a year with the American Volleyball Coaches Association as its Social Media & E-Commerce Specialist. In that role, he served as a liaison to NCAA Division II volleyball coaches and distributed the association's national coaches polls and National Player of the Week awards.

MacDonald began his athletics communications career as a graduate assistant at Southern Miss from August 2018 to May 2020, serving as the primary contact for volleyball, beach volleyball and women's tennis.

A native of West Dundee, Ill., MacDonald earned his bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State in 2018. He earned his master's degree in sport management from Southern Miss, along with a certificate in sport security.

"We're excited to welcome Jack and his family to Mobile and the University of South Alabama community," Athletics Director Daniel McCarthy said. "His experience, creativity, and passion for the work made him the perfect addition to our leadership team. I'm confident Jack will be a tremendous asset as we continue to enhance the experience of our student-athletes, support the success of our coaches, and strengthen the way we tell our story." 

MacDonald and his wife, Brooke, have a son, Watson.

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