Jackson Free Press

Working at a small college or university in the athletic department means wearing many different hats. Colleges and universities at the Division II, Division III, or NAIA level don't have the budget to hire a lot of support staff and multiple positions like many colleges and universities at the Division I level do.

Millsaps College's new athletic director, Donald Brooks, is used to working at small colleges and universities. His hiring seems to be the perfect fit for the Majors' athletic program.

Athletics has been a part of Brooks' life since he played lacrosse at Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas. He also played football at Bellaire High School, where he was named honorable mention in the All-District awards.

Brooks spent his freshman year in college at the University of Alabama, where he played club lacrosse. He served as lacrosse instructor from 1999-2006 at Camp Atwater in Brookville, Mass.

Leaving Alabama, Brooks headed to Springfield College, where he played on the offensive line as a starter. In 2000, he was a member of a Springfield team that led the nation in rushing yards and set a Division III record for 427.5 rushing yards per game.

While at Springfield, Brooks majored in business management and minored in English. He also served as college mentor for the Team of Champions Foundation, a youth development nonprofit, in Houston.

Brooks graduated in 2002 and took an internship with the Houston Texans of the NFL in its personnel, as a scouting assistant, and football operations departments. While working with the Texans, he also coached offensive and defensive lines at Scarborough High School.

After spending one year with the Texans and Scarborough, Brooks returned to Springfield to coach on the offensive line. While he was coaching at Springfield, he was the athletic director of New Leadership Charter School, also located in Springfield.

In 2006, Brooks joined Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., where he took on several roles. While there, he interned as football coach, assisted in athletic administration through a program the NCAA sponsored.

Brooks earned his master's degree in sports management from Springfield College in 2008. That same year, he was named assistant athletic director, assistant professor of physical education, assistant football coach and assistant lacrosse coach at Williams College.

The Houston native left Williams College in 2011 to take a position at Dartmouth College. Brooks' job at Dartmouth was as assistant director of athletics, and his primary duties were to assist with development of a research program, Dartmouth Peak Performance, to enhance the student-athlete performance.

Brooks was named this week the new athletic director of Millsaps College after spending the last five years at Dartmouth. His ability to work in several areas of athletics and his strong athletic background is a plus in his new position. He is also a member of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors.

"We are excited about working with Donnie to build on our record of athletic and academic excellence," Dr. Robert W. Pearigen, president of Millsaps, said in a release. "His record of work at Dartmouth and the other schools at which he's served demonstrates a commitment to helping scholar-athletes achieve success on the fields of play and in their fields of study."

It is believed that Brooks will begin his position on May 2.