EBS STAFF
Montana State University Athletic Director Leon Costello has been named one of four 2023-24 Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
Costello received the honor during NACDA’s annual convention this week in Orlando, Florida. The national award recognizes 28 leaders across all collegiate divisions.
“It is an incredible honor to be recognized by NACDA,” Costello stated in an MSU release. “I truly believe this is an award for Bobcat Nation as a whole.”
MSU’s football program has reached six straight FCS playoffs and played for the national championship in 2021 and 2024. The men’s basketball team qualified for three consecutive NCAA tournaments, while the women’s team set a program record with 30 wins this season.
Montana State also claimed a Big Sky Conference Presidents’ Cup, two men’s All-Sports trophies and its first women’s All-Sports trophy. The Bobcats have swept all nine Brawl of the Wild Trophy Series titles since Costello’s arrival.
“Leon has added energy, focus, academic performance and an institutional sense of pride and belonging to MSU,” MSU President Waded Cruzado stated in the release. “We are proud to call Leon a Bobcat.”
On the facilities front, Costello has overseen the completion of the Bobcat Athletic Complex, renovations to Brick Breeden Fieldhouse and the near-complete Stark-Kennedy Indoor Athletic Center.
The university has also expanded athlete services, adding staff in sports psychology, nutrition, training and recovery. Student-athletes have posted a cumulative GPA above 3.0 for 46 consecutive semesters.
Before taking over at MSU, Costello held leadership roles at South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. He was named MSU’s 13th athletic director in 2016.
“The best is yet to come,” Costello said. “Thank you doesn’t say enough, but I am truly humbled by this honor and excited about our future.”
Costello joins more than 600 NACDA members who have earned AD of the Year honors since the award’s launch in 1998.
