Florida Tech Panthers

Jamie Joss enter his fifth season at Director of Athletics after being appointed on June 7, 2021. He is the sixth director in Florida Tech Athletics history.

Joss is responsible for the administration of all facets of the athletic program, providing vision, leadership and strategic planning, while serving as a member of the University Executive Cabinet and reports to the President. 

During his time at Florida Tech: 

Academics

• Now refer to athletes as scholar-athletes to align with the academic rigor and pursuits exceeding that of just a student.
• Athletic program has maintained a grade point average (GPA) of 3.1 or better 
  • 2024-25: Fall (3.44); Spring (3.45)
  • 2023-24: Fall (3.33); Spring (3.35)
  • 2022-23: Fall (3.18); Spring (3.25)
  • 2021-22: Fall (3.18); Spring (3.23)
• Scholar-Athletes Achieving Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll
  • 2024-25: Fall 69 (34 with 4.0 GPAs); Spring 190 (56 with 4.0 GPAs).
  • 2023-24: Fall 69 (23 with 4.0 GPAs); Spring 152 (47 with 4.0 GPAs).
  • 2022-23: Fall 53 (17 with 4.0 GPAs); Spring 145 (38 with 4.0 GPAs)
  • 2021-22: Fall 52 (13 with 4.0 GPAs); Spring 145 (35 with 4.0 GPAs)
• NCAA Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence
  • 2024: For the second consecutive year, Florida Tech earned this distinction posting a 92% Academic Success Rate for scholar-athletes graduating within six years of eligibility for the incoming class of 2017. The Panthers were one of 44 schools and among five Sunshine State Conference schools to be present on the list where Tech finished in the top 12 of all Division II institutions.
  • 2023: For the first time since 2010, Florida Tech registered above 90% academic success rate (ASR) at 92% for the six-year cohort from 2016-22 and joined 44 schools in NCAA D2 recognized for posting an of 90% or better.

Competitive Success

• 2024-25
  • Women's Soccer Advanced to NCAA South Region Tournament and captured the SSC Regular Season and Tournament titles.
  • Women's Volleyball Advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history.
• 2023-24
  • Women's Soccer Advanced to NCAA Final Four after winning the NCAA South Region Championship and were SSC Regular season co-champions.
  • Men's Soccer Advanced to the NCAA Final Four after winning the NCAA Super Region 2 Championship.
  • Men's Rowing Varsity 4+, for the first time in program history, stood on the podium at the IRA National Championships taking home the bronze medal.
  • Men's Lacrosse earned its first SSC Tournament Berth finishing as the third-seed in the regular season.
• 2022-23
  • Men's Soccer advanced to the NCAA Super Region 2 tournament after winning the SSC Tournament crown. 
• 2021-22
  • Women's Soccer won the NCAA South Region Championship.

Athletic Department

• Launched rebranding of athletic department mission, vision, and values in alignment with the University mission with a culture committee comprised of three head coaches, and two staff members, which included review with all athletic staff members for approval. 
  • Mission Statement: Florida Tech athletics develops athletes into scholars, champions, and leaders prepared to become global influencers in their relentless pursuit of greatness.
  • Vision Statement: Florida Tech strives to lead the Sunshine State Conference in scholar-athlete academic success, fielding highly competitive athletic programs that bring pride to the University, uniting the campus, alumni, and the Space Coast through athletic achievement and community service.
  • Core Values: Sweat Equity - Outwork, Outlearn, Outperform; Grit & Growth - We can, We will, We find a way; Build Your Legacy - Ask, Absorb, Adapt, Achieve.
  • Branding: Scholars-Champions-Leaders & Fortis (strong, brave) Teneo (to keep on, persist, persevere).
• Through a coordinated effort between the university's marketing and creative services teams, the Department of Athletics and Mongoose Sports, led the creation of a new visual identity for athletics including a new Pete the Panther mascot outfit, a new Panther Athletics logo and word marks which replace the athletic logos created in 2019.
• Reviewed all Athletic Department Policies & Procedures, developed an Athletic Program Strategic Plan and Athletics Master Plan.

Facilities

• Completed the installation of artificial turf on Stottler Field and new artificial turf of Varsity Training Center (VTC) practice field and new netting around Stottler Field in the Summer of 2023. The fields were developed without permanent field lines and utilize a robotic field liner to transition hte field lines from soccer to lacrosse on Stottler in their championship seasons and transition the lines on the VTC Field during their non-championship seasons. Shaw Legion NXT 2.0 synthetic turf, a hybrid system that offers a realistic aesthetic and durability. The infill consists of Shaw Sports Turf's most popular infill material, Geofill which is 100% natural and plays naturally, resulting in a perfect balance of Vertical Deformation, Rotational Resistance, and Energy Restitutio. The Geofill infill is made of coconut husks and fibers, which is a rapidly renewable resource and requires much less water than natural grass, resulting in significant levels of conservation.
• Completed the remodel of the former VTC football locker room creating two locker rooms with a female locker room housing women's lacrosse, women's soccer and women's softball, and male locker room housing baseball, men's lacrosse, and men's soccer.  
• Installed a new video scoreboard at Stottler Field.
• Upgraded all Clemente Center fitness equipment for all students, faculty, and staff (including providing free membership access to all faculty and staff).
• Upgraded all fitness equipment for the VTC varsity weight room.
• Completed Sports Medicine & Performance expansion in the VTC with treatment areas and office space, and equipment upgrades including new training tables, cold therapy tub, sport performance velocity based training software and baseline testing equipment
• Leased new fleet of golf carts for athletic transport of guests and prospects, and for game operations and sports medicine.  
• Utilize two robotic lawn mowers for daily mowing of Seminick/Hall Baseball field and Bottge Softball Field.

Mental Wellness

• In 2022 and prior to current NCAA Division II Mental Health Requirements, Joss partnered with Training the Complete Athlete (TCA) mental wellness services to provide Athlete Mental Health First aid to the entire athletic staff to help identify and support mental health issues in their scholar-athletes, developing a coaching style and team culture that best support the modern athlete. TCA met with campus counseling and sports medicine staff about what to look for and ways to communicate, and best practices for referring scholar-athletes to counseling. TCA also met with all athletes covering anxiety, depression, suicide, and basic coping skills, including holding individual team meetings to see where each team was with their mental health, and continue to provide individual sessions and group counseling which is available 24/7.
• In 2025, formed new partnership with The Zone which provides athlete mood tracking as an early alert for mental wellness challenges, personalized insights to help athletes stay on top of their well-being and drive performance, customized wellness content including visualization, mindfulness, nutrition and many other areas based on the individual athlete's needs, and ability to connect with over 75 external clinicians for mental wellness or mental sports performance sessions.

Fiscal Management

• Completed a full review of entire athletic budget including personnel, operations, and athletic scholarships to ensure equal treatment.
• Developed a zero-based budget forecasting tool for all sports teams to complete each year to justify resources for their program including schedule development.

NCAA 

• Joss has served on the NCAA DII Men’s Soccer National Committee (2022-25) and served as the chair (2023-25).

Prior to arriving at Florida Tech, Joss served as the Director of Athletics at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia since 2015. After his arrival at the college, he orchestrated the rebranding of the athletic department with the development of the program's mission statement Developing Excellence through Education, Engagement, Character and Competition. The rebranding also included a new athletics logo and a new athletics website, SenatorNation.com. 
 
During his time at Davis & Elkins, Joss oversaw the addition of 10 intercollegiate sports, including men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field, acrobatics & tumbling, triathlon, women’s golf and men’s wrestling, which raised the sport total to 24. This led to an increase in student-athlete enrollment of almost 85% over his five years, from 222 in the Fall of 2015 to over 400 in the Fall of 2020. In the Fall of 2018, Joss steered Davis & Elkins towards a successful bid for membership into the Mountain East Conference.
 
Joss led advancement efforts at Davis & Elkins that resulted in facility upgrades for Nuttall Field (soccer/lacrosse), Harpertown Baseball Field and a new student-athlete fitness center totaling more than $575,000 and resourced through private funding and other fundraising activities. Additionally, he helped raise $118,000 in alumni donations for the Davis & Elkins Highland Scholar Program during the department’s Spring Golf Classic.
 
Academically, Davis & Elkins thrived under Joss’ leadership. The athletic program maintained a 3.0 or better grade point average and received the NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence for the department having an Academic Success Rate of 90 percent or higher. The athletic department had at least the valedictorian and salutatorian during his time there, including both honors in the same year during his tenure, in 2017 and 2021.
 
In the Fall of 2020, 114 Davis & Elkins student-athletes earned academic honors from the college, including 53 making the President’s List with 4.0 GPA and 61 on the Dean’s List with a 3.6 GPA or better. This spring, 119 student-athletes received academic honors with 51 making the President’s List and 68 on the Dean’s List. 
 
Joss developed a strategic plan at Davis & Elkins that focused on assessing the department’s athletic scholarship and operation budgets. Additionally, in 2016, he established a community engagement program that aligned sports programs with local non-profits organizations. Since the program’s launch, the athletic department has completed over 3,000 community service hours every year, including 4,265 hours in 2019-20 which ranked 10th in NCAA Division II. The Davis & Elkins athletic department was recognized as a finalist for the NCAA DII Award of Excellence in 2018 for its Elkins City Cleanup project, a day of service as part of the athletic year kickoff event in August. On that day, over 300 student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators took to the streets of Elkins, to serve the community by cleaning up the city.
 
In addition to his duties as an athletic director, Joss served as an adjunct professor in Sport Management and a Sport Science Instructor at Davis & Elkins. He also developed a First-Year Student-Athlete Enrichment course as well as a Leadership Academy for upperclassmen. 
 
Prior to his time at Davis & Elkins, Joss served in the same position at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon from 2012 to 2015. Over his few years at the college, the athletic department saw total student-athlete enrollment increase by over 68%, and retention rate by over 85%. He also oversaw improvements to the college’s gymnasium, fitness center and athletic training room with new equipment and enhancements.
 
From 2007 to 2011, Joss held the position of Vice President for Operations and Sales at SIDEARM Sports, a website development company based in Syracuse, New York. In that role, he directed all sales efforts for corporate, non-profit, university and athletic websites and in just a few years positioned the company as the No. 1 provider for collegiate athletic websites, landing 477 clients in four years. 
 
Joss started his career in athletics in 1996 as the Assistant Director of Athletics and Head Tennis Coach at St. Andrews College. He then worked at Lake Superior State University as Director of Sports Information/Marketing and Assistant Golf Coach before moving on to High Point University to serve as the Sports Information Director. Joss served as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at Colgate University for two years and then had stints at Rochester Institute of Technology as the Director of Sports Information and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the role of Director of Athletic Communications before advancing his career at SIDEARM Sports.
 
A native of Ontario, New York, Joss graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport Management, Administration and Marketing from Bowling Green State University in 1991. He earned a Master of Sports Science in Sport Management from the United States Sports University USSU) in 2009. In 2018, he finished a certification in NCAA/NFL Athlete Development in Management and Leadership Skills from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Aresty Institute. Joss is currently completing a Doctor of Education in Sport Management with an emphasis in Sports Theory at USSU. 
 
Joss and his wife, Jodi, have three sons, Jansen (18), Jace (16) and Jade (13).