University of Arizona Vice President and Director of Athletics Dave Heeke announced the appointment of Orville Jennings III as the department's new Senior Associate A.D. for Operations in August of 2023. Jennings oversees all facility management and game operations while also serving on Arizona Athletics' Executive Leadership Team. He came to Tucson after five years overseeing and managing game operations and events at the University of Colorado.
Jennings began his tenure in Boulder in July of 2018 when he was hired as Assistant A.D. for CU Events Center and Operations. He served in that position for two years before being promoted to Associate A.D. for Game Operations and Events in July of 2020. His duties as a member of Colorado Athletics included oversight of all game day and event operations as well as management of the CU Events Center and other capital projects. Jennings was also the primary operations contacts for the Buffaloes' football and men's basketball programs in addition to serving as sport supervisor for CU's men's and women's golf teams.
Prior to joining the Buffaloes, Jennings spent three seasons as the head of facilities and event operations at Central Michigan University. He served on the athletics department's senior leadership team while playing a key role in all athletic capital projects, football gameday management as well as overseeing game operations for gymnastics. Jennings previously spent the 2009-10 academic year at CMU as the point of contact for all sport camp operations.
His first full-time position was at Wake Forest where he was promoted twice during his five-year tenure. His time in Winston-Salem culminated with his appointment as the Director of Event Management and Facilities where he worked with a plethora of programs that included football, men's basketball, men's soccer, women's gold and track and field.
Jennings is a 2008 graduate of Tiffin University in Ohio where he earned his bachelor's degree in Sports Management. He completed his Master's in Sport Administration at Central Michigan in 2010. He and his wife, Laura, have one daughter named Josi.
