Central Michigan hires Michael Alford as athletic director

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) Central Michigan has hired Michael Alford as its new athletic director.

The school announced Monday that the senior associate athletic director for administration and development at Oklahoma is replacing Dave Heeke, who was hired as Arizona's athletic director in April.

The 47-year-old Alford will start his new job in July. He has worked at Oklahoma for four-plus years.

Alford's previous stops include working as the Dallas Cowboys' senior director for corporate partnerships and Alabama's general manager of Crimson Tide Sports Marketing. He also worked at ESPN, USC and for the Cincinnati Bengals and the University of Cincinnati.