USF hires Michael Kelly to be new athletic director

South Florida has hired Michael Kelly, the chief operating officer of the College Football Playoff, to be its new athletic director.

Kelly worked at Tampa, Florida-based USF as an associate athletic director from 2001 to 2002. He was also part of the committees that worked to bring the Final Four and the Super Bowl to Tampa in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

With the College Football Playoff, Kelly managed day-to-day operations, the site selection process for the national championship game and events associated with the title game.

Before coming to the College Football Playoff in 2012, Kelly was an associate commissioner at the Atlantic Coast Conference.

He replaces Mark Harlan, who left USF to become AD at Utah.