When Nan Carney-DeBord arrived at Denison in 1976, she was a two-sport athlete with an interest in medical science and a plan to brighten smiles.
“I was intending to go into dentistry,” said Carney-DeBord ’80. “But I had a transformational experience while doing an internship coaching basketball at a local high school. I found out I could earn a living doing it.”
By the time Carney-DeBord returned to Denison in 2011, dentistry was a distant memory, but her energy, innovation, and culture-building initiatives brought appreciative smiles to Big Red athletic boosters.
Her 14-year tenure turned Denison into one of the NCAA’s best-run Division III programs and made it the envy of the North Coast Athletic Conference. News of Carney-DeBord’s decision to retire in spring 2025 as athletic director, associate vice president, and professor of health, exercise, and sports studies (HESS), has produced waves of praise for her time on The Hill.
“Our department has shown exponential growth with Nan at the helm,” said Gregg Parini, whose men’s and women’s swim and dive teams have combined to win five national titles since Carney-DeBord’s arrival. “It parallels and reflects the growth of the university under President Weinberg. Managing growth isn’t easy, and she’s done a great job of it.”
While playing basketball and field hockey at Denison, her future husband, Jack Carney-DeBord ’78, encouraged her to try coaching. Thoughts of pulling teeth and drilling cavities soon faded.
She enjoyed a terrific run at conference rival Ohio Wesleyan, where she became a tenured faculty member, a professor, and one of the winningest women’s basketball coaches in Division III history.
In 2011, Carney-DeBord came back to Denison to oversee the athletic department and the academic program that evolved into HESS.
“I had coached against Nan and had so much respect for her,” said deputy athletic director Sara Lee, a former Big Red basketball and volleyball coach. “Nan is a tireless worker and a visionary leader.”
The 2013 arrival of Weinberg, a former college hockey player, provided tremendous synergy for Carney-DeBord, who values “go people,” the kind who are bold and understand how athletics aligns with the liberal arts experience.
Denison has won 20 NCAC all-sports trophies, eight of which came on Carney-DeBord’s watch. During the 2023-24 school year, the Big Red qualified 10 teams for NCAA tournaments, and within the past eight months, the men’s soccer, baseball, and tennis teams have made historically deep tourney runs.
“I believe competitive athletics is a neutral space,” she said. “Our athletes aren’t any less competitive than Ohio State athletes. They have the internal need to express that competitiveness, and I want to provide that platform for them to be successful.”
When Carney-DeBord returned to Denison, the men’s and women’s golf teams did not have full-time coaches. Women’s fencing and men’s and women’s squash were not varsity sports. With her high-octane approach, she secured funding to rapidly expand the coaching staff.
Through department-wide initiatives, Carney-DeBord has changed the culture and put an emphasis on development and leadership for both coaches and athletes. The Mitchell Mission fosters intellectual growth and builds character, respect, and the ideals of inclusion among athletes. The pillars of the Knetzer Family Institute aim to improve academic achievement, sports performance, mental health, career preparation, positive conduct, and inclusion and belonging.
“Nan is a connector,” baseball coach Mike Deegan said. “She has a welcoming presence, and the athletes pick up on that. That’s one of her lasting legacies. A lot of people in her position are removed from the athletes. She’s just the opposite.”
Carney-DeBord has overseen the expansion and renovation of the Mitchell Center, the building of a new athletic complex, Kienzle-Hylbert Stadium, for the lacrosse and soccer teams, and significant upgrades to the softball and baseball fields.
In 2019, she was named Under Armor Division III Athletics Director of the Year and, two years later, was honored as the NCAA Division III Women Leaders in College Sports Nike Executive of the Year.
“To say that Nan has been a transformational athletic director would be an understatement,” Weinberg said. “Under Nan’s leadership, Denison has developed one of the premier Division III athletic programs. I have immense gratitude for the legacy Nan leaves behind and respect for the work she has done on behalf of the college.”
The Big Red hopes to send her off in the spring with a sixth consecutive NCAC all-sports trophy. She made sure to speak with every head coach before notifying the entire staff of her retirement through email.
The athletic director who attends most major university functions in her flashy red suit — “she bleeds Denison colors,” Deegan says — shared a personal story in the email. She bought a pair of red shoes on the day she accepted the Denison job and purchased a new pair before the start of every school year.
Now, it’s up to the university to fill those shoes.