# College Athletics Staff by Conference

Across 1,098 NCAA athletic departments in 102 conferences, Whistle tracks 112,580 staff positions as of 27 Oct 2026: 48,557 coaching positions (43%) including 15,782 head coaches. The Big Ten has the most tracked staff (7,072 across 18 schools); the Big Ten has the largest average department (393 positions per school). 82% of positions have a published or inferred email.

_Data as of 27 Oct 2026._
Source: official athletics staff directories of 1,098 NCAA schools, read by Whistle on a rolling schedule. [Download the table as CSV](https://gowhistle.io/insights/college-athletics-staff-by-conference.csv).
_Canonical URL: https://gowhistle.io/insights/college-athletics-staff-by-conference_

## How many athletics staff does each NCAA conference have?

| Conference | Div. | Schools | Positions | Avg / school | Head coaches | All coaches | Ops | Video | Performance | Leadership | Email coverage |
| --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| [Big Ten](https://gowhistle.io/directory/big-ten) | Division I | 18 | 7,072 | 393 | 332 | 1,421 | 717 | 202 | 1,006 | 542 | 72% |
| [ACC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/acc) | Division I | 19 | 6,619 | 348 | 344 | 1,501 | 746 | 202 | 881 | 573 | 80% |
| [SEC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/sec) | Division I | 16 | 5,906 | 369 | 240 | 1,063 | 657 | 270 | 710 | 499 | 76% |
| [Big 12](https://gowhistle.io/directory/big-12) | Division I | 15 | 4,514 | 301 | 220 | 1,016 | 445 | 151 | 650 | 442 | 73% |
| [AAC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/aac) | Division I | 13 | 2,434 | 187 | 183 | 675 | 258 | 77 | 363 | 231 | 79% |
| [Sun Belt](https://gowhistle.io/directory/sun-belt) | Division I | 13 | 2,103 | 162 | 179 | 645 | 206 | 77 | 270 | 155 | 80% |
| [MAC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/mac) | Division I | 13 | 2,061 | 159 | 197 | 684 | 204 | 53 | 290 | 172 | 85% |
| [Big Sky](https://gowhistle.io/directory/big-sky) | Division I | 16 | 1,959 | 122 | 205 | 707 | 166 | 62 | 270 | 139 | 83% |
| [Atlantic 10](https://gowhistle.io/directory/atlantic-10) | Division I | 15 | 1,937 | 129 | 228 | 726 | 145 | 43 | 264 | 180 | 90% |
| [Ivy League](https://gowhistle.io/directory/ivy-league) | Division I | 8 | 1,925 | 241 | 217 | 774 | 208 | 20 | 272 | 145 | 93% |
| [Big East](https://gowhistle.io/directory/big-east) | Division I | 12 | 1,906 | 159 | 188 | 601 | 159 | 29 | 249 | 183 | 90% |
| [CAA](https://gowhistle.io/directory/caa) | Division I | 14 | 1,895 | 135 | 212 | 707 | 155 | 46 | 312 | 175 | 89% |
| [Pac-12](https://gowhistle.io/directory/pac-12) | Division I | 9 | 1,717 | 191 | 118 | 480 | 169 | 50 | 240 | 169 | 80% |
| [Patriot League](https://gowhistle.io/directory/patriot-league) | Division I | 10 | 1,613 | 161 | 195 | 675 | 142 | 32 | 222 | 123 | 88% |
| [Conference USA](https://gowhistle.io/directory/conference-usa) | Division I | 10 | 1,550 | 155 | 125 | 477 | 144 | 59 | 186 | 134 | 81% |
| [MVC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/mvc) | Division I | 13 | 1,517 | 117 | 165 | 543 | 133 | 33 | 197 | 116 | 86% |
| [ASUN](https://gowhistle.io/directory/asun) | Division I | 13 | 1,421 | 109 | 193 | 593 | 104 | 24 | 182 | 110 | 84% |
| [Summit League](https://gowhistle.io/directory/summit-league) | Division I | 11 | 1,385 | 126 | 158 | 508 | 137 | 27 | 203 | 125 | 91% |
| [Mountain West](https://gowhistle.io/directory/mountain-west) | Division I | 7 | 1,352 | 193 | 121 | 416 | 134 | 25 | 207 | 137 | 87% |
| [MAAC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/maac) | Division I | 13 | 1,308 | 101 | 236 | 674 | 68 | 11 | 172 | 109 | 92% |
| [Pennsylvania State Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/pennsylvania-state-athletic) | Division II | 17 | 1,253 | 74 | 248 | 648 | 36 | 4 | 114 | 41 | 78% |
| [Northern Sun Intercollegiate](https://gowhistle.io/directory/northern-sun-intercollegiate) | Division II | 15 | 1,222 | 81 | 193 | 613 | 46 | 5 | 161 | 69 | 84% |
| [WCC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/wcc) | Division I | 10 | 1,200 | 120 | 142 | 472 | 115 | 25 | 155 | 122 | 84% |
| [Big West](https://gowhistle.io/directory/big-west) | Division I | 10 | 1,161 | 116 | 138 | 448 | 84 | 9 | 142 | 105 | 92% |
| [Southland](https://gowhistle.io/directory/southland) | Division I | 11 | 1,161 | 106 | 123 | 436 | 90 | 31 | 180 | 87 | 79% |
| [Great Lakes Valley](https://gowhistle.io/directory/great-lakes-valley) | Division II | 15 | 1,159 | 77 | 258 | 643 | 24 | 4 | 108 | 68 | 81% |
| [SWAC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/swac) | Division I | 13 | 1,107 | 85 | 135 | 425 | 101 | 28 | 100 | 79 | 70% |
| [America East](https://gowhistle.io/directory/america-east) | Division I | 9 | 1,100 | 122 | 150 | 478 | 93 | 31 | 129 | 87 | 90% |
| [Southern Conference](https://gowhistle.io/directory/southern-conference) | Division I | 10 | 1,093 | 109 | 134 | 438 | 81 | 29 | 163 | 90 | 90% |
| [New England Small College Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/new-england-small-college-athletic) | Division III | 11 | 1,089 | 99 | 242 | 669 | 37 | 1 | 118 | 58 | 86% |
| [Horizon League](https://gowhistle.io/directory/horizon-league) | Division I | 12 | 1,076 | 90 | 150 | 466 | 76 | 11 | 169 | 97 | 86% |
| [Lone Star](https://gowhistle.io/directory/lone-star) | Division II | 18 | 1,039 | 58 | 190 | 449 | 19 | 5 | 107 | 80 | 82% |
| [Northeast Conference](https://gowhistle.io/directory/northeast-conference) | Division I | 10 | 1,020 | 102 | 185 | 506 | 66 | 18 | 123 | 56 | 83% |
| [South Atlantic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/south-atlantic) | Division II/Division III | 13 | 1,014 | 78 | 207 | 525 | 35 | 2 | 145 | 66 | 96% |
| [Other / unassigned](https://gowhistle.io/directory/other) | Division II/Division III | 22 | 991 | 45 | 236 | 574 | 35 | 4 | 123 | 50 | 88% |
| [Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association](https://gowhistle.io/directory/mid-america-intercollegiate-athletics-association) | Division II | 13 | 975 | 75 | 152 | 432 | 30 | 1 | 128 | 82 | 87% |
| [Rocky Mountain Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/rocky-mountain-athletic) | Division II | 15 | 949 | 63 | 178 | 513 | 26 | 3 | 136 | 62 | 82% |
| [Carolinas](https://gowhistle.io/directory/carolinas) | Division II | 16 | 933 | 58 | 251 | 519 | 29 | 2 | 114 | 47 | 91% |
| [College of Illinois & Wisconsin](https://gowhistle.io/directory/college-of-illinois-and-wisconsin) | Division III | 9 | 929 | 103 | 157 | 565 | 13 | 1 | 100 | 23 | 68% |
| [Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/great-lakes-intercollegiate-athletic) | Division II | 10 | 927 | 93 | 155 | 446 | 31 | 4 | 109 | 57 | 85% |
| [Centennial](https://gowhistle.io/directory/centennial) | Division III | 10 | 909 | 91 | 174 | 630 | 31 | 2 | 83 | 28 | 79% |
| [Ohio Valley](https://gowhistle.io/directory/ohio-valley) | Division I | 10 | 898 | 90 | 125 | 399 | 58 | 21 | 110 | 51 | 90% |
| [Presidents' Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/presidents-athletic) | Division III | 12 | 897 | 75 | 189 | 538 | 25 | 5 | 68 | 22 | 79% |
| [Northern Athletics Collegiate](https://gowhistle.io/directory/northern-athletics-collegiate) | Division III | 13 | 885 | 68 | 202 | 615 | 36 | 2 | 69 | 21 | 74% |
| [Middle Atlantic Commonwealth](https://gowhistle.io/directory/middle-atlantic-commonwealth) | Division III | 9 | 876 | 97 | 167 | 552 | 25 | 3 | 68 | 21 | 79% |
| [Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/minnesota-intercollegiate-athletic) | Division III | 11 | 873 | 79 | 171 | 629 | 13 | 0 | 79 | 26 | 77% |
| [Old Dominion Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/old-dominion-athletic) | Division III | 12 | 869 | 72 | 197 | 528 | 11 | 6 | 83 | 19 | 80% |
| [Great Midwest Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/great-midwest-athletic) | Division II | 12 | 863 | 72 | 168 | 443 | 30 | 1 | 85 | 34 | 90% |
| [WAC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/wac) | Division I | 6 | 844 | 141 | 82 | 275 | 65 | 7 | 108 | 70 | 90% |
| [Liberty League](https://gowhistle.io/directory/liberty-league) | Division III | 10 | 841 | 84 | 177 | 512 | 32 | 4 | 87 | 32 | 81% |
| [Empire 8](https://gowhistle.io/directory/empire-8) | Division III | 11 | 826 | 75 | 182 | 494 | 15 | 3 | 73 | 27 | 76% |
| [Big South](https://gowhistle.io/directory/big-south) | Division I | 9 | 824 | 92 | 121 | 331 | 67 | 12 | 116 | 50 | 90% |
| [Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/wisconsin-intercollegiate-athletic) | Division III | 8 | 800 | 100 | 133 | 487 | 33 | 7 | 92 | 25 | 75% |
| [New England Women's and Men's Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/new-england-women-s-and-men-s-athletic) | Division III | 9 | 796 | 88 | 162 | 499 | 22 | 3 | 58 | 25 | 81% |
| [Sunshine State](https://gowhistle.io/directory/sunshine-state) | Division II | 11 | 776 | 71 | 168 | 407 | 24 | 0 | 102 | 38 | 91% |
| [Northeast 10](https://gowhistle.io/directory/northeast-10) | Division II | 10 | 767 | 77 | 168 | 485 | 16 | 1 | 75 | 40 | 89% |
| [Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association](https://gowhistle.io/directory/michigan-intercollegiate-athletic-association) | Division III | 8 | 754 | 94 | 163 | 497 | 32 | 5 | 74 | 16 | 73% |
| [New Jersey Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/new-jersey-athletic) | Division III | 9 | 748 | 83 | 123 | 508 | 16 | 5 | 60 | 25 | 58% |
| [Middle Atlantic Freedom](https://gowhistle.io/directory/middle-atlantic-freedom) | Division III | 8 | 739 | 92 | 144 | 433 | 22 | 2 | 60 | 16 | 81% |
| [University Athletic Association](https://gowhistle.io/directory/university-athletic-association) | Division III | 8 | 732 | 92 | 111 | 385 | 20 | 1 | 71 | 40 | 78% |
| [Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/southern-california-intercollegiate-athletic) | Division III | 9 | 731 | 81 | 122 | 436 | 21 | 2 | 74 | 22 | 82% |
| [Great Northeast Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/great-northeast-athletic) | Division III | 14 | 724 | 52 | 187 | 459 | 15 | 2 | 68 | 27 | 84% |
| [Little East](https://gowhistle.io/directory/little-east) | Division III | 9 | 724 | 80 | 145 | 494 | 19 | 2 | 66 | 29 | 74% |
| [Great American](https://gowhistle.io/directory/great-american) | Division II | 12 | 716 | 60 | 130 | 377 | 19 | 0 | 70 | 43 | 86% |
| [Gulf South](https://gowhistle.io/directory/gulf-south) | Division II | 11 | 714 | 65 | 128 | 305 | 7 | 2 | 92 | 36 | 79% |
| [Ohio Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/ohio-athletic) | Division III | 9 | 713 | 79 | 153 | 473 | 14 | 0 | 58 | 20 | 77% |
| [Landmark](https://gowhistle.io/directory/landmark) | Division III | 10 | 711 | 71 | 169 | 474 | 18 | 2 | 60 | 20 | 84% |
| [California Collegiate Athletic Association](https://gowhistle.io/directory/california-collegiate-athletic-association) | Division II | 14 | 703 | 50 | 140 | 405 | 15 | 2 | 88 | 49 | 93% |
| [Northwest](https://gowhistle.io/directory/northwest) | Division III | 8 | 702 | 88 | 117 | 503 | 34 | 5 | 58 | 22 | 71% |
| [North Coast Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/north-coast-athletic) | Division III | 9 | 701 | 78 | 158 | 454 | 14 | 0 | 67 | 23 | 91% |
| [Mountain East](https://gowhistle.io/directory/mountain-east) | Division II | 11 | 682 | 62 | 159 | 356 | 14 | 5 | 64 | 30 | 84% |
| [Conference of New England](https://gowhistle.io/directory/conference-of-new-england) | Division I/Division III | 11 | 678 | 62 | 192 | 449 | 18 | 3 | 56 | 24 | 85% |
| [State University of New York Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/state-university-of-new-york-athletic) | Division III | 11 | 678 | 62 | 148 | 392 | 9 | 2 | 62 | 29 | 77% |
| [MEAC](https://gowhistle.io/directory/meac) | Division I | 8 | 667 | 83 | 88 | 310 | 45 | 8 | 101 | 63 | 83% |
| [Independent](https://gowhistle.io/directory/independent) | Division II/Division III | 14 | 640 | 46 | 145 | 380 | 14 | 3 | 55 | 27 | 76% |
| [American Rivers](https://gowhistle.io/directory/american-rivers) | Division III | 8 | 635 | 79 | 145 | 439 | 12 | 2 | 52 | 16 | 74% |
| [Midwest](https://gowhistle.io/directory/midwest) | Division III | 10 | 627 | 63 | 150 | 446 | 23 | 5 | 53 | 21 | 79% |
| [Central Atlantic Collegiate](https://gowhistle.io/directory/central-atlantic-collegiate) | Division II | 11 | 626 | 57 | 154 | 421 | 18 | 3 | 62 | 23 | 87% |
| [Pacific West](https://gowhistle.io/directory/pacific-west) | Division II | 10 | 617 | 62 | 119 | 363 | 12 | 1 | 58 | 33 | 72% |
| [United East](https://gowhistle.io/directory/united-east) | Division III | 12 | 599 | 50 | 146 | 423 | 10 | 1 | 44 | 22 | 71% |
| [Skyline](https://gowhistle.io/directory/skyline) | Division III | 12 | 584 | 49 | 147 | 405 | 10 | 0 | 50 | 23 | 83% |
| [East Coast](https://gowhistle.io/directory/east-coast) | Division II | 9 | 567 | 63 | 122 | 358 | 8 | 3 | 48 | 35 | 75% |
| [Southern Athletic Association](https://gowhistle.io/directory/southern-athletic-association) | Division III | 9 | 566 | 63 | 139 | 373 | 20 | 2 | 57 | 29 | 89% |
| [Southern Intercollegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/southern-intercollegiate-athletic) | Division I/Division II | 14 | 566 | 40 | 117 | 326 | 27 | 3 | 57 | 27 | 77% |
| [Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association](https://gowhistle.io/directory/central-intercollegiate-athletic-association) | Division II | 12 | 552 | 46 | 116 | 327 | 11 | 7 | 57 | 59 | 88% |
| [Great Northwest Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/great-northwest-athletic) | Division II | 10 | 534 | 53 | 93 | 273 | 15 | 0 | 62 | 34 | 83% |
| [Peach Belt](https://gowhistle.io/directory/peach-belt) | Division II | 11 | 523 | 48 | 115 | 250 | 8 | 1 | 54 | 40 | 87% |
| [Southern Collegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/southern-collegiate-athletic) | Division III | 10 | 506 | 51 | 126 | 295 | 13 | 0 | 48 | 17 | 88% |
| [USA South Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/usa-south-athletic) | Division III | 8 | 465 | 58 | 113 | 300 | 9 | 3 | 48 | 16 | 88% |
| [Heartland Collegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/heartland-collegiate-athletic) | Division III | 9 | 460 | 51 | 111 | 303 | 8 | 0 | 44 | 13 | 82% |
| [American Southwest](https://gowhistle.io/directory/american-southwest) | Division III | 7 | 437 | 62 | 107 | 231 | 10 | 5 | 43 | 19 | 86% |
| [Upper Midwest Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/upper-midwest-athletic) | Division III | 7 | 383 | 55 | 81 | 253 | 3 | 2 | 34 | 15 | 73% |
| [North Atlantic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/north-atlantic) | Division III | 8 | 357 | 45 | 97 | 244 | 3 | 1 | 35 | 7 | 77% |
| [City University of New York Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/city-university-of-new-york-athletic) | Division III | 8 | 350 | 44 | 79 | 218 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 25 | 76% |
| [Coast-To-Coast Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/coast-to-coast-athletic) | Division III | 5 | 349 | 70 | 74 | 193 | 8 | 2 | 32 | 11 | 78% |
| [St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/st-louis-intercollegiate-athletic) | Division III | 8 | 345 | 43 | 96 | 236 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 14 | 83% |
| [Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/massachusetts-state-collegiate-athletic) | Division III | 7 | 322 | 46 | 90 | 220 | 8 | 0 | 35 | 9 | 99% |
| [Atlantic East](https://gowhistle.io/directory/atlantic-east) | Division III | 6 | 313 | 52 | 67 | 193 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 8 | 79% |
| [Allegheny Mountain Collegiate](https://gowhistle.io/directory/allegheny-mountain-collegiate) | Division III | 7 | 247 | 35 | 85 | 159 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 88% |
| [Collegiate Conference of the South](https://gowhistle.io/directory/collegiate-conference-of-the-south) | Division III | 5 | 236 | 47 | 74 | 159 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 5 | 93% |
| [United Athletic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/united-athletic) | Division I | 1 | 135 | 135 | 13 | 37 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 76% |
| [Middle Atlantic](https://gowhistle.io/directory/middle-atlantic) | Division III | 1 | 86 | 86 | 18 | 47 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 81% |

## What do the role groups mean?

- Head coaches: titles classified as head coach of a program.
- All coaches: head, associate/assistant head, assistant coaches and offensive/defensive coordinators.
- Ops: directors of operations, recruiting and player-personnel staff, equipment staff.
- Video: video coordinators, analysts and creative/video staff.
- Performance: strength & conditioning, athletic training / sports medicine, sports science & nutrition.
- Leadership: athletic directors, deputy/senior/associate ADs and sport administrators.
- Email coverage: share of positions with a published email or one inferred from the school's address pattern (recorded as inferred).

## Method

Methodology: counts are computed live from Whistle's database of official NCAA athletics staff directories. Only current (non-departed) positions count; roles and sports come from published titles; a school's first extraction and coverage artefacts are excluded from change counts. Public pages never include names or contact details.

Conference membership follows each school's current NCAA listing; spellings are folded onto one conference. Division I counts include FBS and FCS. Whistle covers 1,098 of 1,168 NCAA athletic departments.

## Frequently asked questions

**Which NCAA conference has the most athletic department staff?**

The Big Ten: 7,072 tracked positions across 18 covered schools as of 27 Oct 2026.

**How big is the average college athletic department?**

103 tracked staff positions per department across all covered NCAA schools; Division I departments are several times larger than Division III ones (see the per-conference averages above).

Need the people behind the counts? [Whistle plans](https://gowhistle.io/pricing) include every position with name, title and contact details; a [single conference is $499](https://gowhistle.io/data) as a one-time dataset.

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Whistle (Whistle Athletics) is a collegiate athletics sales-intelligence platform: staff directories, hiring signals and contact data for vendors selling into NCAA athletic departments. Public pages show counts and roles only, never personal contact details. Site summary: https://gowhistle.io/llms.txt