Patrick Elliott is stepping down as Binghamton University’s director of athletics on June 30, University president Harvey Stenger announced on Tuesday. According to Stenger’s statement, Elliott made the decision to leave after nearly 10 years “in order to spend more time with his sons.”

Dennis Kalina, currently the deputy director of athletics, will take over as interim director of athletics following Elliot’s resignation, serving in that role until Dec. 31, 2022. Toward the end of that 18-month term, a national search for Elliott’s replacement will be conducted.

“When we hired [Elliott], he was charged with guiding Binghamton Athletics into the school’s second decade of NCAA Division I membership while ensuring our coaches and student-athletes have the resources they need to be successful, not just as athletes but, more importantly, as students and citizens of the University community,” Stenger wrote. “Over the past nine years, he has exceeded our expectations.”

Elliott took over Binghamton’s athletics department in November 2011, inheriting a program two years removed from wining the 2009 America East Men’s Basketball Championship. The men’s basketball team fell apart shortly after that season due to off-court problems, and Elliott was brought in during the aftermath to rebuild the program.

The semester after arriving at BU, Elliott hired Tommy Dempsey as men’s basketball coach. Throughout Dempsey’s eight-year run, the off-court issues disappeared, but the team’s record during his tenure was 71-194. Elliott announced in February that Dempsey would not return next season, and Levell Sanders was named interim head coach for the 2021-22 season.

During Elliot’s tenure, five Binghamton programs won America East Conference (AE) tournament championships — baseball, softball, volleyball, cross country and men’s tennis. All of those titles came during Elliot’s first four years at BU, and the department is currently in the midst of the longest championship drought in its Division I history. None of the head coaches brought in by Elliott have been able to win a postseason title during his tenure.

Binghamton’s women’s basketball team has seen arguably the biggest turnaround during Elliott’s time in Binghamton. After winning just five games in 2013-14, he hired Linda Cimino to rebuild the program. Cimino turned the Bearcats into a contender before departing for St. Francis Brooklyn, and Elliott brought in Bethann Shapiro Ord as her replacement. Shapiro Ord has maintained a similar level of success, leading BU to the AE semifinals in 2019-20.

“It’s been an honor to represent Binghamton University and its athletics department over the last nine years,” Elliott wrote in a statement. “I’m grateful to have been associated with the finest student-athletes and staff in the country. I will miss the discipline, character and passion that embodies the Binghamton student-athlete. Finally I’d like to thank President Stenger. His leadership, counsel, direction and empathy for our University and its community has meant so much to me personally during my tenure.”

Elliott’s interim replacement, Dennis Kalina, came to Binghamton in 2012 after spending six years as an athletics administrator at Gonzaga University. He was promoted to his current role in 2017, and has overseen fundraising, marketing and corporate partnerships, among other athletics administration matters.

“I have confidence that [Kalina] will provide great leadership and direction for the department,” Stenger wrote. “I also have confidence that our Division I student-athletes, coaches and staff — the glue of our athletics programs — will continue to uphold the outstanding tradition of Binghamton Division I athletics.”

Kalina, a former track athlete at the University of Indiana, has over 25 years of collegiate athletics experience, including previous stints as an administrator at Indiana, Northwestern State University and Bradley University.