Samford University alumnus, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Martin Newton has transformed the Bulldogs into one of the Southern Conference’s most successful programs since taking the helm of the department on March 9, 2011.
In November of 2025, the university extended Newton’s contract to run through June of 2028.
Newton has made an impact nationally in his time at Samford as he is in the middle of a five-year appointment to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. In 2026-27, he will serve as the committee’s chair. Additionally, he served on the NCAA Division I Council and the Men's Basketball Oversight Committee as well as NCAA Council Coordination Committee (CCC).
On the fields and courts, the Bulldogs have captured 88 Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships during his tenure, including a school record 11 championships in 2022-23.
Additionally, Samford has won the last five Southern Conference’s Germann Cups (top women’s athletics program) and Graduation Rate awards. Samford has also won two of the last three Commissioner’s Cups, which goes to the top men’s athletic program in the SoCon.
Academically, the school’s student-athletes have also posted outstanding results in the classroom, with 2,735 Bulldogs being named to the SoCon Academic Honor Roll. Samford’s student-athletes posted an impressive 97 percent in the most recent NCAA’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) report, the highest mark in the SoCon and in the state of Alabama.
Over the last 15 years, the Athletics Department has seen significant growth in corporate partnerships and annual giving, more than doubling philanthropic gifts and sponsorship revenues.
Facility enhancements have also been a hallmark of Newton's tenure with the Bulldogs. Samford has opened a new soccer and track stadium as well as a new softball stadium, indoor hitting facility for the baseball and softball programs and an indoor practice facility for men's and women's golf. A new academic center was built in Bashinsky Field House. Additionally, state-of-the-art video boards have been added to the Pete Hanna Center (men's and women's basketball/volleyball), Pete Hanna Stadium (football), Joe Lee Griffin Field (baseball) and in Shauna Yelton Field at the Cameron Bean Track (soccer/track and field).
Bashinsky Field House was renovated in 2024 to make a state-of-the-art practice facility for men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball.
The football video board was a part of Phase I of the Pete Hanna Stadium project, which was completed in August 2019 and was 100 percent donor funded. Phase II, which was completed prior to the 2021 season, included a complete renovation of the Bashinsky Press Tower, new premium seating on the west side of the stadium and renovations to the east side Gate House.
In the spring of 2017, a goal of Newton’s was realized when the inaugural class of the Samford Athletics Hall of Fame was inducted.
He has also negotiated an exclusive university-wide footwear and apparel deal with Nike, helped lead the way on a university-wide licensing agreement with the Licensing Resource Group and successfully transformed the antiquated radio network into an industry leader in campus-led broadcast production with all Samford home athletic events airing on ESPN3 or ESPN+.
Newton started the Samford Strong Leadership Academy in 2014, a program jointly developed between the Athletics Department and the Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership. Its mission is to bring successful athletes to campus to share their personal stories and the importance of faith and character to success in all areas of life for Samford’s student-athletes.
Following his 1983 graduation from Samford, he worked in sports marketing for Converse for 13 years. Newton then spent 13 years in a similar capacity at Nike.
Prior to his return to Samford, Newton was hired at the University of Kentucky in 2009, where he managed the budget, fund-raising, compliance, scheduling, marketing and academic support for the men’s basketball program.
Newton and his wife, Cindy, have three grown children, Katie, Madison and Charles. They also have two grandsons, Charlie and Sawyer.
