Daniel Feig is in his sixth year as the Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics at USC Upstate, a role he assumed on June 18, 2018.
During his tenure as Director of Athletics, he oversaw the athletic department’s conference membership transition from the ASUN (2007-2018) to the Big South Conference (2018-pres.) as the Spartans officially joined the Big South on July 1, 2018. During USC Upstate’s time in the Big South, the athletic department has fashioned its most successful seasons as a Division I institution, claiming three straight top-five finishes in the conference’s George F. “Buddy” Sasser Cup, finishing fourth in both 2020-21 and 2022-23, and fifth in 2021-22.
Multiple USC Upstate programs have crafted their best seasons at the Division I level, leading to the department’s success in the Sasser Cup standings over the past three seasons.
In 2022-23, track & field’s Channing Ferguson became the first Spartan in program history to claim NCAA All-American honors as he earned Second Team honors at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas while also becoming the program’s first Big South Field Athlete of the Year. Baseball claimed a program-record 38 wins in 2023—the program’s third consecutive season with 35-plus wins; one of 23 Division I programs to do so—advancing to the program’s first conference championship. Competing in the College Basketball Invitational for the first time in program history, men’s basketball completed its winningest season since 2016-17 with its second straight national postseason appearance. Claiming three major postseason conference awards, including Big South Coach of the Year Sharif Saber, Goalkeeper of the Year Cora Brendle, and Freshman of the Year Dara Russo, women’s soccer had it’s highest conference finish in the Division I era. Off the field, the Spartans negotiated a transformative radio partnership with Fox Sports Spartanburg to begin hosting 70+ annual radio broadcasts for the Spartans beginning with the 2023-24 academic year.
The 2021-22 season saw softball capture the athletic department’s first Big South team championship, claiming the regular season championship with a program-record 48 victories with Peyton Darnell earning the program’s second Big South Player of the Year honor (Alyssa Oakes; 2019) and Chris Hawkins earning the Coach of the Year distinction. Women’s golf came within a stroke of capturing the Big South Women’s Golf Championship, advancing to the match play championship portion of the event for the first time in program history and pushing the championship match to playoff holes. Women’s basketball engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in Division I basketball under the direction of Big South Coach of the Year Becky Burke, leading the program to a program-record 22 wins—an improvement of 14 wins—and a bye in the Big South Women’s Basketball Championship while Rachael Rose claimed Freshman of the Year accolades. Men’s basketball also captured the Freshman of the Year honors with Jordan Gainey claiming the award as the Spartans qualified for the national postseason for the first in four seasons, competing in The Basketball Classic presented by Eracism. On the external front, corporate sales grew by over 100% since 2017-18, and the department’s signature fundraising event, Sparty’s Ball and Auction, netted its highest amount in a decade.
In 2020-21, baseball earned its first of three consecutive No. 2 overall seeds at the Big South Baseball Championship, earning a then-program-record 37 wins as Jordan Marks claimed Big South Pitcher and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Women’s Golf’s Beem Pabsimma qualified for the NCAA Tournament as she earned medalist honors at the Big South Women’s Golf Championship with Todd Lawton and Preaw Nontarux capturing Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year accolades, respectively. Hunter Fry joined Pabsimma in qualifying for the NCAA Tournament as the medalist at the Big South Men’s Golf Championship. Men’s soccer posted a .786 conference winning percentage, going 5-1-1 in Big South play, advancing to the Big South Men’s Soccer Championship game as Scott Halkett claimed Coach of the Year honors and the team enjoyed it’s best season during the Division I era. Off the field, the Spartan’s added to their ESPN+ television package by adding five games per year on linear television throughout the Upstate of South Carolina, Asheville and Charlotte, significantly expanding the brand of the Spartans throughout the region.
In the classroom, USC Upstate student-athletes have continued excellence, posting 10 straight semesters—all under Feig’s direction—with a departmental GPA of 3.00 or greater. USC Upstate also sports four straight years with greater than 60 percent of eligible student-athletes achieving a 3.00 GPA or higher, qualifying for the Big South’s Presidential Honor Roll. With an eye towards supplementing the department’s academic success, USC Upstate was one of 13 Division I institutions to receive an NCAA Accelerated Academic Success Program (AASP) grant in 2021-22, using the grant to help fund laptops for student-athletes and fund summer scholarships.
Announced in January 2020, Feig announced USC Upstate’s first athletics strategic plan titled “Adapt. Evolve. Grow. The Path UP.” The plan was developed in partnership with Collegiate Consulting and provides unified strategic priorities, a road map for departmental goals and strategic initiatives through 2025. The plan led to the creation of a sports administrators program to help lead the athletic department with members of USC Upstate’s senior administration staff serving within the program.
Adding to the creation of the department’s sports administration program, Feig was instrumental in adding several positions within the athletic department, including the senior associate athletic director for external operations position. He also added the first ever sports nutritionist and expanded the department’s corporate sales staff and created a graduate assistant program, engaging in a unique partnership with the University of South Carolina’s Sport and Entertainment Management program. Feig negotiated a partnership with the Sports Medicine Institute and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System to provide staffing of athletic trainers for the department, with Spartanburg Regional also assuming naming rights of Spartanburg Regional Field at County University Soccer Stadium.
Through a partnership with Ingles, USC Upstate developed a sports nutrition bar to be housed in the department’s weight room and the development of a dedicated conference room and donor suite, dubbed the Ingles Champions Suite.
Additional facility upgrades during Feig’s tenure include the renovation of the playing surface inside the G.B. Hodge Center, along with upgrades to the facilities lighting and video boards to provide an enhanced fan experience. Other significant facility projects include renovations to the department’s athletic training room, renovations to the baseball, softball, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer locker rooms, and new office spaces for the golf, cross country, and track & field programs also represent major facility improvements under Feig.
During his tenure at USC Upstate, Feig also serves on the NCAA Legislative Committee and as one of eight members of the NCAA Subcommittee for Modernization—a unit charged by the NCAA Transformation Committee.
Feig came to USC Upstate from Southern Miss, where he served as Executive Associate Athletic Director, assisting with the day-to-day management and administration of all aspects of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Among his broad responsibilities, Feig directly supervised several teams and administrative units within the department, including football, men’s basketball, volleyball, the athletic compliance office, athletic academic services, the athletic training office, the strength and conditioning program, the drug testing program, and the graduate assistantship program. As a former practicing attorney, he also served as the Athletic Department’s contract administrator and liaison to the University’s General Counsel.
Feig joined Southern Miss in the fall of 2013 following two years as Director of Compliance at the University of Alabama. In his role with the Crimson Tide, he was responsible for designing, coordinating and administering the rules education program to all coaches and constituent groups, and he was heavily involved in the provision of rules interpretations to all sports. In addition, he was the primary compliance contact for all Alabama football academic eligibility issues, as well as the primary contact for all men's basketball compliance issues. Prior to working at Alabama, Feig served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance at Arkansas State University and was responsible for all aspects of the department’s compliance efforts.
Before beginning his career in collegiate athletics, Feig worked as an attorney for Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, P.A. and Carr, Allison, P.C. in Birmingham, Alabama. Feig’s practice consisted primarily of civil litigation defense.
Feig earned a Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham-Southern College in 2000, where he was a member of the men’s soccer team that earned Final Four spots in three of his playing years. He also earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2003.
Feig resides in Spartanburg with his wife, Claudine, and their three sons, Noah, David and Mark.