BOZEMAN — Leon Costello, Montana State University’s director of athletics since 2016, earned a National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics AD of the Year award for 2023-24, the organization announced Monday.
Costello is one of four honorees from the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, or FCS. NACDA presented 28 awards, four each in seven divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, FCS, Division I-AAA, Division II, Division II, NAIA and Junior/Community College.
“Montana State University is privileged to have Leon Costello as our athletics director,” MSU President Waded Cruzado said. “Leon has added energy, focus, academic performance and an institutional sense of pride and belonging to MSU.”
Bobcat Athletics has enjoyed unprecedented success under Costello’s leadership. During the 2021-22 academic year, MSU became the first school in Big Sky history to finish in the top three in each conference sport in which it competed.
The Bobcat men’s basketball program played in three consecutive NCAA tournaments, the MSU women’s basketball team won 30 games this year, both Big Sky Conference bests, and the MSU football team played for the FCS championship following the 2021 and 2024 seasons and has advanced to the playoffs in a program-best six straight campaigns.
Under Costello, Bobcat student-athletes have combined to win one Big Sky Conference Presidents’ Cup, two men’s All-Sports Trophies, the school’s first Women’s All-Sports Trophy, and all nine Brawl of the Wild Trophy Series competitions encompassing all sports between MSU and the University of Montana.
“It is an incredible honor to be recognized by NACDA and I truly believe this is an award for Bobcat Nation as a whole, as this award speaks to the accomplishments we have achieved together,” Costello said.
“I am fortunate to work at an institution that values athletics and to also work with an incredible team of student-athletes, coaches and staff that put in the time and energy to make Bobcat Athletics what it is today. I thank them for their commitment to our vision and excellence achieved in the classroom and competition.”
With the support and leadership of Cruzado, Costello has remade the school’s athletics facilities. In the last five years, the department has added the Bobcat Athletic Complex to house MSU football offices and support services, a renovation to all areas supporting student-athletes in Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, and — awaiting completion this summer — the Stark-Kennedy Indoor Athletic Center providing a practice facility for football and a training and competition venue for track and field.
Student-athlete support has also been the focus of staff additions during Costello’s tenure. Those include an embedded sports psychologist, a sports dietitian, and enhanced staffing of the sports medicine and strength and conditioning staffs.
Academic success has remained part and parcel of the program’s progress and success. Bobcat student-athletes compiled a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (out of 4.0) in the last 46 consecutive semesters, and that was before last fall’s 3.42 mark.
Costello arrived at Montana State in 2016 after six years of progressively increased responsibilities at South Dakota State, culminating with two years as Deputy Athletic Director from 2014 to 2016. He began his intercollegiate athletics career as a marketing assistant at Northern Iowa in the fall of 2002, becoming that department’s director just three months later.
In 2005 Costello became assistant athletic director for marketing and promotions, and in 2008 was elevated to associate athletic director for external relations. During his time at South Dakota State he helped spearhead SDSU’s massive facilities improvement project, was involved in sport oversight of nine Jackrabbit programs, and managed the department’s external operations. After Cruzado tabbed him as the school’s 13th director of athletics, he assumed that position on July 1, 2016.
“I also need to thank President Waded Cruzado and the entire MSU community for their unwavering supporting our athletic department, our dedicated fans and supporters that stand with us through every contest and support us at a championship level, and my family that allows me to live out my dream,” Costello said.
“Thank you doesn’t say enough but I am truly humbled by this honor and excited about our future. The best is yet to come.”
Originally from Fairbank, Iowa, Costello starred in basketball at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where he captained the DuHawks as a senior and earned Bill Bradley Scholastic All-America honors before graduating in 1998.
NACDA’s AD of the Year program is in its 27th year, recognizing over 600 of its members with this award. Costello will be honored during the organization’s convention in June.
