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One of the top athletic officials at Alabama is leaving to run another athletic department. Alabama executive deputy athletic director Jeff Purinton accepted the Arkansas State athletic director job, the school announced Wednesday. A source told ESPN that Purinton has agreed to a five-year deal. Purinton worked in various positions at Alabama for 15 years and became athletic director Greg Byrne's top lieutenant there. His roles included serving as the football sport administrator and overseeing men's basketball. Purinton played a big part in assisting Byrne in the hiring of Nate Oats as the Alabama basketball coach. His roles there over the years spanned media relations and supervising human resources, marketing and trademark licensing. "Arkansas State made a wonderful hire in Jeff Purinton," Byrne told ESPN on Wednesday afternoon. "There's not a major decision that we made in the Alabama athletic department that he wasn't in the middle of. He's trusted within our athletic department, within the Alabama fan base and throughout college sports." Prior to Alabama, Purinton worked at the Orange Bowl and Florida State. He replaces Tom Bowen at Arkansas State. Bowen lasted just more than a year there before stepping down last month for health reasons. Purinton will reunite with Butch Jones, a former Alabama staffer, at Arkansas State. Jones just completed his first season as the Red Wolves' head coach.
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