Jeff Barber

About Jeff Barber

Jeff Barber was introduced as the school's third Athletic Director in school history on May 17, 2018. During his CSU tenure, he has led the Buccaneers to new levels of departmental success and has since been elevated into a Vice President role while continuing to serve as the Athletics Director.

Under Barber’s leadership, Charleston Southern has achieved top three finishes for four consecutive seasons in the Big South Conference’s prestigious Sasser Cup standings, including back-to-back second place finishes, matching the highest-in school history. During the same timeframe, the athletic department has also seen the best years in the classroom, as CSU has now broken its overall departmental GPA for each of the past three years with a 3.37 in 2024-2025 smashing the previous records. Athletically, the Buccaneers have claimed 13 conference tournament championships.

Away from the courts and fields, Barber has been crucial in landing multiple partnerships with organizations to help the department’s coaches, staff, fans and student-athletes. These have included Graduway, Roger's St. Francis Healthcare, Peak Sports MGMT, RealResponse and TimelyCare. Another major change to happen in the department since his arrival with the introduction of the “Bucky” logo to be the primary logo, replacing the crossed cutlasses logo. Barber strives to improve all areas of athletics by doing the “little things” that he sees as doable and essential for future success with over 800 completed to date. These range from the turf installation at Buccaneer Field, new carpet in the offices, new departmental policies and staff positions being created.

Barber came to CSU with 29 years of total Division I college athletic experience, most recently at former Big South Conference institution, Liberty (2006-2016), as the Director of Athletics. Prior to Liberty, he spent 10 years at the University of South Carolina, including his last three years as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development/Gamecock Club Executive Director. He also worked for four years apiece in both the Furman and East Carolina athletic departments.

Barber graduated cum laude at East Carolina in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. In 1997, he continued his education with a degree from the Sports Management Institute, graduating as class spokesman. A native of Greenville, N.C., Barber and his wife Donna have three children: Katie, Lindsay, and Jay as well as three grandchildren: Blaze, Billie and Jack.