Ashland University Athletic Director Bill Goldring will be retiring July 4, after 16 years with the university.

When former AU President G. William Benz hired Goldring in 1998, he said the university’s athletic program needed some leadership that would bring it into the 21st century.

Under Goldring’s watch, Ashland has developed into one of the most successful NCAA Division II private school athletic program.

 “I just feel like it’s time,” he said. “We’ve accomplished all the things that I have wanted to do here.”

The Eagles have won a total of 63 championships at the national, regional and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference levels with Goldring at the helm, including one national championship, 48 GLIAC championships and 14 regional titles.

His program has also been a shining example of broad-based success, which is measured by the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings annually. Ashland is one of only three schools to finish in the top 10 each of the past six seasons, and has a chance to make it seven this spring. The other two schools, Grand Valley State and Adams State, are both larger public universities.

“I got criticized at one point in the same year for putting too much time into football and for putting too much time into the other sports, and I always thought, ‘Well, that’s exactly where I want to be positioned,’” Goldring said.

More importantly, Goldring has led an athletic program that is nationally recognized and admired, with athletes who are proud to be an Eagle and stay connected long after graduation.

“Division II talks a lot about balance, but we have talked forever here that having an intercollegiate athletic experience includes growing athletically, academically and socially,” he said.

Goldring points to the story of Jody Stewart as one that represents what he has tried to accomplish in his time Ashland. Stewart was a four-time All-American sprinter at AU from 2003-06 who came to Goldring after he graduated with a bachelor’s in health education and said he wanted to continue in athletics.

He took on a graduate assistant position in track and field and left in 2008 with a master’s in sports management. Today, he is the associate head coach of track and field at Stanford.

Recently, he came back to AU and thanked Goldring for the opportunity he had provided and said that the new Dwight Schar Athletic Complex was equal to many he had seen in Division I’s Pacific 12 Conference.

“I thought those days that he was here kind of represented what I always hoped for,” Goldring said. “…We wanted to provide great experiences, and great experiences can include winning and I hope we do (win). We’ve won a lot, but on top of that we have provided great opportunities for those student-athletes and that is really what our mission is.”

In the fall of 2013, Goldring came under fire when he was put on a leave of absence. Rumors circulated in October that he had been removed from Jack Miller Stadium by AU Safety Services prior to the Malone football game, three days before he was officially on leave.

“I didn’t really understand it,” he said. “I don’t understand it today. I know that it was important for me to come back so that people know I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m proud of every moment that I was athletic director at Ashland University.”

Goldring will move with his wife to Fairfield Glade, Tenn. The closest college is Tennessee Tech, which is 30 miles away and has athletic teams that are the purple and gold Eagles.

“I want to go to a game where I don’t care if the scoreboard falls off the wall,” Goldring said.