Dr. Charles F. McClelland was named the sixth Commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference during the summer of 2018. Highly regarded as one of the top sports administrators in the country McClelland currently oversees a conference with a total of twelve member institutions (effective 2021-22 academic year) which boast 18 sports which compete at the NCAA Division I level and Football (FCS).
Under his watch the Southwestern Athletic Conference has been at the forefront of league expansions with the additions of Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman in the Summer of 2020. Beginning with the 2021-22 academic year the Southwestern Athletic Conference boasted 12 total members spanning across six states including three members based in Mississippi (Alcorn State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State), two in Alabama (Alabama A&M, Alabama State), two in Louisiana (Grambling State, Southern), two in Texas (Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern), one in Arkansas (Arkansas-Pine Bluff), and two in Florida (Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman).
Among other notable changes in the conference under his watch also includes the purchase of a corporate office building to serve as the new headquarters for the league. The three-story structure is equipped with over 40 individual offices, two large conference rooms, a walk-in reception/waiting area, and over 30 parking spaces. The league’s new headquarters fittingly serves as the primary location for conference operations, annual business meetings, along with the onsite filming of multimedia content for distribution via social media and the SWAC Digital Network (SDN).
In the summer of 2025 the Southwestern Athletic Conference announced the creation of SWAC TV, an exclusive streaming platform that delivers users league athletics content across all 18 conference sponsored sports. For the first time in history SWAC fans and supporters have a high quality, technologically advanced streaming platform solely dedicated to broadcasting live events and delivering high-definition on-demand league content.
Upon its initial launch SWAC TV was available for download on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google Play, and Android TV. The free platform features preseason, regular season and post-season live events across 18 league sponsored sports while also featuring unique feature content, sports talk shows and podcast.
In addition to his duties at the league office, McClelland was selected as a member of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee in March of 2019. In July of 2022 McClelland was named chair of the committee for the 2023-24 season. With his selection he became the first person representing an HBCU league or institution to chair the committee. The 12-member committee is responsible for selecting, seeding and bracketing the field for the NCAA Tournament. Conferences are divided among committee members so they can focus on monitoring assigned teams throughout the season. Committee members, with the exception of the chair, have conferences for which they serve as either the primary or secondary monitor.
Prior to arriving at the conference office McClelland served as the Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics at Texas Southern University located in Houston, Texas. He initially took over the helm of TSU Athletics in April 2008 as Director of Athletics. In February of 2015 McClelland was promoted in title to Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics. McClelland supervised a total of 16 sports - nine women’s and seven men’s at Texas Southern. His daily duties included fundraising, managing budgets, team scheduling, marketing and keeping abreast of current National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and regulations.
Under McClelland’s watch the athletic facilities steadily improved over the years with the refurbishing of the departments’ weight room, multiple locker rooms, as well as having the track surrounding Durley field was resurfaced in 2012, for the Annual TSU Relays. Durley Stadium now boast one of the best running surfaces in the region and the TSU Relays annually ranks in the top five in attendance of all track and field meets hosted in NCAA Division I. Additionally, Inside of H&PE Arena the hardwood floor was refurbished giving the facility a fresh new look to start the 2011-12 season. In the Spring of 2016, McClelland solidified funding in the amount of $1,000,000 to renovate the Football field house and replace the Football/Soccer Turf at Durley Field.
Perhaps his biggest facility achievement, was McClelland’s role in finalizing a deal with the Houston Dynamo soccer team to share the newly constructed 22,000 seat BBVA Compass Stadium for Tigers football. The Texas Southern Tigers football team began playing in their new home in 2012. Located in Downtown Houston BBVA Compass stadium is a state of the art facility with all of the amenities and features of a premier sports venue.
Upon his arrival, improving the university’s Academic Progress Rate (APR) and Graduation Success Rate (GSR) were among McClelland’s top priorities. Over the course of the years the Texas Southern University Athletics Department made significant strides in APR and student-athlete graduation rates. In 2008 the Athletics Department boasted a 29 percent student-athlete graduation rate. That rate improved to 45 percent in 2011. In 2012 the department graduated over 46 percent of its student-athletes marking one of the highest levels ever achieved in school history. In 2013 that number once again increased to 54 percent. Prior to his departure the Texas Southern Athletics Athletic Graduation sat at 67 percent and the Institutional Academic Progression Rate (APR) four-year average was a 967 out of 1000.
Under McClelland's watch Texas Southern claimed a total of twenty-five (25) championships over the course of nine years. Since the inception of intercollegiate athletics at Texas Southern, the institution had won over 60 titles with almost one third of those championships coming during McClelland's tenure. The men's basketball program took McClelland's philosophy and charge to heart as they became the programs’ most dominant force over the years. Men's basketball hoisted championship trophies in some form or fashion each year since 2012.
Perhaps the most significant first was accomplished when the 2017-18 Men’s Basketball Team won an NCAA Tournament Game against North Carolina Central in the NCAA First-Four. Exposure for the Texas Southern Athletics Program was also a major focus under McClelland’s tenure and 2015, McClelland signed a deal with Root Sports to televise all TSU home football games. Root Sports is a regional television station that covers 5 States (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Eastern New Mexico) and is also the home of the Houston Rockets and Houston Astro’s professional teams.
In 2017 Root Sports changed their name to AT&T Sports and Texas Southern University Athletics announced a new television deal with AT&T Sports Network Southwest that expanded the networks' coverage of TSU Athletics to include Tigers and Lady Tigers Home Basketball games for the 2017-18 season. McClelland also secured a multi-million dollar shoe and apparel deal with Under Armour to serve as Texas Southern Athletics official shoe and apparel provider.
Before arriving at TSU, McClelland served as the Athletics Director at Prairie View A&M University for seven years. While at Prairie View, McClelland collected a remarkable (18) Championships amongst the various sports. Additionally, he increased football scholarships to the NCAA I-AA maximum of 63 grant-in-aids. In 2007 Prairie View A&M’s football team captured the programs first winning season in over 30 years.
For his efforts McClelland was named one of 29 winners of the AstroTurf Athletics Director of the Year Award (2007) as presented by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). He was also selected as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) West award winner. McClelland was the first Athletic Director from the SWAC to receive this prestigious award. In 2025 he was inducted into the Texas Southern Athletics Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his exemplary years of service to the institution.
A 1993 graduate of Prairie View A&M, McClelland earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and in 1997 received an MBA from Prairie View A&M. He earned his doctoral degree in Higher Education Administration from Texas A&M University in 2011.
McClelland’s extra-curricular affiliations include membership in the Prairie View A&M University National Alumni Association, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and the Rotary Club of Birmingham.
McClelland is a former member of the NCAA Leadership/Management Council. At the time it was one of the highest ranking councils in the NCAA, the Leadership/Management Council was responsible for establishing direct general policy, the strategic plan for the NCAA and advised the board of directors on administrative bylaws and regulations.
He is also a past president of the Houston Touchdown Club and continues to serve on the board of directors. McClelland served as chairman of the SWAC Council of Athletics Directors, a position he held for ten years.
McClelland is married to Ashlee McClelland and is the father of two sons, Cainan and Ashton and one daughter, Cooper.