Scott Corley

Biography

Scott Corley serves as Belmont's Vice President, Director of Athletics. Corley joined Belmont as the Director of Athletics in 2016 after a stint as a senior vice president of corporate banking at FirstBank.

A 1990 Belmont graduate and one of the most decorated student-athletes in program history, Corley has helped the Bruin athletic program enjoy overwhelming success.

Belmont begins competition in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022-23 after a decade of success in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Belmont has won 53 conference championships (22 team, 31 individual) and earned 35 NCAA Tournament invitations (9 team, 26 individual) during Corley's tenure, including victories over Oregon, Florida, Gonzaga and Temple in the NCAA Tournament.

In 2021-22, Belmont won the OVC Commissioner’s Cup symbolizing overall athletic excellence in Conference-sponsored championships. Led by conference championships in women's cross country, women's basketball, men's tennis and baseball, Belmont placed Top 3 in conference standings in a staggering 15 of 17 sponsored sports (including men's soccer in the Southern Conference).

Furthermore, Belmont University has claimed a conference academic achievement award 18 of the last 20 years, with seven teams earning team academic achievement awards.

Under Corley’s leadership, Belmont has made transformational improvements to its athletic facility portfolio, most notably opening the Crockett Center for Athletic Excellence in May 2021 benefitting men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s tennis and women’s tennis and the Rose Park indoor practice facility benefitting baseball, softball, men’s golf and women’s golf.

"Athletics – the staff, the coaches and the student athletes – have helped write Belmont's history up until now, are a significant part of who we are today, and will play an important role in shaping our future," Jones said of Corley. "As such I can think of no more appropriate action than to have Scott's exceptional voice and vision represented in leading the University from this point forward."

Recent coaching hires by Corley have also thrived at Belmont, most notably with women's basketball head coach Bart Brooks being named 2018 WBCA Maggie Dixon Coach of the Year and becoming one of the fastest head coaches to 100 career wins in college basketball history.

Brooks joined fellow Belmont head coaches Dave Jarvis, Jeff Langdon, David Costa and Mauricio Antun in earning conference coach of the year honors in 2022.

Moreover, Corley has spearheaded new athletic department initiatives, including a program-wide deal with Under Armour as the official outfitter of the Bruins, a rebrand of the Bruin Club, the athletic department fundraising arm, adoption of the Belmont Athlete Mentorship Program (AMP) connecting Belmont alumni with current student-athletes on career development, and robust partnerships with INFLCR on name, image, likeness to benefit student-athletes.

Corley serves on the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (ADA) leadership team and has served on the Board of the Nashville Sports Council since 2014.

He also contributed to the Belmont University Alumni Board from 2009-14 and the Nashville Health Care Council from 2013-14.

Corley brings over 25 years of business experience within the Nashville community to Belmont Athletics. Most recently, Corley spent four-plus years in senior leadership at FirstBank, engaging in business development with some of the most successful companies in middle Tennessee.

Prior to his time at FirstBank, Corley served as managing director for corporate banking at Regions Bank for five years. He held a similar capacity at SunTrust Bank from 1991-2007, overseeing middle Tennessee, east Tennessee, and sparking the company’s foothold in Kentucky markets, such as Louisville and Lexington.

In 1986, Corley was the first men’s basketball signee for hall of fame head coach Rick Byrd. The shooting guard went on to lead Belmont to 90 victories over four seasons and the program’s first-ever NAIA National Tournament berth in 1989. The then-Rebels won the 1988 Tennessee Collegiate Athletic Conference (TCAC) title and the 1989 NAIA District 24 championship.

Corley is one of only eight players in the history of Belmont Basketball to score over 2,000 career points, ranking sixth all-time (2,062). While former Belmont All-American and NBA Champion Ian Clark (’13) holds the Bruins’ NCAA Division I era record for career 3-point field goals (340), Corley’s astonishing mark of 420 made 3-pointers may never be broken.

The southpaw also took part in one of the most iconic games in the history of Nashville sports, when on Feb. 17, 1990 Belmont and Lipscomb played before an overflow crowd of 16,000 at Vanderbilt University’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Corley, a two-time NAIA Academic-All American (1989, 1990) and Belmont Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2000 inductee, earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Belmont before receiving his master’s degree in business administration from Samford University.

Corley is married to the former Keely Gourley. The couple has two children, Karson and Kennedy.