It was a hire that was made just before the coronavirus pandemic turned the world upside down, but Jason Butikofer is Washington's new Chief Operating Officer for Athletics, a role that was created for him within the department.

He comes to Montlake after three years as Purdue's deputy athletic director.

“It was a tough decision to leave,” Butikofer told the Lafayette Journal & Courier upon news of his departure. “I felt the desire for additional professional and personal growth was aligned well with the opportunity being presented to me at the University of Washington. It’s one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make. That’s a testament to the time I’ve spent at Purdue.”

Per his Purdue biography, Butikofer (pronounced BEET-ih-COE-fur) managed and coordinated all external relations functions for the Boilermakers - with focused direction of operational strategy/execution for fiscal operations, development, marketing/creative services, strategic communications, ticket operations, ticket sales {Aspire}, business intelligence, corporate sponsorships {Learfield/IMG College}, licensing/retail, facilities/operations, capital projects, student-athlete development, sports medicine, and strength & conditioning.

If it sounds like he had a lot on his plate, that's one of the reasons the Huskies wanted to bring him aboard. Butikofer was targeted for his marketing background, his experience in all aspects of athletics, his support of coaches, as well as the fact that he worked in one of the top conferences in the country, the Big Ten. His impact on business strategy has been recognized nationally as he was named in July of 2019 to the “Sports Business Journal” list of Power Players: Leaders Behind the Scenes in College Sports.

According to the Journal & Courier, Butikofer will help out with football and men's basketball at Washington. He served as a day-to-day administrator for the same sports while in West Lafayette. He’ll work across the department on strategic initiatives with a focus on fundraising, student-athlete welfare, sports performance, and sports medicine.

“Unbelievably appreciative of the time we worked together here,” Purdue Athletic Director Mike Bobinski told the Journal & Courier at the time of the news. “He’s been a tremendous partner and colleague and with many folks in and around our department. I think he’s helped us make some important and necessary changes in how we do things here.

“On the front end, we talked about him coming on board and laid out some things we wanted to get done and he’s plowed a lot of that ground and done a lot of heavy lifting and helped position us better for the years ahead.”

Butikofer comes to Washington with previous experience not only as an athletic director but as a member of a Pac-12 athletic department. Before moving to Purdue, Butikofer was Southern Utah's athletic director, and before that the athletic department at Army for five years.

His first experience in college athletics was mostly centered around marketing and fundraising. His first stop was at Arizona State from 2000 to 2007, and then he moved to the University of Minnesota from 2008 to 2011. While in Minneapolis, Butikofer helped raise $100 million for TCF Bank Stadium.