Auburn associate athletics director dies

AUBURN — Virgil Starks, Auburn’s Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Support Services, died Saturday evening of cardiac arrest while returning from the Tigers’ football game against UT-Martin. He was 46.

Starks, a Hartselle native, is survived by his wife, Donna, and three daughters, Carolyn, Victoria, and Anastasia. He was seen in great spirits before Saturday’s homecoming game, as he escorted and stood by senior linebacker Chris Evans during Auburn’s pregame Senior Day festivities. Evans’ parents were unable to attend.

“I was expecting to go out there and I was going to stand by myself and take the picture,” Evans said. “When I ran out there past Aubie, I just saw him there. He was smiling. Showing all 32 of his teeth like he always does.”

Starks worked with all 17 of Auburn’s varsity head coaches and knew each of its hundreds of student-athletes by name, women’s basketball coach Nell Fortner said. Starks’ focus was to help athletes and teams as a whole maintain their academic eligibility, per NCAA standards.

He always did it with a smile.

“Virgil loved his job,” Fortner said. “He loved the kids and he worked hard for the athletes. He put those athletes first, he did what was in their best interest.”

Fortner said she spent an hour with Starks in her office Friday. He told her that he planned to attend her team’s exhibition game with his family Sunday at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.

“We all work so closely with the academic people so it is just a shock to all of us,” Fortner said. “It’s just an incredibly sad loss for the Auburn family.” Head football coach Tommy Tuberville called Starks the “head coach of academics.”

“Sometimes the players think that he was on them a little bit too hard,” Tuberville said. “He was doing it for the betterment of them. He took his job seriously. He worked at it hard, day and night, and did a lot for the program.”

Starks had been with the university since 1998, when he arrived after a seven-year tenure at the University of Akron in Ohio.

“Words can’t express the feelings of sorrow and mourning that we have at the passing of our dear friend Virgil Starks,” Auburn Athletics Director Jay Jacobs said. “Virgil was passionate about all facets of his life and cared for Auburn student-athletes as if they were his own children. He will be dearly missed by all that he touched. Our thoughts and prayers are with Virgil’s family, friends and our Auburn Family in these difficult times.”

For Evans, the four years he worked alongside Starks won’t soon be forgotten.

“He would always go out of his way to put a smile on your face even if you’re feeling down,” Evans said. “Even if your grades aren’t going the way they’re supposed to be going, he’ll tell you to just hang in there until the end and things will go good for you.”

When those grades weren’t up to snuff, Starks did his best to get them back on the field as soon as possible.

“He fights for the players, and not just football. I’m talking all athletes,” Tuberville said. “He worked to do a lot of things in terms of academics to help all athletes that are on the table as we speak.”

Visitation will be held Tuesday at Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home in Opelika from 6-8 p.m. with the memorial service to be held Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Auburn at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Tigers Unlimited Foundation in memory of Virgil Starks.

All donations will benefit Starks’ passion, the academic and life-skills enhancement of Auburn student-athletes, according to a news release.

“The things Virgil did for us, academics and stuff,” Evans said, “It’s going to take time for that to set in and really hit us.”