Missouri State University alumnus Rick Kindhart returned to his alma mater in July 2008 as the Bears' director of athletics communications. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations of the department, he is the primary contact for men's basketball and football while also overseeing the ESPN+ operations.
He was promoted to Associate Director of Athletics in 2024.
During his tenure at MSU, Kindhart has served on the NCAA Self-Study Committee, University Marketing Council and is part of the Greater Springfield Public Relations Advisory Committee. With over 30 years of experience in the athletics communications profession, he has earned a number of national writing and publication awards, including a CoSIDA Best in Nation honors for Football Media Guides (2017), Softball Media Guides (2017, 2018 and 2019) and Men's Basketball Programs (2019), in addition to other Best Cover laurels. He has also worked on the media relations teams for several national and regional events, including the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball St. Louis Regional, 2006 Final Four and 1995 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships in Atlanta.
Missouri State has earned Missouri Valley Conference Sports Information Office of the Year honors twice under his leadership (2009 and 2018), in addition to claiming the MVC's Top Media Guides Award and Top Game Notes Award in 2019.
A 1991 honors graduate of MSU, Kindhart returned to campus after serving as assistant executive director for communications for the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) for a total of 11 years and spending one year as a statistics coordinator at the NCAA National Office in Indianapolis.
He received his master's degree in 1993 from Southeast Missouri State, where he was assistant SID from 1991-93. From 1993-96, he was sports information director at Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss.
Kindhart is a certified USA Softball coach and is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He and his wife, Christy, have two adult children, Matt and Shelby.
