Robert ‘Bob’ Minnix, senior associate athletics director for Washington State University from June 2008 to Aug. 2017, died Nov. 3, 2017.
Minnix was born and raised on Spokane, Wash., where he graduated from Lewis and Clark High School. At Lewis and Clark he was a star running back. He and quarterback Bill Etter were both named prep All-Americans and both accepted football scholarships to Notre Dame. During his college years, he appeared in 29 career games, totaling 147 carries for 645 yards and seven touchdowns in three seasons. Minnix played in back-to-back Cotton Bowls in 1970 and 1971 as a running back, and led the Irish in rushing as a senior in 1971.
Having earned his bachelor of arts degree in sociology in 1972 from Notre Dame, he enrolled in law school at the University of Washington, where he received his Juris Doctorate in 1975.
From 1975 to 1995, Minnix worked for the NCAA, initially as an enforcement representative and later as director of enforcement. After that, he signed on as the senior associate athletic director for Florida State University, where he stayed until May 2007. In June 2008 he was named the senior associate athletics director for Washington State University, where he served until his retirement in August 2017.
In June 2016, Minnix received the Frank Kara Leadership Award from the National Association for Athletics Compliance.