Read new Montana A.D.

MISSOULA — Don Read, the most successful head football coach at the University of Montana, was named the school’s new athletics director on Thursday, charged with helping the department address a $1 million deficit.

Read, 70, will begin work on June 1 and hold the position for three years, said UM President George Dennison.

Read — who coached at UM from 1986-95, compiled an overall record of 85-36 and led the Grizzlies to the 1995 NCAA Division I-AA national title — told a news conference that addressing the deficit will be his top priority. But he said fixing that deficit is already under way, under a plan laid out recently by the university and approved by the state Board of Regents.

Former athletic director Wayne Hogan resigned in early March, five days after the department’s projected $1 million deficit was reported.

Marie Porter, an associate athletic director at the school, has been serving as the interim director.