John Cohen’s top priority as Auburn’s new athletics director will be hiring a replacement for Bryan Harsin, but that wasn’t his first directive after being named to the post Monday evening.

Cohen’s first directive as the 16th athletics director in program history was to promote Rich McGlynn to deputy athletics director, a role in which the two will work in concert to “further elevate the Auburn athletics department,” the university announced.

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It’s a promotion for McGlynn, who stood in as Auburn’s interim athletics director for the last seven weeks as university president Dr. Chris Roberts executed a thorough national search for Allen Greene’s replacement.

McGlynn was named Auburn’s interim AD on Sept. 13, taking over after athletics chief operating officer Marcy Girton spent 12 days as the program’s acting athletics director. Prior to stepping in as interim AD, McGlynn served as Auburn’s executive associate athletics director for compliance, a role he has served in since 2006. He previously spent five years working for the NCAA before arriving on the Plains.

During his time working for Auburn athletics, McGlynn has overseen the compliance department. He played an integral role in guiding Bruce Pearl and the men’s basketball program through the NCAA investigation stemming from the 2017 FBI investigation that ensnared former assistant coach Chuck Person. He was also instrumental in helping the program navigate the Cam Newton eligibility saga during the 2010 BCS national championship season.

McGlynn has been a well-liked figure within Auburn’s athletics department, with Pearl as one of his chief proponents. While he served as Auburn’s interim athletics director for 49 days, McGlynn was a strong internal candidate for the full-time position.

He said last week that he enjoyed his time serving as interim AD — “I’m having a blast,” he said — noting that his primary objective was to help steady the ship amid the uncertainty of change.

“I was just making sure that people know it’s going to be OK,” McGlynn said last Thursday. “No matter what’s going to happen in the future, the Auburn family’s going to stick together. We’re family, we’re going to take care of each other, and we’re going to ensure that no matter who leads the athletics department, we’re going to be in good hands, because as the Auburn family together, we can do anything.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.