Mercer University President William D. Underwood held a press con ference Jan. 6 to announce the appointment of Cole to the position and to announce the appointment of the cur rent director, Bobby Pope, to the executive director of the Mercer Athletic Foundation. Pope has been the school’s athletic director for more than 20 years.

The appointments are effective July 1.

Cole was offered the job of secretary of state New Year’s Eve by Gov. Sonny Perdue and accepted the post before having second thoughts. He stated his reason for the change of heart was the time the position would require and the age of his children, who are 6 and 8. In addi tion to declining the offer, Cole also announced that he would not be running for re election to his District 125 seat in November in order to pursue job opportunities at Mercer.

The representative said he will be 49 when his children graduate from high school, and he feels he will have time to re-enter politics if he still has the desire.

Cole lettered in base ball at Mercer in the early 1990s and was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1993. He was named the franchise’s Organizational Player of the Year and was a finalist for the TOPPS Minor League Player of the Year award in 1994. After an injury ended his profes sional baseball career, he returned to Mercer in 1997 to earn his MBA while serv ing as a graduate assistant and pitching coach for the baseball team.

Cole started his own com pany before being elected to the House of Representatives in 2004.

He has served for the past 18 months as execu tive director of the Mercer Athletics Foundation while representing his district and last year handling the duties of Perdue’s floor leader.

Cole represents Jasper County and parts of Monroe, Jones, and Lamar counties, and he said he will continue to represent them through the legislative session that began Jan. 11.