Serving as the Associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations since 2015, Julio Llanos is entering his 20th year at Columbus State University in 2024-25. In his role, Llanos has oversight over NCAA Compliance, academics, and other internal functions and reporting for the athletic department and institution. He also serves on multiple institutional committees as well as an active member of the CSU Create Care team.
Llanos arrived at CSU as the head athletic trainer in 2004 before being promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine in 2010. Over the next year, he added the role of NCAA Compliance Director to his title.
Stepping into more of an administrative role, Llanos served as the tournament director for multiple Peach Belt Conference Championships and NCAA Regionals for various sports. An active contributor to NCAA conferences and committee work, Llanos has facilitated two NCAA Forums in 2013 (Student Athlete Leadership Forum & Career and Sports Forum). He is currently serving on the national review committee for the NCAA Career and Sports Forum and the NCAA Division II Baseball Southeast Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).
Bringing a wealth of athletic training knowledge and expertise, the Columbus native assisted in helping transformed the relationship between the athletic training community in the Chattahoochee Valley and the university. Llanos strengthened the partnership with the Hughston Clinic, the official sports medicine provider of the Cougars since 1985, in addition to providing additional support to local high school athletes in the Columbus area.
Under Llanos’ leadership, the Cougar athletic training staff has won three PBC Athletic Training Staff of the Year awards (10-11,11-12, and 13-14) and has hosted several PBC Sports Medicine Conferences in collaboration and partnership with the Hughston Clinic.
Additionally, Llanos was the 2010 MOAA (Minority Opportunities Athletic Association) grant recipient for the Peach Belt Conference and participated in the NCAA Division II Governance Academy. He was a graduate of the NCAA Leadership Institute in 2012.
Before CSU, Llanos served as the Head Athletic Trainer / Adjunct Instructor at Fort Valley State University from 2001 to 2004.
Llanos is a 1994 graduate of Carver High School in Columbus and later earned his BS in Exercise Science (athletic training) from Columbus State in 1999. He attended Auburn University through the Kenny Howard Athletic Training Fellowship at the Hughston Clinic-Auburn and worked at Valley High School (1999-2001) as a graduate assistant athletic trainer. Llanos was a summer athletic training intern for the Atlanta Falcons in 2000. He obtained his Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Columbus State in May 2010 and is currently slated to earn his Educational Doctorate (EdD) in Higher Education Leadership from CSU with the completion of his studies in the fall of 2024. He has served as an Adjunct Instructor for CSU since 2014, in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science.
Llanos is married to Zaire Ghislaine Llanos, and they have three children, Liany, Julio III, and Vincent. They reside in Columbus where he enjoys the hobby of spending time with his family and home improvement.
