Tag: Pat Chun

Pat Chun leaves Washington State to become Washington’s new AD

Pat Chun is the new AD at Washington.

The Pac-12 shuffle continues on Tuesday Now, this time it is Washington State athletic director Pat Chun leaving to become the new AD at Washington in a massive move, per Pete Thamel of ESPN. It is a six-year deal.

‘The University of Washington is finalizing a six-year deal to hire Pat Chun, the athletic director at rival Washington State, as the school’s new athletic director, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.’

Troy Dannen left Washington to become the new AD at Nebraska in another stunning turn of events, so Washington acted quickly to find the next man for the job.

Chun was at Ohio State for 15 years and now returns to the Big Ten Conference as the Huskies and others join in 2024. Oregon, UCLA, and USC are also leaving the Pac-12 to go to the Big Ten next season.

Chun also spent time at Florida Atlantic before going to Washington State.

Washington State athletic director hammers Pac-12 for long-term mismanagement

Pat Chun of Washington State, whose school was severely undercut by the #Pac12’s failures, spoke out. He did not mince words.

It is worth reemphasizing the point: The Pac-12 needed to survive primarily because Washington State and Oregon State needed to survive.

The stakes were not equal for all Pac-12 member schools. We have seen this statement affirmed in a very real and direct way. Oregon and Washington found a home in the Big Ten, joining USC and UCLA. The Four Corners schools found a home in the Big 12.

Four schools are floating in limbo and don’t know if they can find a power conference home. They are at risk of losing quite a lot of money from various revenue streams the Pac-12 — as a Power Five conference with high payouts and distributions from the College Football Playoff and NCAA Tournament — was able to provide for them.

George Kliavkoff didn’t understand how important it was to provide the tough, principled leadership the whole Pac-12 needed. If it meant resigning when Pac-12 presidents rejected a supposedly significant ESPN deal last year, Kliavkoff needed to do that. He instead allowed himself to be constrained by the same Pac-12 CEO Group that rejected Larry Scott’s Pac-16 plan with Texas and Oklahoma over a decade earlier.

The Pac-12 has been mismanaged for a very long time, and the consequences at Washington State are severe. Wazzu’s athletic director, Pat Chun, decided to speak out.

We have Chun’s remarks followed by fan reactions in the Pac-12 and across the country:

USC AD candidate profile: Pat Chun of Washington State

The Cougars’ athletic director is one of several obvious figures #USC could make a run at if it wants to. Learn more about Pat Chun.

The USC athletic director search is on. The University of Southern California has set in motion a transition plan with an interim athletic department administrator plus a Big Ten transition team, two clear indications the school is assembling people and ideas to help in the search for the next permanent athletic director at the school.

We have looked at a few different candidates over the past several days. These aren’t people who have said they want the job, but at this stage, the search isn’t very defined. It’s obvious this is a coveted job, but we don’t yet know who is centrally in play. We don’t yet have a sense of where interest in the job is mutual. Lots of people will want this job, but USC has to want to pursue a specific candidate. We don’t yet know the list of candidates USC has at the top of its list. Therefore, any current references to candidates are very non-specific in that USC might not be prioritizing them.

Nevertheless, we can say that various candidates are attractive, even if USC hasn’t yet expressed a desire to interview them.

You will want to consult the USC big board created by consultant Tony Altimore at The Voice of College Football. He broke the candidates list into several categories. One includes “world class athletic directors” who would do great at USC.

One of them is Pat Chun, the current athletic director at Washington State.

Chun has done a great job developing the WSU athletic department. The Cougars’ women’s basketball team won the first Women’s Pac-12 Tournament championship in program history. Football is respectable (bowl-level achievement is always a success in Pullman). Washington State’s athletic department fundraising has grown under Chun, and the results match the investments: both have improved in his tenure.

Chun was the athletic director at Florida Atlantic (2012-2018) who hired Lane Kiffin, who instantly revitalized the football program. Chun previously worked within the Ohio State athletic department, giving him crucial exposure to — and experience within — the Big Ten.

Chun would make an excellent athletic director at USC if offered the job.

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