The College of Washington has employed Pat Chun, the athletic director at rival Washington State, as the varsity’s new athletic director on Tuesday.
It’s a six-year deal, sources instructed ESPN.
“Pat has a monitor report of success and a wealth of expertise — from 15 years within the Massive Ten and repair on nationwide teams guiding the way forward for faculty sports activities, to securing group assist and a dedication to the well-being of student-athletes,” College of Washington president Ana Mari Cauce stated in a press release. “He is aware of our state, is very revered in nationwide athletics circles and has an eye fixed for expertise. I am so pleased he’ll be becoming a member of us to steer UW Athletics into the long run.”
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The hiring of Chun, who brings each a well-known face and robust Massive Ten ties, marks a swift response to the sudden departure final week of Troy Dannen to develop into Nebraska’s athletic director after solely six months on the job at Washington.
Chun has led Washington State since January 2018, and his duties there included being chosen to serve on the School Soccer Playoff committee and serving to handle the college’s future within the aftermath of mass departures from the Pac-12.
He’ll start his new function on Wednesday.
“It’s really an honor for my household and I to affix the College of Washington household, and I sit up for doing my half to assist elevate the athletics program and the college,” Chun stated in a press release. “… Our transition to the Massive Ten is a essential step in our journey and nice issues lie forward for the Huskies!”
His expertise within the Massive Ten proved interesting to the Washington brass, with the college coming into the convention for the 2024-25 faculty yr. Chun’s anticipated rent marks the uncommon event of the hiring of a rival faculty’s athletic director, though the extenuating circumstances of the Pac-12’s latest flurry of exits make this transfer much less jarring.
Chun labored for 15 years at Ohio State, the place his tasks included every thing from managing all sides of exterior relations to serving as the executive liaison with the soccer program. That point gave him a window into the methods of the Massive Ten, as he spent vital time in each fundraising and soccer, which might be two linchpins of his tenure in Seattle.
His means to steer an athletic division throughout monetary challenges was valued, as Washington faces vital stadium debt. The college additionally should discover methods to be aggressive within the Massive Ten whereas solely receiving half of the tv income — together with Oregon — of its friends via 2029-30.
Chun’s time at Washington State included the profitable rent of males’s basketball coach Kyle Smith, who left this week for the head-coaching job at Stanford after main the Cougars to the NCAA event for the primary time since 2008. That job is at present open.
Chun additionally employed Kamie Ethridge as girls’s basketball coach, and she or he led WSU to the Pac-12 event title in 2023 and three straight NCAA event bids — each firsts at school historical past.
Chun’s tenure included selling Jake Dickert from assistant coach to move soccer coach, a transfer that is resulted in two bowl appearances — one as an interim — and a 15-16 total report that features two wins over Wisconsin.
When Chun was employed at Washington State, he grew to become the primary Asian American athletic director to steer a Energy 5 faculty. Chun got here to Washington State from Florida Atlantic, the place his tenure included the hiring of Lane Kiffin as soccer coach.