Fresno State introduces new AD

Terry Tumey was introduced as Fresno State’s new director of athletics at a press conference Monday, June 25, at the Save Mart Center. Courtesy of Cary Edmondson/Fresno State

Fresno State introduced its next director of athletics in Terry Tumey on Monday at a press conference at the Save Mart Center.

The hire was first announced Thursday by university President Joseph Castro via Twitter, ending an extensive search to replace interim Director of Athletics Steve Robertello, who took over the job in November of last year after the sudden resignation of Jim Bartko.

“Today begins a new and exciting chapter for Bulldog athletics,” Castro said. “The search committee and I are confident that Terry will lead a committed group of student athletes, coaches and staff to new heights of academic and athletic success.

“Terry has a distinguished record of accomplishments as an athletic director at Division I, II and III programs, which means that he has significant experience with all aspects of this job.”

Tumey most recently served as the Director of Athletics at the unified Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Southern California.

He also served as Director of Athletics at UC Davis from 2012-15.

In addition, Tumey was an accomplished football player at UCLA from 1984-87 and was a three-time All-Pacific-10 Conference defensive lineman. After his playing career, he transitioned into coaching as an assistant at the university followed by stints in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and as a player personnel executive with the San Francisco 49ers.

Tumey, visually excuberent during his introductory press conference, made it very clear to the media that his goal is to build a strong foundation that serves the students, faculty and fans.

“Our department will be committed to the student experience which will be based on comprehensive excellence throughout every engagement point of our students,” Tumey said. “We as a community have the honor of contributing to this transformational period of your growth as students.”

To that end, Tumey said that his first order of business is to get out and talk to members of the Fresno State community and listen to and address their concerns.

“I need to work with my constituency. So that means I need to go out and talk to the students, our staff, our faculty members and our community to find out a lot more about this place,” he said.

The newest member of the Fresno State athletics department also addressed what is always a priority for collegiate athletics: finances.

“I don’t think that you can be in big time athletics and not have concerns with the financial integrity of our enterprise,” Tumey said. “This enterprise is amazingly expensive. Costs are soaring daily. We will constantly be reviewing that model to understand where we should be and where we can be from a financial perspective.”

In January, Fresno State announced its decision to shelve its $60 million dollar renovation to Bulldog Stadium, opting instead to focus on incremental improvements to the student-athlete village and athletic facilities, largely due to concerns over the university’s ability to finance it.

Michael graduated from Fresno State in May 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in print journalism. During his time at the university, he served as sports and managing editor for The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper. In addition to the Clovis Roundup, Michael has written for The Fresno Bee, the Kingsburg Recorder and Selma Enterprise. He has a passion for sports and can be found on the sidelines at local games, bringing the citizens of Clovis the athletics news they deserve.