Fresno State and athletics director Terry Tumey reach mutual separation after six years

Fresno State and athletics director Terry Tumey finalized a mutual separation on Thursday, a little more than one year after extending his deal and with an open coaching search for its basketball program in its infancy.

“It has been an honor to serve the Fresno State community with integrity for the past six years,” Tumey said, in a statement. “I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of this valley that remains undefeated in its support of athletics. I am proud of our accomplishments and the high levels of success our programs achieved in competition, in the classroom and in our community.

“I want to offer my sincerest appreciation to all of the student-athletes, coaches, staff members and supporters for their efforts to push Fresno State athletics forward during my tenure. We have faced and defeated man challenges, and although much remains to be done, I leave with the confidence that our contributions have made a positive impact on the lives of others.”

An interim athletics director was not immediately appointed.

“Director of Athletics Terry Tumey and I have mutually agreed that he will be leaving Fresno State to pursue other opportunities,” university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said, in a statement to the campus. “We are working together on a transition plan to ensure that we have continuity of leadership in the Athletics Department. I sincerely appreciate Terry’s six years of dedicated service to Fresno State and the support he has provided to our campus, community, and most importantly, to our student-athletes. We wish Terry all the best for a fulfilling future.”

Tumey, who received a five-year contract when hired in June 2018, signed a two-year extension last February that was to run through June 2025. He is owed 80% of his base salary or $312,000.

There also was an option for a third year.

Fresno State does, however, have a history of paying out former athletics directors. It reassigned Thomas Boeh, who was in the first of a five-year contract when he was removed as athletics director. It also ended up paying the balance of former athletics director Jim Bartko’s contract, two years, to settle a wrongful termination claim.

Tumey, while struggling to tackle a budget impacted by inconsistent institutional support as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, made strong hires in several sports with Kalen DeBoer and Jeff Tedford in football, Denise Dy in tennis, Leisa Rosen in volleyball, Ryan Overland in baseball, Jason Drake and track and Stacy May-Johnson in softball.

“I wouldn’t be where I am if Terry didn’t give me a chance at Fresno State,” said DeBoer, who turned success at Fresno State through a trying time during the COVID-19 pandemic into more success at Washington and is now at Alabama. “Terry bringing me back and working through probably the hardest year that you could ever have, working alongside him, I think we gained a lot of respect for each other.

“We had many hard talks, just because of the reality of the environment that we were surrounded by and going through. Any time you have those talks and get through it, you develop close relationships. I think the world of Terry as a person and wouldn’t be here without his decision to bring me back to Fresno State.”

The Bulldogs’ external and creative teams have significantly enhanced the Bulldogs’ brand on a national level, pumping out videos and graphics that rival any coming from significantly larger, Power Five conference schools.

That only helped Fresno State revive a football fan base that had gone dormant before Tumey was hired — eight years ago, the Bulldogs averaged only 25,493 in home attendance and in winning Mountain West Conference championships in 2013 and 2018 the average was 36,917 and 31,503. Fresno State last season averaged 39,969 for six home dates, the highest among all Group of Five conference programs.

In 2022, the Bulldog Foundation set a record with $4.7 million raised toward athletics scholarships including donations from an all-time high 125 Green V Club members.

Will Fresno State pay top dollar for next AD?

Tumey last May unveiled an ambitious plan to renovate the aged Valley Children’s Stadium as part of a $250 million athletics facilities master plan. The first phases of that plan included a new weight room facility for Olympic sports in the North Gym and a renovation of the suites on the east side of the football stadium, both completed.

“The time is now,” university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said, when the plan was announced. “For over a century, Fresno State athletics has rallied the valley, united people from all walks of life behind a common cause and generating excitement about our university. Just as our winning teams fuel passion and pride in our fan base, they also fuel interest in future students near and far, giving them a pathway to become familiar with the university. In addition, our teams are the gateway to national and international brand recognition.”

Tumey also boosted revenue in an apparel deal with adidas, which is double what the athletics department had been receiving from Nike, and through larger guarantees in the scheduling of non-conference football games.

In the classroom, Fresno State student-athletes have posted a department grade-point average of 3.0 or better in every semester since 2018, as well as the highest NCAA Academic Progress Rate score in school history.

Behind the scenes there were complaints at times about a lack of communication, including from former basketball coach Justin Hutson, which were detailed in an investigative report from the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King into potential NCAA rules violations and other alleged misconduct by the coaching staff.

Hutson was fired earlier this month after a loss to Utah State in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, closing a 12-21 season.

The university has not yet released a report on an investigation into racial discrimination claims made by Hutson, which revolve around a lack of financial resources for a basketball program, according to multiple high-ranking university officials who were granted anonymity due to an on-going investigation into those claims.

But, as with its search for a basketball coach to replace Hutson, Fresno State could run into difficulties attracting candidates for the athletics director position.

Tumey has been one of the lowest paid athletics directors in the Mountain West Conference at $340,000 a year.

Nevada athletics director Stephanie Rempe has a five-year contract worth $505,000 a year, Eddie Nunez received a five-year extension at New Mexico in 2021 that is worth $420,000 a year and Erick Harper has a five-year contract worth $420,000 a year at UNLV. Jeremiah Dickey at Boise State has a five-year deal worth $418,200.