Fresno State AD Terry Tumey gets contract extension, and a short window to move Bulldogs forward
Fresno State and athletics director Terry Tumey have finalized a contract extension, according to university sources, and at just two years it adds a sense of urgency in advancing Bulldogs athletics as it stares at a next 50-plus that could include a move up to a Power Five conference and needs to include major renovations of its aging facilities.
Tumey on Friday acknowledged the contract has been completed, but deferred comment, preferring to keep the focus on department priorities.
The Bulldogs athletics director, who was hired in 2018 and was in the final months of a five-year contract worth $320,000 a year, has methodically moved the Bulldogs department forward and set it on more solid financial footing after years of university bailouts under previous administrations as it struggled to keep up with escalating costs in college athletics.
Fresno State revenues, minus a COVID-19 related loan, surpassed expenses by more than $1 million in 2021-22, according to its annual NCAA financial report.
Other highlights to this point:
Cashed in an apparel contract with adidas that was set up by deal-making done by former interim athletics director Steve Robertello. In 2018, Robertello accepted a short-term deal with Nike, essentially banking on the Bulldogs’ success in football and basketball to make it more marketable in future negotiations. Tumey parlayed that into a deal with adidas in 2020 for uniforms, shoes and apparel that with an annual average value of $1.275 million is double what the Bulldogs were receiving from Nike.
Hired football coach Jeff Tedford for a second stint at his alma mater after he was forced to step away following the 2019 season due to health issues, and at a university and athletics department-friendly deal that tops out at $1.85 million in base salary in 2026 and significantly cut back on a performance bonus structure that had been one of the highest in the nation.
Increased attendance at football games, creating a better home environment during a championship season in 2022 with fans sticking with the Bulldogs even after a 1-4 start. Fresno State averaged 39,067 with two sellouts at Valley Children’s Stadium, and while attendance across the nation has slipped every year during Tumey’s Fresno State tenure, the Bulldogs attendance has gone up. In 2018, when the Bulldogs won a Mountain West Conference championship, they averaged just 31,504.
Fresno State in Tumey’s tenure has won two Mountain West championships in football and finished in the Top 25 twice — something that has happened only four times in school history — and the Bulldogs have won a total of 12 team conference titles.
In the classroom, the Bulldogs 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.
Major issues obviously remain, with Valley Children’s Stadium and athletics facilities and funding of the Bulldogs basketball programs at the top of the list.
With San Jose State making a push in hiring coach Tim Miles, the Bulldogs are at or near the bottom of the conference in success-drivers including charter travel, scheduling and salaries for coaches and staff. Coach Justin Hutson won more games (69) in his first four seasons than all but one coach in the school’s Division I history, but is the lowest-paid among coaches at the 10 Mountain West schools that release contract information.
Even there, athletics this season has gained some concessions from the Save Mart Center, where revenue potential is limited with the Bulldogs a tenant on their own campus and not only paying to use the venue, but not receiving any cut of parking or food and beverage sales and not controlling the majority of the best seats in the house.
Salaries and staffing are issues across the department.
The Bulldogs this offseason lost offensive coordinator Kirby Moore (Missouri) and offensive line coach Saga Tuitele (Arizona State) to Power Five conference jobs. But they also lost running backs coach James Montgomery to Mountain West Conference rival Boise State and a two-year contract with a significant bump in pay.
Terms of the Tumey contract extension were not immediately available, but a university source said it includes a raise in pay. Tumey has been ranked toward the bottom of Mountain West athletics directors in salaries with some of the newer hires in the conference earning considerably more.
Nevada athletics director Stephanie Rempe, hired in June, received 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. Erick Harper, hired at UNLV last January, has a five-year contract worth $420,000 a year. Jeremiah Dickey at Boise State, hired in January 2021, has a five-year deal worth $418,200.
