Fresno State Athletics
Terry Tumey Press Conference Quotes
June 25, 2018
President Joseph I. Castro remarks
"Today begins a new and exciting chapter for Bulldog athletics. Our new Director of Athletics Terry Tumey will join the Fresno State family on August 1. Terry is here today with his wife Candace, his youngest daughter Simone and father-in-law Bill Gonzales.
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. I want to thank Interim Director of Athletics Steve Robertello for his leadership of the department for the last eight months. I also want to thank the search committee led by Vice President Debbie Adishian-Astone for their excellent work in screening applicants, interviewing candidates and forwarding to me their top candidates.
Terry Tumey was the most qualified candidate among an exceptional pool of candidates. Terry is energetic, strategic and personal, but those are just a few reasons for selecting him. Terry was a very strong, motivated and successful student-athlete at UCLA and will be an excellent role model for our talented student-athletes. Terry has served as a coach at UCLA and for the Denver Broncos which is experience he can draw upon as he guides and supports our coaches. Terry has a distinguished set of accomplishments as a director in Division I, II and III programs which means he has significant experience with all aspects of this job including fundraising and financial management. Terry has a unique and impressive background in business including a MBA from one of the top business schools in the nation at UCLA and the director of football administration for the San Francisco 49ers.
Finally and most importantly, Terry is a man of character and integrity. Each of his references that I called made a point of sharing this with me."
Director of Athletics Terry Tumey
Opening statement…
“I am excited to be here and to accept the position of Director of Athletics here at Fresno State. I would like to thank every member who participated in the search process, the diverse leadership within the Fresno State community, the search chair, Debbie Astone, our talented coaches, our vital academic partners, our vested and committed community leaders, and last but not least, our dedicated student body. Your keen insights and thoughtful conversations, what makes Fresno State attractive, and your belief in what we can accomplish here was definitely the deciding factor as our family has made a commitment to Fresno State.”
On his commitment to the student experience at Fresno State…
“First, our department will be committed to the student experience which will be based on comprehensive excellence throughout every engagement point of our students. In short, we all, as a community, are contributing to the emotional period of your growth as students. We are held accountable and should be committed to making this experience as fruitful and robust as any other in the country.”
On focusing on athletes’ experiences…
"When it comes to the acquisition of talent and coaching and finding leaders of support staff, and enhancing our revenue generations expansion, we are in a single mindset when it comes to these investments. I, and our Fresno State partners, are committed to continue to redefine the contributions and expectations we have for our student-athletes and our students. This is a point that is not of contemplation. We are a community that is all in. Maximum efforts in support of academic excellence and facilitating a post-graduation experience are our success. Our students need our commitment of resources as we fulfill our promise to make things better. All of our students should know that they are Bulldogs for life.”
On a commitment to success at Fresno State…
“Everyone; coaches, staff and administration, if we are not committed to our efforts to win in the Mountain West, to win in all sports, to win regionally, to win nationally, to win in our classroom and beyond graduation, to win in our community, then we are not holding ourselves accountable to our students, our fans, our donors and the Fresno State that we represent. It is our pride in this excellence that we need to achieve. I am of the mindset that all sports, from swimming, to wrestling, to track and field, to lacrosse, are all going to have outstanding campaigns. In the sport of football, we have some outstanding opponents which will be great challenges to our team and to coach Tedford, with whom I have the deepest admiration and trust.”
On rekindling the support of the Valley…
“The honor of being a Bulldog is not for everyone. However, it is the foundation of how we serve this great community. We, as a department, have the distinct honor of serving a community that is so vast and so rich with character and pride that is so special. We will remind our fans, alumni, donors, those who have supported us throughout generations, and those new supporters, and the entire Valley community that our commitment is to be great partners, to honor, to serve and to celebrate what this Valley stands for. Students, as well as the partners of this University, compete for the pride of our Valley. We as Fresno State Athletics must celebrate and honor the partnership of our Valley.”
Tumey Media Q&A Questions
On why he chose Fresno after having a 30-plus year career spent between the Bay Area and L.A. …
“For me, I never saw it as a flyover. This is a destination point. This is a place where we can build and celebrate these wonderful people that we serve. I plan on being here quite some time and celebrating our students and our university.”
On his first order of business…
“My first order of business is to really find out about this community by getting out and talking to everybody. I really feel in order serve I need to work with my constituents. That means I need to go out and talk to my students, to our staff, to our faculty members, to our community to find out a lot more about this place that has been so wonderful for so long. I look to be a very present face in the Fresno State community.”
On what he’s looking to start doing...
“I’m anxious to start working with our staff. I’m anxious to start figuring out what their thoughts are on what excellence means and redefining that. I think what we’ll see is a heightened level of commitment, a heighted level of action. We will be very active people. We will be tireless in our efforts in doing so. If you’ve worked in any sort of athletic endeavor, you work extremely hard, you are constantly serving. There is no greater job in the world than serving these students. It is so fulfilling, so prideful, there is so much joy in seeing them achieve. I want to work with those individuals to make that happen.”
On the business of college athletics…
“This is a people business. This a business where we have to get out and make relationships with people so we had better find the right coaches and support them the right way in order for them to achieve and invest in these young people. They have the ability to touch the lives of these individuals every day. If that is the case, we better do right by our coaches, support them and challenge them to excellence. That is what we should achieve. Facilities are important, we all get that. We have to have the right facilities in order to be competitive, however, if I had to prioritize, I would start with people and make sure that is working and then move forward.”
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