Sources: Washington to hire Wash

• Pete Thamel, ESPNMar 26, 2024, 02:22 PM ET

The University of Washington is completing a six-year offer to employ Pat Chun, the athletic director at competitor Washington State, as the school’s brand-new athletic director, sources informed ESPN on Tuesday.The hiring of

Chun, who brings both a familiar face and strong Huge Ten ties, marks a speedy reaction to the unexpected departure last week of Troy Dannen to become Nebraska’s athletic director after just 6 months on the job at Washington.Chun has actually led Washington State given that January 2018, and his responsibilities there included being picked to serve on the College Football Playoff committee and assisting manage the university’s future in the after-effects of mass departures from the Pac-12. Editor’s Picks 2 Related His experience in the Big Ten showed interesting the Washington brass, with the university getting in the conference for the 2024-25 academic year. Chun’s expected hire marks the uncommon celebration of the hiring of a rival school’s athletic director, although the extenuating circumstances of the Pac-12’s current flurry of departures make this relocation less jarring.Chun worked for 15 years at Ohio State, where his duties included everything from managing all facets of external relations to acting as the administrative liaison with the football program. That time offered him a window into the methods of the Big 10, as he spent substantial time in both fundraising and football, which will be 2 linchpins of his period in Seattle.His capability to lead an athletic department during financial obstacles was valued, as Washington deals with substantial arena debt.

The school also needs to discover methods to be competitive in the Big Ten while only getting half of the television earnings– along with Oregon– of its peers through 2029-30. Chun’s time at Washington State included the successful hire of guys’s basketball coach Kyle Smith, who left this week for the head-coaching job at Stanford after leading the Cougars

to the NCAA tournament for the very first time considering that 2008. That task is currently open.Chun likewise hired Kamie Ethridge as ladies’s basketball coach, and she led WSU to the Pac-12 tournament title in 2023 and 3 straight NCAA competition quotes– both firsts in school history.Chun’s tenure consisted of promoting Jake

Dickert from assistant coach to head football coach, a move that’s led to two bowl appearances– one as an interim– and a 15-16 overall record that includes 2 wins over

Wisconsin.When Chun was hired at Washington State, he ended up being the very first Asian American athletic director to lead a Power 5 school. Chun came to Washington State from Florida Atlantic, where his tenure consisted of the hiring of Lane Kiffin as football coach.