For nearly two decades, Dan Guerrero has been UCLA’s Athletic Director. Guerrero took the job in 2002, and he is one of the longest tenured AD’s in college athletics. Today, he announced that he will retire at the end of this academic year, leaving the Bruins plenty of time to find his successor next season.
Dan Guerrero is leaving UCLA after serving as the school's athletic director since 2002 https://t.co/Eil5E1ZiqL
— SI College Football (@si_ncaafb) September 19, 2019
Under Guerrero’s watch, UCLA has been one of the best athletic departments in the country. The Bruins have claimed 32 national championships while he has been the AD, winning titles in tennis, volleyball, soccer, water polo, softball, and other non-revenue sports.
However, UCLA has not had a lot of success in either football or basketball. Guerrero brought in both Jim Mora Jr. and Chip Kelly to turn around the football program, and while both hires received a lot of acclaim, neither one looks to be working out. Mora was fired in 2017 after going 46-30 in six years at UCLA, failing to win a conference title during that stretch. Kelly went 3-9 in 2018, and UCLA is 0-3 under his watch so far this season.
The timing of Guerrero’s retirement is interesting considering UCLA just hired a new basketball coach this summer. Steve Alford was fired on New Year’s Eve last year, and the school hired Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin to replace Alford in April. Cronin had success with the Bearcats, but his team continually underwhelmed in March Madness, failing to advance to the second weekend in each of the last seven seasons.
Letter from UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero to the Bruin faithful: https://t.co/G2EluXLzwT pic.twitter.com/Obm2grXj4j
— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) September 19, 2019
The school released a statement from Guerrero announcing the move this afternoon. Guerrero is an alumnus of the university, graduating from UCLA in 1974, so he has deep ties to the school. In the statement, Guerrero says:
My time at the helm of UCLA Athletics has been the honor of a lifetime and I want to thank all of you, the Bruin Family, for making my years here the best of my life. I’m proud of what we accomplished together. We achieved great success, many milestones and extraordinary team and individual accolades. We didn’t win every championship we sought, but we always fought valiantly and strove for excellence – for the very best outcome for UCLA – in every endeavor.
Best of luck to Dan Guerrero in his future endeavors.
H/T Sports Illustrated
