Arizona State Athletic Director Ray Anderson resigns

Arizona State athletic supporters have been lobbying for Ray Anderson's resignation for two years now. They finally got what they wanted as the ASU athletic director resigned Monday with three years left on his contract.

He had been one of the highest-paid athletic directors in the country. While his base salary of $950,000 wasn't necessarily in the top handful he had bonuses tied in for things such as academic progress rates of each team, which considerably enhanced that salary and put him in elite territory.

Anderson has headed the ASU athletic department since 2014 but has been under fire since the hiring of Herm Edwards went terribly wrong. The two had a long association, with Anderson having served as Edwards' agent in his NFL playing days and Edwards' rein as ASU football coach ending amid an NCAA investigation into recruiting allegations that has yet to be resolved.

Anderson did not address the media but the school issued a statement confirming his resignation effective immediately. He will remain as a professor of practice and senior adviser for the sports law and business program at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

Anderson's last public appearance came on Saturday as he was on the sideline at the Rose Bowl where the Sun Devils upset UCLA 17-7. "It has been a privilege to serve as ASU's athletic director for nearly a decade," Anderson said, in a prepared statement. "We have entered an unprecedented era where the number and magnitude of changes in the college sports landscape are astounding. As I approach my seventh decade of life, these are not matters that my leadership would be able to corral during my tenure. Continuity of leadership will be needed, and I am choosing to step aside to let the university find that leader."Jim Rund, ASU Senior Vice President for Educational Outreach and Student Services, will serve as interim athletic director. Rund served as the interim athletic director in 2013 following the departure of Steve Patterson to the University of Texas, the statement said.

News of Anderson's departure came 30 minutes or so before head football coach Kenny Dillingham was scheduled to give his weekly briefing with the media. He said the change in leadership will not affect how he does his job and he is focused on the last two games of the season. But he did offer his sentiment on Anderson bringing him into the ASU fold.

“Thankful for him giving me the opportunity to be the head coach here at my alma mater, my dream job. I’m very very thankful for him. He’s been supportive of me since I’ve gotten here. So best of luck to him and his future. We’ll look forward to what the future holds here. But best of luck to him in the future and I’m very thankful for the opportunity he gave me to be the head coach here,” Dillingham said.

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Among the others offering comment was baseball coach Willie Bloomquist, who followed Dillingham to the media room podium to discuss his recent signing class.

“I just got news of it as you all did. I’m obviously really grateful for Ray and he gave me the opportunity to come back to this place, which I love," he said. "I love Arizona State and the man gave me my job to come back, so I’m forever grateful for him and for that opportunity. I see a side to Ray that you guys don’t get to see every day and that is the fact that Ray is a good man, a very good man.

"He’s treated me absolutely outstanding since I’ve been here, since day one. You never like seeing a man get fired because he’s a human being and he’s a good human. So that is always sad and disappointing when that happens. On the same token, we’ve been taught to think onward to the next thing. We understand that this is a business and things happen. From my standpoint, I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I wish him well.”

Anderson's resignation comes ahead of ASU making the transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 conference next year. Anderson and ASU president Michael Crow tried to keep the Pac-12 together and had always been strong advocates of the conference until it no longer was viable.  Anderson's departure comes as the ASU football program is working to recover from problems left behind by Edwards, who was hired in December 2017 as head coach.

He parted ways with the program three games into the 2022 season and left with the cloud of an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations hanging over the program. Rather than fire Edwards for cause the school gave him a $4.4 million buy out which rubbed school supporters the wrong way given the NCAA issue.

'It's about time': ASU community reacts to Ray Anderson's resignation

The school also announced a self-imposed bowl ban four days before the season opener against Southern Utah, a move that blindsided Dillingham and put this year's team at a disadvantage before it had even kicked off. The school could have done that last season but chose not to so opting for that course of action this year penalizes a coaching staff and roster made up of mostly newcomers that had nothing to do with the past regime.

The call for Anderson to step down intensified as the season progressed. For home games mobile billboards have circulated the campus advocating for his removal and fans have voiced their displeasure when seeing him at ASU athletic events.

The fan base has been so vocal about Anderson's role in the Edwards saga that many have expressed reluctance to attend games or donate to NIL collectives until Anderson was out of the picture. The Sun Devils are woefully behind their other conference peers when it comes to the NIL collectives which are run independently from the athletic department. The season will be over by the end of the month and the transfer portal will be open with ASU having some athletes good enough to draw lucrative offers from other schools.

Dillingham is hoping the fan base acts fast so he can keep his team intact.

“I definitely think anytime there’s change it rattles enough cages to get maybe some people involved and understand that there’s a direction we’re heading. I think in the last nine to 10 months we’ve been put in the right direction that’s started with hopefully people believing Ray bringing me in here and hopefully, that’s going to carry on for his successor and the direction that we want to go. We’ve got about a month, we’ve got to step it up and get rolling at a rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid, rapid rate in this next three weeks to one month.”

Despite the recent criticisms, the athletic department had some major accomplishments under his watch, most notably a $268 million renovation to Mountain America Stadium, with the school also generating money for the naming rights of the venue formerly known as Sun Devil Stadium.

Among the other successes was the addition of Mullett Arena, which serves as home to the school's men's ice hockey program as well as the NHL's Arizona Coyotes. ASU's gymnastics and volleyball teams also use the facility which has been a revenue maker due largely to the rent paid by the Coyotes.

Anderson, who earned a BA in political science from Stanford in 1976 and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1979, also negotiated an eight-year, $38 million apparel agreement with Adidas and has added four varsity sports since he took over — men's hockey, women's lacrosse, men's tennis and triathlon bringing the school's offerings to 26 sports with 650 or so student-athletes.

Academics have also been a priority. In 2023, ASU recorded the highest Academic Progress Rate in the Pac-12 for the second year in a row, beating Stanford and Cal. The mark also tied the all-time ASU high. In December of 2021, ASU also reached an all-time high Graduation Success Rate, with a record 10 programs reaching 100%. In each of Anderson's years at the helm, Sun Devil Athletics surpassed its previous all-time best GSR.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ray Anderson steps down as Arizona State athletic director