Izzi expects growth for UCI

Though a national championship in volleyball and a third-place showing at the College World Series last spring did much to expand the national profile of Eater Nation, newly hired UC Irvine Athletic Director Mike Izzi believes one of his primary tasks will be to expand the school’s notoriety within a crowded Southern California sports landscape.

“Southern California is a pretty busy place, if you look at market share,” Izzi said in a phone interview. “And maybe UC Irvine doesn’t quite have the market share it deserves.”

Izzi, whose primary role during 16-plus years as an associate athletic director at Stanford involved fundraising, said he is anxious to help UCI continue to expand its visibility, both locally and nationally.

“Winning solves a lot of problems, and money solves a lot of problems,” said the former UCLA javelin thrower, who competed in football, basketball, baseball and track and field at Rosemead High.

Money problems contributed to the departure of Izzi’s predecessor, Bob Chichester, who announced his resignation in June after a five-year term.

“I think the department staff, like myself, have been concerned about the financial support of the department for quite a while now,” Chichester said just after his resignation was announced. “And there’s a big concern for the future.”

Izzi, 47, comes from a school at which the annual athletic budget is more than $60 million, significantly more than that at UCI.

A 2004-05 study conducted by the Indianapolis Star identified UCI’s athletic budget as just more than $10.2 million. In addition to his fundraising chores, he most recently oversaw the men’s basketball program.

But Izzi said he views such economic challenges as opportunities.

“My job is to do everything I can, within reason, to give our coaches and our student-athletes the best opportunity to win,” Izzi said. “I’m going to be enabling and empowering people.”

Further, Izzi said his perception during the hiring process was that there was an encouraging level of support provided to athletics from the administration, led by Chancellor Michael V. Drake.

Izzi said Drake was one of the factors that most impressed him about the school.

“It was a variety of things,” he said about UCI’s leading attributes. “I think it’s a great chancellor, great academics and a great staff. There are a lot of similarities between Irvine and Stanford.”

Izzi praised Drake for his “thoughtfulness, energy, and his vision.”

Coming from Stanford, Izzi said he is particularly pleased with the strong academics that exist at UCI.

“I’m thrilled that this institution is spectacular academically,” he said. “That attracts great student-athletes, great coaches and people in the community. I think it’s a big plus.”

Another plus is the long-term growth potential he foresees at UCI.

“I think it’s the best-kept secret in California, if not the nation,” Izzi said. “It’s in a great location and, again, there’s a great staff there. In terms of academics and athletics, I’m very impressed with what I see.”

Izzi, who was a finalist for the job when Chichester was hired in 2002, said he has also applied for athletic director jobs at San Jose State and the University of San Diego since going through the process at UCI. “I’m ambitious and I’ve always thought about wanting to move up within college athletics,” he said.

He signed a five-year contract with an annual base salary of $190,000 with a $40,000 signing bonus, and said he is looking to stay for as long as the school will have him.

“At the end of the day, leaving a legacy is a wonderful thing,” he said. “There’s no place I’d rather be than at UCI.”

His start date is Jan. 1, but he said he will use January as a transition month and will be in the office full time no later than Feb. 1.

He said his initial tasks will be learning the culture and the people at UCI.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].