FORT COLLINS, Colo., — The following statement was issued Jack Graham following his firing by Colorado State University:
“Today, Colorado State University informed me of its decision to terminate my contract as Director of Athletics. This announcement is surprising and deeply disappointing to me. I will personally miss the opportunity to continue to build on what we have accomplished during the past two and a half years.
We have taken significant steps to enhance Colorado State University’s Athletics program:
- Nine new outstanding Head Coaches have been hired – all with the potential to deliver meaningful results for our student athletes’ and University’s success.
- The contracts for our four most prominent sports — football, men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball — have all been extended for close to a decade with significant break-up fees. This has secured our future of great leadership and coaching and mitigates the “stepping stone” dynamic that has prevailed at CSU.
- The administrative staff in the Department has been greatly enhanced by hiring many senior and accomplished executives. Our Department of Athletics is in very good hands.
- We have ignited RAM Nation with new enthusiasm for an Athletic Department that “thinks big, works hard and settles for nothing less than excellence” and that “Does it All”: recruits people of great character; requires and supports student-athletes to succeed academically; and delivers results on the field of competition.
- We’ve raised our expectations of student-athlete conduct. We have accomplished a behavioral-incident rate below that of the general student population – a significant decline since the time I joined CSU.
- Our student athletes have achieved academic success never-before seen at Colorado State.
- Our win/loss records across virtually all of our programs have improved measurably. We now think regularly about winning conference championships with national recognition.
- We rebranded Moby, enhanced game-day experiences at Hughes and added a CSU Hall of Fame, all to increase pride through recognition of the many accomplishments of CSU Athletics and our graduates.
- By personally leading efforts and strategy to stabilize and maintain quality in our Conference, we kept Boise State and San Diego State in the Mountain West.
- We gained recognition of CSU as a place of excellence and established new partnerships with well-recognized businesses such as Under Armour and ESPN.
- We created new corporate sponsorship opportunities, increased sales and made easier the community’s support of Athletics by opening the RAM ZONE in Old Town Fort Collins.
- Due to new marketing efforts, we are experiencing increases in numbers of boosters and ticket sales.
- We reached out to former CSU athletes and engaged them with a new publication called THE HORN, connecting them with students and with each other.
- We’ve set records for fund-raising for Athletics at CSU and have garnered tremendous support for the stadium.
- We’ve created a great design for a new on-campus stadium and multi-purpose facility that can serve the University from many perspectives – enhancing the student experience and engaging the community in diverse activities on campus.
There are many more accomplishments and even more opportunities for greater success for Colorado State Athletics going forward. I sincerely hope that the University’s decision today will not derail the significant strides and positive developments that have been made in CSU Athletics and our fundraising efforts for the new stadium.
I will deeply miss the opportunity to help build on these successes. My wife Ginger and I love Fort Collins – we have made it our home – and we value the role the University plays in our community and believe in the people we’ve brought to the Athletic Department. We will miss the daily contact with colleagues in the Department, student-athletes and our coaches. These great people are the most rewarding part of the job.
Thank you to all who have embraced us and helped to make us feel so welcome in this community.”
