By Kavin Mistry:
After five years as Athletic Director at San Jose State University, Gene Bleymaier is stepping aside to stay focused on the South Campus rebuild, according to SJSU president Mary Papazian.
Papazian announced Thursday morning that Bleymaier will be shifted to Special Advisor to herself in order to focus all of his attention on construction development to the athletic facilities.
Deputy Marie Tuite will now step in and take the interim job as the school’s Athletic Director for the time being.
“I’m confident that Marie will provide solid, stable leadership during this transition,” Papazian said in an email to the school this morning. “Details on the recruitment process will be shared in coming weeks.”
This move makes sense as Papazian declined to commit to a long term contract for Bleymaier as his term expires in June of this year.
As for the new interim AD, Tuite has been called upon this task before, in 2012, before the school hired Bleymaier.
At the time she helped lead the switch for SJSU from the Western Athletic Conference into the Mountain West.
The biggest problem students, faculty and staff have found is the inability for the athletic department to come to a decision on construction projects on SJSU’s South Campus, the location where the majority of the university’s facilities are based.
Bleymaier was tasked with overseeing the North End Zone project which was supposed to revamp the look of now CEFCU Stadium and add many state-of-the-art amenities for students and players.
The CSU board approved the project, but nothing has happened since.
The new facility will provide a huge boost for the growing program and its lack of progress might have been the reason for the move by Papazian.