Cougars’ new hire is one of their own
Incoming AD Pezman lettered in football, earned two degrees; now set to give back
The last search for an athletic director led the University of Houston a few doors down the hall.
This time, the school had to go a little farther but still managed to keep the hire in the family.
Chris Pezman, a UH alum and former football letterman, was named vice president for intercollegiate athletics Monday.
Pezman, 47, will be officially introduced at a news conference at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the TDECU Stadium Club. The event is open to the public.
Contracts terms were not immediately available.
“We are thrilled to be returning home,” Pezman said in a statement released by the university. “Houston has always been home and will always be home. We had always hoped to return to Houston, and when the opportunity presented itself, we couldn’t be more excited.”
Pezman spent the last four years as senior associate athletic director and chief operating officer at the University of California at Berkeley. Before that, Pezman climbed the career ladder in the Houston area and continued close ties to his alma mater.
Pezman, a Stratford High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from UH. He was a three-year letterman (1990-92) on the football team, serving as a team captain his final season, and later served as a graduate assistant from 1993-94 while working on his post-grad
degree.
Pezman was an assistant to the athletic director for two more years and later promoted to assistant AD for operations before leaving for a decadelong job with what is now known as NRG Park and SMG Management.
Pezman returned to UH in 2012 as assistant AD for football operations on former coach Tony Levine’s staff, with his primary responsibilities includes the organization and management of all business aspects of the football program. In the role, Pezman was instrumental in the increase in football-restricted donations while also serving as a liaison with construction managers on the building of TDECU Stadium and renovation of football locker room and practice fields.
He is the first graduate of UH to be named the school’s top athletic official.
“Chris has achieved success operationally, he understands the studentathlete experience and he is a familiar name and face to our supporters,” UH president Renu Khator said in a statement. “His enthusiasm to lead our athletics program is unmatched and I am confident the same tenacity that elevated him to team captain for the Cougars will strengthen our program on the field and in the classroom.”
Pezman replaces Hunter Yurachek, who left Dec. 3 to become the vice chancellor and director of athletics at Arkansas.
At Cal, Pezman served as the primary football administrator and was responsible for overseeing several multimillion-dollar capital projects.
“Congratulations to Chris Pezman on becoming the new leader of the athletic department at the University of Houston,” Cal director of intercollegiate athletics Mike Williams said. “This is a tremendous professional opportunity for Chris and a great chance for he and his family to return home to his alma mater. Chris provided critical leadership and developed many key partnerships among a long list of contributions in a wide and diversified array of roles at Cal. We will miss Chris but wish him all the best in his new position.”
Pezman returns to a UH that in the last few years has made the transition to the American Athletic Conference and undergone more than $230 million in capital projects and renovations, among them $128 million TDECU Stadium, $25 million Guy V. Lewis Development Center, a $20 million indoor practice facility for football and $60 million renovation of the Fertitta Center, the on-campus basketball arena that is scheduled to open late next year.