Yurachek’s first year one to build on
Facility projects play into AD’s intention of ‘pushing forward’
From a historic season in football to a resurgence of the men’s basketball program and more than a half-dozen construction projects already completed or in the works, it’s been a whirlwind first year for Hunter Yurachek as the University of Houston’s top athletics official.
“It’s been an exciting, fast-paced, successful year,” said Yurachek, who on April 30 marked his one-year hiring as vice president for intercollegiate athletics and athletic director.
Yurachek recently sat down with the Houston Chronicle for a wide-ranging interview on topics that included conference realignment, $80 million in up-
coming major projects (the construction of a new indoor football facility and renovation of Hofheinz Pavilion) and what’s on tap next for UH, which he proclaims “is nationally relevant again and back on the map.”
The key, Yurachek said, is for the Cougars to build off the momentum of the past year.
“We cannot take a step backward,” he said. “We have to keep moving and pushing forward. We cannot have a dip, especially in our main sports.”
Eyes on Power Five
In terms of the next round of conference realignment, Yurachek is careful to walk a fine line between UH’s membership in the American Athletic Conference and desire to be part of the Power Five.
Yurachek points to a successful athletic season for the AAC, which had four football teams ranked at one point last season and sent four teams to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The UConn women’s basketball team won an unprecedented fourth straight national title.
“I do believe in the American Athletic Conference,” Yurachek said. “We did have a very good football season, a really good basketball season. This is a strong conference. As AD, I can make sure we are positioned as well as possible so in this ever-changing collegiate landscape we are a viable part of (any realignment discussion).”
Just how important is it financially to be part of a Power Five conference? The Southeastern Conference generated a staggering $476 million ($34 million per school) among payouts from bowls, the NCAA Tournament and television deals last year, according to Forbes. The Big Ten was second at $386 million ($27.6 million per school).
In comparison, the AAC had $57 million in revenue, or $4.7 million per school.
UH, which has an annual athletic budget of roughly $42 million, was a major part of the conference’s success this academic year, particularly as winner of the league’s inaugural football championship game and participant in a coveted New Year’s Six bowl. The Cougars went 13-1 in Tom Herman’s first season, upset Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, and finished No. 8 in the Associated Press poll, the school’s highest final ranking in 35 years. In men’s basketball, the Cougars had the 13th-best improvement in the nation, going from 13-19 to 22-10 and a spot in the National Invitation Tournament in Kelvin Sampson’s second season.
“We’re nationally rel- evant again and back on the map,” Yurachek said. “And football has done that for us. Men’s basketball is starting to do that for us again. Baseball, men’s and women’s golf, track and field has been there.”
On a recent trip to California for an athletic directors conference, Yurachek said others have taken notice of UH.
“People know what’s going happening at the University of Houston across the country,” he said.
As an example, Yurachek points to the new contract Herman signed in December, a $3 million-per-year deal that is the richest in school history. The school is also in talks on a contract extension with Sampson.
Yurachek said the biggest hurdle the AAC faces is negotiating a more lucrative television contract. In 2013, the league signed a sevenyear, $126 million deal with ESPN and CBS Sports that runs through 2019-20.
“When that comes back up, it’s very important that as a conference we continue that success so we can look at a much more lucrative television deal,” Yurachek said.
Season-ticket record
As of Friday’s renewal deadline, UH had sold a record 18,193 season-ticket packages for the upcoming season. The old record, according to the school, was 15,022, in the first year of TDECU Stadium in 2014.
Yurachek said the goal is reaching 20,000, which would be half the stadium’s capacity.
“Twenty thousand is a good number for us,” he said. “That’s a good number to ensure that from a single-game standpoint we could sell out every game at TDECU Stadium this season.”
TDECU nearly finished
After two seasons, TDECU Stadium remains unfinished, most notably on the outside metal cage façade.
The original plan was to have player and historical banners that were interchangeable and considered more budget-friendly. But as UH officials have learned, banners are susceptible to high winds, and areas with missing banners have become an eyesore.
“It’s just not working,” Yurachek said.
The school expects to have a red-and-gray metal cage on the exterior of the stadium completed by the start of the 2016 season.
“The most pressing thing is to get the cage finished, because that’s something you see day in and day out and makes it look like an unfinished stadium,” Yurachek said.
Yurachek said the school is looking into upgrading the stadium’s Wi-Fi. Another project, once funds become available, is having LED ribbon boards below the second deck that run the length of the field on both sides. Currently, the boards stretch from one 30-yard line to the other 30yard line.
Construction zone
There has been an explosion of new athletic facilities and major upgrades in several sports during the past year.
Among them: the opening of $25 million Guy V. Lewis Basketball Development Center, nearly $1 million in upgrades to the Athletic/Alumni Center, the $1.5 million renovation of the Carl Lewis track and field and soccer complex, Cougar Café, a nutrition center for student-athletes, a refurbished weight room, upgrades to the academic center, and new lights and a video board at Schroeder Park.
Two major projects are on the horizon: construction of a $20 million indoor football facility and a $60 million renovation of Hofheinz Pavilion.
The basketball project is expected to begin after the 2016-17 season and will force both the men’s and women’s programs to relocate for one year.
The building of the indoor football facility is slated to begin after this season. It will open in the fall of 2017, a key timetable with Herman’s buyout tied to the completion of the project by December 2018.
“We’ve made a nice dent in both of those projects,” Yurachek said. “But we’re still not to the finish line where we need to be from a fundraising standpoint.”
Construction on a new 20,000-square-foot baseball development center and clubhouse is expected to begin this week.
A $1 million upgrade to the football locker room at the Athletic/Alumni Center is underway and scheduled for completion this summer. Also on tap is a $250,000 refurbishment of John E. Hoff Courts, which includes the resurfacing of all six tennis courts, new fencing and benches.
Further down the road is a $30 million football operations building to be located behind the west end zone of TDECU Stadium.
Yurachek said the addition of premium seating to the basketball arena would help provide additional revenue the school has been missing out on.
Currently, UH generates about $500,000 to $600,000 in ticket revenue for basketball, with no suites, club or loge level premium seats. Yurachek estimates the addition of those seats will generate between $2.5 million and $3 million in the first year.
With the move from Robertson Stadium to TDECU Stadium, UH saw an increase in football revenue from $1.5 million to $5 million-$6 million.
“We’re leaving a great deal of revenue on the table right now,” Yurachek said.