 Anderson in 2017 | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Stanford University Harvard University |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1973–1975 | Stanford |
| Position(s) | Wide Receiver |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2014–2023 | Arizona State |
Ray Anderson is the former athletic director and current professor of law at Arizona State University. [1] [2] He graduated from Stanford University, where he lettered in football and baseball, and Harvard Law School. [3]
Anderson attended Stanford University. He played for the Stanford football team as a wide receiver and was also on the baseball team. [4] He earned his degree in political science in 1976. He then graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979. [5]
Before joining the Atlanta Falcons, Anderson was an agent for AR Sports. He was an agent to multiple NFL players alongside coaches. Some of the NFL head coaches he represented include Brian Billick, Tony Dungy, Dennis Green, and Herm Edwards. [6] From 2002 to 2006, Anderson was the vice president of the Falcons. Anderson would leave to become the NFL’s senior director of football operations and was later promoted to executive vice president of football operations. [7] Anderson announced that he would step down from vice president of football operations in 2013 to pursue new opportunities. [8]
On January 9, 2014, he was announced as the athletic director of the Arizona State Sun Devils. [9] During his time as athletic director, Anderson oversaw the $268 million renovation to Sun Devil Stadium and the construction of Mullett Arena. [10] He also negotiated an eight-year, $38 million apparel agreement with Adidas, and added four varsity sports: men’s hockey, women’s lacrosse, triathlon, and men’s tennis. [11] In 2016, Forbes listed named Anderson as one of the influential minorities in sports. [12] [13]
In February 2021, Anderson received a five-year extension that runs until 2026. [14] That extension made Anderson the second-highest paying athletic director in the country just behind of Chris Del Conte, the athletic director of the Texas Longhorns. [15] In 2023, Anderson was in charge when most of the Sun Devils Athletics programs transitioned conferences from the Pac-12 to the Big 12. [16] [17] On November 13, 2023, he stepped down as athletic director to become a Professor in the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. [2]
Although he had some success as an athletic director, he has been heavily criticized by Arizona State fanbase for underperforming in major collegiate sports such as football and baseball. [18] He has been criticized for keeping his former client and close friend, Herm Edwards, as head coach of the football team, despite being in the middle of an NCAA investigation due to recruiting violations during the COVID-19 dead period. [19] [20]
In 2020, Anderson was accused of ignoring sexual harassment allegations regarding an ASU booster. Former ASU employee, David Cohen filed a $1.5 million lawsuit after he said that Anderson fired him after he repeatedly ignored claims that Bart Wear, a prominent basketball booster, sexually harassed his wife and two other women. [21] It was revealed that one of the two other women was the wife of ASU basketball head coach Bobby Hurley. [22] On June 21, 2021 Cohen announced a federal lawsuit against the school. [23] Despite Bobby Hurley being at odds with Anderson, on March 23, 2023 Hurley received a two-year extension as head coach. [24]
Anderson has also been criticized for not retaining ASU softball head coach, Trisha Ford, who was a 2-time Pac-12 Softball Coach of the Year. She would leave and become the head coach of the Texas A&M softball program. [25] [26] Despite criticism and speculation, ASU president Michael Crow stated in an ESPN article on October 25, 2022, that Anderson will remain as Athletic Director. [27]
Days after Arizona State joined the Big 12, Anderson received backlash from the West Virginia fanbase and the media for a statement he made at a press conference. He quotes "I promise I'm not going to Morgantown... I'm going to sign that to Jean Boyd. He can go to Morgantown. But send me to Texas and the rivalry with Arizona and starting a new one with BYU and Utah and Colorado." [28] Anderson later apologized to West Virginia athletic director, Wren Baker for making the comment. [29] In 2023, Anderson received backlash from the Sun Devil fanbase, boosters, and the media for announcing a self-imposed bowl ban for the football program just days before the season opener. [30]
He later stepped down in November 2023, after of barrage of controversies involving him. He stated "It has been a privilege to serve as ASU's athletic director for nearly a decade,". [31]
Anderson and his wife, Buffie, have a son and a daughter.
Arizona State University is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is now one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States. It was one of about 180 "normal schools" founded in the late 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools. Some closed, but most steadily expanded their role and became state colleges in the early 20th century, then state universities in the late 20th century.
Mountain America Stadium is an outdoor college football stadium in the southwestern United States, on the campus of Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona. The stadium is officially named Mountain America Stadium, Home of the ASU Sun Devils. It was named Sun Devil Stadium until 2023. It is home to the ASU Sun Devils football team of the Pac-12 Conference. The stadium's seating capacity as of 2018 is 53,599, reduced from a peak of 74,865 in 1989. The natural grass playing surface within the stadium was named Frank Kush Field in 1996 in honor of the former coach of the team. The stadium underwent a five-year, $304-million renovation that was completed in August 2019.
Herman Edwards Jr. is an American football coach and former professional player who was most recently the head coach at Arizona State. He played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Edwards was also a head coach in the NFL from 2001 to 2008 with the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. Following the conclusion of his NFL coaching career, Edwards was a football analyst at ESPN from 2009 to 2017. He returned to coaching in 2018 when he was named the head coach of Arizona State.
Robert Matthew Hurley is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils. He was previously the head coach at the University at Buffalo.
Frank Joseph Kush was an American football player and coach. As a player he earned All-American honors in 1952 as a defensive lineman playing for the Michigan State Spartans.
The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. The mascot was adopted in 1946; earlier nicknames were the Normals and later, the Bulldogs. The Sun Devil mascot, Sparky, was designed by former Disney illustrator Bert Anthony. ASU's chief rival is the University of Arizona Wildcats, and both universities' athletics departments compete against each other in the Territorial Cup Series.
The Arizona State Sun Devils football team represents Arizona State University in the sport of American college football. The Sun Devils team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Arizona State University has fielded a football team since 1897. The Sun Devils are led by head coach Kenny Dillingham and play their home games at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils have won seventeen conference titles.
John Alan Luginbill is a former American football coach.
The 1970 Arizona State Sun Devils football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State University in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. In their 13th season under head coach Frank Kush, the Sun Devils compiled an 11–0 record, won the WAC championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 405 to 151. ASU was picked as the overall #1 team for the 1970 College Football season by Poling System. Poling was a mathematic system used to rank college football teams. It was considered a "National Champion Major Selector" by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Kerry Lee Taylor is a former professional football wide receiver and high school coach. In college he played for Arizona State University and in high school for Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona.
William Sutton is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
The Arizona State Sun Devils men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team that represents Arizona State University. It plays its home games at Mullett Arena in Tempe.
The 1966 Arizona State Sun Devils football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State University in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. In their ninth season under head coach Frank Kush, the Sun Devils compiled a 5–5 record, and were outscored 174 to 166.
The 1967 Arizona State Sun Devils football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State University in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1967 NCAA University Division football season. In their tenth season under head coach Frank Kush, the Sun Devils compiled an 8–2 record, finished in second place in the WAC, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 350 to 210.
The 1991 Arizona State Sun Devils football team was an American football team that represented Arizona State University in the Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) during the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth season under head coach Larry Marmie, the Sun Devils compiled a 6–5 record, finished in fifth place in the Pac-10, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 218 to 210.
Jayden Daniels is an American football quarterback. He played college football at Arizona State for three seasons before transferring to LSU in 2022. He won the Heisman Trophy and several other awards in 2023 after throwing for 40 touchdowns and 3,800+ yards and while rushing for 10 touchdowns and 1,100+ yards.
The 2020 Arizona State Sun Devils football team represented Arizona State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Sun Devils played their home games at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe Arizona, and competed in the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Herm Edwards.
Rachaad White is an American football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Nebraska–Kearney before transferring to Mt. San Antonio College then to Arizona State and was drafted by the Buccaneers in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Darien Butler is an American football linebacker for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State.
Shaun Aguano is an American football coach and former player. He is the running backs coach at Arizona State University (ASU) and previously served as the interim head coach for the last 9 games of the 2022 season, taking over for Herm Edwards. Aguano had coached running backs at Arizona State since 2019. Prior to that, he spent eight years as the head football coach at Chandler High School in Chandler, Arizona, compiling a record of 88–19.