Long Beach Athletic Director Expected to Move

Corey Johnson, Cal State Long Beach athletic director, is expected to be named athletic director at Colorado State, possibly as early as today.

Johnson told a group of 49er advisers at his weekly staff meeting Monday morning that he was resigning, a source in the athletic department said. Later in the day, a Colorado State official telephoned Cal State Long Beach to request photographs of Johnson.

Newspapers in Denver and Ft. Collins, where Colorado State is located, have reported thatJohnson, who interviewed with school officials Friday, was the leading candidate on a list of four compiled by school President Albert Yates.

Chuck Bell, Colorado State’s interim athletic director, told the Rocky Mountain News Saturday that he had been told he would not get the job.

The Colorado State job has been open since Aug. 9, when Oval Jaynes resigned to take a similar position at the University of Pittsburgh. Johnson, who came to Long Beach from the University of Miami in 1987, was a finalist for the Pittsburgh job.

During Johnson’s tenure at Long Beach, many 49er teams have been successful. The men’s basketball team has gone to the National Invitation Tournament twice, the women’s basketball team has been to the Final Four, the men’s and women’s volleyball teams have won NCAA titles, and the baseball and softball teams have gone to the College World Series.

Johnson also kept the athletic program out of the red despite a widening budget crisis that cut into university funds.

But Johnson has been criticized for what some athletic department members and boosters say was a lack of communication and for appearing to use Long Beach as a steppingstone to a more prestigious job.