The Candidates

Dan Guerrero

UC Irvine

athletic director, 10 years

Guerrero is the only candidate to openly acknowledge interest in the job, saying, “I was contacted by a representative at UCLA and asked to consider the job. UCLA is my alma mater, and that position has not opened for 20 years.”

His impact at Irvine has been profound, resurrecting the baseball program this year and spearheading $38 million of newly constructed and renovated facilities, including track and soccer complexes and a 64-meter swimming pool.

Another $22 million in facilities enhancements are planned soon, including an additional 27 acres of athletic field space and tennis courts adjacent to a newly built $35-million recreation center, an expansion of the sports medicine, strength and conditioning center and a new boathouse for crew.

Much of the facilities money came from two student referendums that Guerrero was instrumental in pushing through. He tabbed five prominent Anteater athletes to head the campaign.

Guerrero, the lone minority candidate, was athletic director at Cal State Dominguez Hills, where he earned a master’s degree. If he has an advantage over the other external candidates, it is that he knows the Southern California landscape.

Like Bleymaier, he graduated from UCLA and was an athlete, starring on the baseball team for four years. Guerrero was inducted into the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.