Chichester Is Choice of Irvine

Bob Chichester worked at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics at Colorado. UC Irvine hired him to take its program to another level.

Chichester, 45, was introduced as the sixth athletic director in school history Tuesday after spending three years as senior associate athletic director at Colorado, where he administered the program’s 14 nonrevenue sports.

Chichester will begin his duties Oct. 14.

The former Pasadena Poly High and Occidental College basketball player was hired after a five-month search to replace Dan Guerrero, who left after 9 1/2 years to become athletic director at UCLA.

As the top assistant to Colorado Athletic Director Dick Tharp, Chichester worked in a program that had a budget of $29 million. Irvine’s total budget is comparable to the nearly $8 million spent only on football.

“At Colorado, we worried about keeping pace with the other Big 12 schools,” he said. “There’s some difference in the level of competition that Colorado is involved in. But I think that an individual here can compete with other schools that are not only in our region but across the country.”