Oregon State Announces Contract Extension for Bob De Carolis

Bob De Carolis

CORVALLIS - Oregon State University Director of Athletics Bob De Carolis will receive a contract extension effective July 1st, 2006, OSU President Dr. Edward Ray announced Wednesday. De Carolis has served as the department`s director since Aug. 28, 2002.

“Bob De Carolis has proven himself to be a tremendous leader for the athletics department, and a valuable member of the university leadership team,“ Ray said. “His vision has enabled alumni, fans and current students and staff to feel proud to be associated with this university.

Bob's abilities to manage resources and recruit world class coaches are well known. There is no question that even better days are ahead for Oregon State University athletics.“

De Carolis, 53, began his OSU career April 20, 1998 as associate athletic director for internal operations; he was promoted to senior associate athletic director July 1st, 1999.

During his tenure as the director, De Carolis led the largest fundraising campaign in the history of the athletic department in raising $30 million toward the $80 million construction project “Raising Reser – Expanding Beaver Nation“.

The project increased Reser Stadium`s capacity to 43,300 and includes many state of the art amenities. He also is presently securing funding for the second phase of the Reser Stadium expansion.

In addition, De Carolis has been at the forefront in recent coaching hires that include Mike Riley (football), LaVonda Wagner (women`s basketball), Terry Liskevych (volleyball), Jim Zalesky (wrestling) and Kelly Sullivan (women`s track/cross country).

He also recently signed head coaches Jay John (men`s basketball), Pat Casey (baseball), Kirk Walker (softball), Tanya Chaplin (gymnastics) and Dana Taylor (men`s soccer) to contract extensions.

Under his leadership, nearly all of the department`s 17 intercollegiate athletic programs have participated in postseason competition in the last four years, four teams have either finished or are in the midst of concluding the 2005-2006 academic year nationally ranked and a pair of Pac-10 Conference titles have been won.

Off the fields of play, the overall grade point average for student-athletes has risen, the department has eliminated a $12.5 accumulated deficit five years ahead of schedule and community service participation has increased by nearly 300 percent.

He has also overseen the Beaver Athletic Student Fund`s annual giving increase from $5 million to just over $10 million.

In addition, De Carolis has been instrumental in the ongoing remodeling of Gill Coliseum, in which $3 million has already been invested in arena amenities. He has also directed the improvements to the Tommy Prothro Football Complex.

“I`d like to thank President Ray for having the confidence in me to continue to lead this program forward,“ De Carolis said. “We have made tremendous strides in recent years, but we have a lot of work to be done. I want to thank the student-athletes, coaches, staff and most of all `Beaver Nation` for their support in making Oregon State University athletics successful.“

Prior to arriving in Corvallis, he spent 19 years at the University of Michigan, serving in a variety of capacities including senior associate athletic director for internal operations.

De Carolis is a 1976 graduate of Bloomsburg State College in Pennsylvania with a B.S. in business education. He received his Master`s of Science in sports management in 1979 from the University of Massachusetts.

The new contract extends through June 30, 2011 and includes a base salary of $353,892 per year. In addition, De Carolis could acquire further compensation through incentives marked toward fundraising and postseason competition for the football and men`s basketball programs.

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports