Joe Parker has been removed from his post as CSU athletic director, a source confirmed to The Denver Post on Monday morning.
The university administration is expected to formally announce the decision this afternoon. An athletic department spokesperson declined to confirm multiple reports of Parker’s dismissal when reached by The Post. A university spokesperson had not, as of late Monday morning, returned an email seeking comment and confirmation.
Parker had been in the position since March 2015, when he was hired from Texas Tech, where he’d served as deputy athletic director. He had more than three years remaining on a contract that ran through Dec. 31, 2027, a deal that reportedly included a base salary of $439,192 through the length of his most recent extension.
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Despite CSU’s success with men’s basketball, Olympic sports and with sponsorships, facilities, academics and fund-raising, the former CSU athletic director’s hiring record had come under scrutiny in recent years. While Niko Medved has revived the CSU men’s hoops, the decisions to go with Steve Addazio and Jay Norvell to lead the football program have led to disappointment on the field and, in the case of Addazio, internal and external investigations off of it.
The Rams haven’t posted a winning record in football since 2017, which is also the year they’d last reached a bowl game. Addazio, who was hired from Boston College and whose abrasiveness clashed with some longtime CSU staffers, posted a 4-12 record in 2020 and ’21 while Norvell’s teams are 8-16 since 2022.
Football struggles have led to significant frustration among the CSU fan base given the department’s investment into Canvas Stadium, which opened in August 2017 to rave reviews but with a reported $220-million price tag paid by donations and bond sales.
The administrator is expected to remain with the university in an advisory role, but the school has not yet released details of its transition plan, nor its timetable for a replacement.
(This is a developing story. Please check back with DenverPost.com for more details.)