Chico State Athletics

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Eric Coleman was appointed the Executive Director of Athletics at Chico State on October 31, 2024 following a nationwide search.

As executive director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Coleman oversees 13 varsity sports, nearly 350 student-athletes, and a staff of 30 employees. His responsibilities will include managing the athletic department budget, oversight of all departmental operations and events, fundraising, and enhancing the gameday experience for the community and Chico State students.

A highly accomplished and nationally respected athletics administrator, Coleman comes to Chico State from University of California, San Diego, where he currently serves as the executive senior associate athletic director for Scholar-Athlete Success. In that role, he leads all aspects of the department’s academic success efforts, including daily operations, budgeting, strategic planning, scholar-athlete development, and equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives for 600 scholar-athletes across 23 teams. Prior to UC San Diego, he held positions of interim director of athletics, deputy athletics director and chief operating officer at Division II Texas A&M-Commerce. Coleman is a former Division II student-athlete who played football at the University of Minnesota Morris.

Coleman has advanced athletic and academic success at all levels of intercollegiate athletics. As an advisor to the director of athletics, he has developed strategies to enhance academic support and scholar-athlete development while leading diversity and inclusion initiatives. His collaborative efforts with university departments, including counseling services, Title IX, and Student Rights and Responsibilities have strengthened campus-wide partnerships and support for student-athletes. While at Texas A&M-Commerce (2021–23), Coleman guided the Intercollegiate Athletics Strategic Plan and led the Student-Athlete Performance Team, emphasizing well-being, academics, and strength training. He also managed the department’s 14 sports programs, overseeing student-athlete affairs and the athletic budget.

Prior to his time in Texas, Coleman served at Florida Atlantic for five years, most recently as the senior associate athletic director for academics and student development and sports supervisor for women's basketball and men's and women's soccer. 

Coleman was a member of the student services staff at Fresno State from 2014–16, where he was responsible for the management and oversight of the academic and student services operation for all student-athletes. During the 2014–15 academic year, Fresno State's student-athlete population posted a 3.12 GPA, which was the highest-ever yearly score on record. 

Coleman has also served on the academic staff at the University of Iowa (2012–14), as coordinator of multicultural development at the University of Akron (2011–12), as coordinator of academic advising at the University of Central Florida (2009–11), and coordinator of NCAA CHAMPS/Life skills program at the University of Akron (2007–09). 

He earned his bachelor’s degree in human services with a minor in psychology from the University of Minnesota Morris and his master’s degree in sports management from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Coleman's career in collegiate athletics began as a football student-athlete at the University of Minnesota Morris from 1997 to 2001, where he was a team captain and earned Academic All-Northern Sun Conference honors. He was also a recipient of the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award.