Dan Guerrero’s contract extended through 2019

UCLA announced Thursday that it has extended athletic director Dan Guerrero’s contract through 2019.

The Bruins have won 22 NCAA national championships since Guerrero was appointed in 2002, guiding the program to what chancellor Gene Block said is a “national example of how intercollegiate athletics serve and further the mission of higher education.”

The new contract is retroactive to April 1, and will replace the one that expired on March 31. Guerrero has a rolling five-year clause that would have taken effect had there not been an extension. As the the Daily Bruin first reported, Guerrero will be paid $734,774 with an annual 5 percent increase.

His new term of appointment will end on Dec. 31, 2019.

Prior to the extension, Guerrero was already the highest-paid athletic director at a Pac-12 public school with $715,211 in guaranteed salary.

The school said in a press release that no tuition or state funds were used in his compensation, which comes from athletic department revenues and private fundraising.

“Dan has excelled in both commonly accepted barometers of success in a role like his: fiscal management and athletic victories,” Block said in a statement. “But the true story of his success also needs to include critical, if less noticed, factors like his efforts to advance women’s opportunities in athletics and maintain high academic standards for student–athletes, and his rigorous work to keep UCLA programs in compliance with NCAA and other requirements.

But while the Bruins still lead the country by far with 108 national championships across all sports, Guerrero’s guidance of the football and men’s basketball programs has not been exceptional. He went through two ill-fated coaches in Karl Dorrell and Rick Neuheisel before landing Jim Mora, who debuted with a Pac-12 South title last season.

His recent hire of men’s basketball coach Steve Alford has also come under scrutiny both for the former New Mexico coach’s limited postseason success and his 2002 defense of star Iowa player Pierre Pierce, who had been charged with sexual assault and was eventually dismissed from the team years later on a similar charge.

Alford received a seven-year contract valued at $18.2 million.

Guerrero, who oversaw a $136 million renovation of Pauley Pavilion, is a UCLA alum who once played baseball for the Bruins.

“Serving my alma mater is the honor of a lifetime, and I am committed to continuing to support our student–athletes and staff by implementing the vision set out by Chancellor Block,” he said. “My sincere appreciation to the chancellor. Together, we will continue to do great things.”