Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — June 4, 2025 — Arkansas State Athletics hosted a press conference on Wednesday introducing Chris Pezman, its 14th Vice Chancellor for Intercollegiate Athletics.
While introducing the new athletics director, A-State chancellor Todd Shields said Pezman’s hiring would usher in a “new era” for A-State Athletics, one in which it is unified with A-State’s other departments, such as academics and alumni engagement.
“For way too long, A-State has not been strategically working together,” Shields said. “Strategically working together, we are smarter, we are stronger, we are more coordinated, and ultimately, we’ll be more successful. With the unprecedented changes in higher education and across collegiate athletics, we can’t wait any longer. This is our moment and this will be our advantage.”
Pezman said in the few weeks, his goals would be to get acquainted with head coaches and athletics staff, adding that he’d already met most head coaches.
“Acclimating myself with the coaches, understanding what their needs are wants are, then start prioritizing that,” Pezman said. “I want to get integrated with the staff so that they are being able to effectively work and move forward and not waiting on decisions from me to come down the pipe.”
He also spoke about the upcoming “realignment” of college athletics, saying he would be working to position A-State Athletics to be able to care for itself in the present and also make sure it was “prepared for what’s coming,” for things such as roster sizes and changes to name, image and likeness.
“The challenge that we have right now with the employment status of athletes and the inability to have collective bargaining, those are things that have to get solved, because those are some of the things that I think are holding up some of the supplement issues, particularly around roster sizes,” Pezman said. “We just have to be very open-minded to embrace the change and accept it and figure out ways to be nimble enough to navigate it.”
Pezman added that he was still looking to provide the best fan experience.
“I can’t control what happens on the field. We’re going to have wins and losses, but we can control the experience the customer has, and the guest has, when they show up,” he said. “If we can create value for them to show up and support us, that’s what our goal is. And that goes from the time you leave your house, to getting directions, to ‘Hey, is there traffic?’, to what is the line like to get concessions, to what’s the game experience like.”
A-State Athletics announced Pezman’s appointment on Monday, June 2. He was previously the Director of Athletics at the University of Houston from 2017 to 2024. He also worked at the University of California-Berkeley and held administrative positions at NRG Park in Houston.
Under Pezman’s leadership, the Houston Cougars moved to the Big 12 Conference. Houston also captured more than 30 conference championships across nine sports under Pezman’s tenure and more than 500 student athletes were named to the university’s Dean’s List.
Pezman replaces former athletics director Jeff Purinton, who resigned in April. Purinton was appointed executive vice president at Learfield’s Sports Properties division.
Watch the full press conference here.