Former USC Athletic Director Talked Career, New Endeavors at Pasadena Quarterbacks Luncheon

Former USC Senior Associate Athletic Director and Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross stopped by the Pasadena Quarterbacks’ weekly lunch meeting at Brookside Golf Club Friday to discuss this longstanding career in collegiate sports and his return to his hometown of Los Angeles as the newly appointed Executive Director of Athletics at Cal State LA.

“My career has taken me back and forth from here to the east coast and I’m excited to start a new chapter here in LA,” said Gross about his return to SoCal as the newly appointed Athletic Director at Cal State LA.
Gross’ brief and reflective speech, was a treat for the the room full of Pasadena Quarterbacks — local sports enthusiasts who meet weekly during the football season from September to November to hear prominent speakers from the sports world including regional community college and high school coaches.

“When I started my career at USC in ’91, I wanted to help put together a program that was as special as we could make it,” explained Gross.

Gross spent 14 years at USC and directly supervised 10 of the university’s 19 intercollegiate sports programs.

“Those years were rewarding because I established great relationships that kept re-emerging over time. That school is a powerhouse for sports,” said Gross.

Gross is credited for bringing in head coach Pete Carroll to USC after working with him years earlier at the New York Jets’ where Gross was a scout and Carroll was the Jets’ head coach.

“I’ll never forget when I met him. I was so impressed by his energy. He’s the kind of man that resonated with the players. I knew he was going to blossom into a the coach that he is today. Nobody believed me at the time,” said Gross who eventually convinced USC to hire Carroll.

Gross packed up moved to Syracuse where he spent 10 years as the Athletic Director for the university. Gross was integral in the restructure of the Syracuse’s athletic program. He hired a whole new set of coaches and increased fundraising to record levels to invest in student athlete facilities which eventually helped Syracuse’s profile soar nationwide, according to a press release.

“I knew when my work was over and was ready to move on. It was amazing to see that program transform in the short amount of time I was there,” said Gross.

Gross’ success in recreating existing sports programs at institutions that needed eventually brought his career full circle back to the region as the newly appointed Athletic Director at Cal State LA.

“My goal is to bring this school into Division One level competition. There is so much talent in this town that we can really make it into something great,” explained Gross.

“There is so much potential at Cal State LA. It’s got me real fired up,” explained Gross who is impressed with the school’s academic mission.

Gross plans on creating a healthy and official rivalry with San Francisco State University.

“We want to make a big deal about it and have everyone get around it. I shook hands with the SFSU Athletic Director and we are on board to starting a happy rivalry between southern California and the bay area,” said Gross.

To learn how you can attend upcoming sports talk at the Pasadena Quarterbacks’ lunch meetings happening all football season long, visit http://pasadenaquarterbacks.org.

The Club’s lunch meetings and speaker events are held on Fridays at Brookside Golf Club, 1133 Rosemont Avenue, Pasadena, adjacent to the Rose Bowl stadium. Tickets cost $25 for members and $30 for non-members.

For upcoming speakers, click http://pasadenaquarterbacks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PQ_2016SpeakerSchedule_090216vN.pdf