SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A longtime Santa Clara Athletics administrator and former football coach, Rusty Weekes has decided to step down from his current position of associate athletic director and executive director of the Bronco Bench Foundation.

During his tenure, Weekes, a 1971 graduate of Santa Clara who played baseball, helped increase the endowment from $17 to $30 million and raised an additional $4 million for scholarships.

Other accomplishments include creating both the annual Red and White Celebration, an end-of-year gala, and the Bronco Network, a program designed to aid student-athletes on career choices. The Red and Celebration features the bestowment of Senior Awards and the Athletics Hall of Fame induction, which was reintroduced by Weekes.

"My goal when I came back to Santa Clara 10 years ago was to make the Bronco Bench relevant again and we've done that," Weekes said.

Prior to returning to Santa Clara, Weekes owned his own sales management consulting firm for three years, and before that, he worked as vice president of sales in the communications industry with Comcast, AT&T Broadband, TCI, RCN Communications and Viacom.

He graduated with a degree in English and played four years of baseball and his freshman season (1967) with the football team.

"Rusty's name is synonymous with Santa Clara Athletics," director of athletics Renee Baumgarter said. "He bleeds red and white, and I'll be forever grateful for his passion and determination."

As the captain of the baseball team, he garnered All-West Coast Conference honors in 1971 and helped lead the Broncos to three consecutive league titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances.

Weekes spent a number of years as a high school baseball and football coach before joining the Santa Clara football coaching staff for seven years, which included a trip to the 1980 Division II national semifinal game. He also coached two seasons at Pacific.

"When I first came back to SCU I was asked why," Weekes said. "My response was, 'you rarely have a second chance at a love affair.' I did and I will be forever grateful."

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