UH athletic director Ben Jay announced his resignation Tuesday at a press conference at the Wong Hospitality room in the Stan Sheriff Center, citing "personal reasons." Jay will remain as athletic director through June 30, 2015 while the school conducts a search for his replacement.

"It’s very hard for me to step away from this but I do so knowing I’m doing what’s best for myself and for my family and for family reasons I’ve chosen to resign," Jay said.

Prior to addressing his future, Jay affirmed that Norm Chow will return for his fourth season as Rainbow Warrior football coach.

"I made the decision to make a recommendation to (UH Manoa chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman) and the chancellor supported that decision that Norm Chow will be coaching the 2015 season for the Rainbow Warriors," Jay said.

"One of the things I took from our conversation is that we definitely needed to improve in some areas but there was sufficient progress being made," Jay said.

Bley-Vroman said he plans to announce the search process by January and the target is to select a new athletic director by the end of June "so we can have a smooth transition."

In the meantime, Jay will "continue to serve as athletic director and will continue to have the responsibilities of athletic director," Bley-Vroman said.

Jay’s contract runs through January 2016. When Bley-Vroman was asked if Jay’s departure was performance related, the chancellor reiterated that Jay was leaving for family reasons.

"Ben is resigning for personal reasons, he’s not being forced out," Bley-Vroman said.

Jay’s resignation comes as the athletic department braces for the arrival of a letter of allegations following an NCAA investigation into the UH men’s basketball program along with continued budget challenges, linked in large part to the struggles of the football program.

The NCAA initiated the investigation in the basketball program in March. Bley-Vroman and Jay fired head coach Gib Arnold and assistant Brandyn Akana on Oct. 28.

With football ticket sales lagging, Jay told a UH Board of Regents Intercollegiate Athletics Committee last month that the department projected a $3.52 million deficit for the current fiscal year.

The UH football team went 4-9 this season, pushing Chow’s three-year record to 8-29. He has two years remaining on a contract that pays $550,000 annually.

"We have a ways to go, 4-9 is not successful but it is improvement," Jay said. "It is improvement from where we came from."

According to his contract, Chow is guaranteed at least $750,000 of the remaining $1.1 million owed. The contract also includes a clause that he can be bought out of the fifth-year for $200,000.