65 Days Until Kansas Football: Thoughts on the New Big 12 Commissioner

The day after the Kansas Jayhawks won their second national championship under Bill Self, Bob Bowlsby announced that he was retiring as the Big 12 Commissioner. The timing was strange, but the general consensus was that it was time for the Big 12 to find someone to lead them in a new direction with a new set of members.

All of that didn't prepare me for the announcement of Brett Yormark as the new commissioner of the Big 12 Conference today.

Yormark has no experience as an athletic director or as a conference commissioner, but has an extensive sports business background. He started his career with the New Jersey Nets, serving as CEO from 2005-2019, during which they moved to Brooklyn. He also served as the vice president of corporate sponsorships for NASCAR, and most recently served as the chief operating officer and co-CEO of Roc Nation Unified.

It's safe to say that with such a diverse background, none of it in the world of college athletics, that this was a hire that is about as far outside the box as they come.

Initial reaction to the news was mixed, with the expected welcoming messages from Athletic Directors from around the conference. But anonymous comments, as shared with SI's Pat Forde, indicate some worry.

And that is the main takeaway from this hire. The general consensus on this hire is that it is either going to be a home run or a total disaster. No one sees any room for any in-between. So let's take a brief look at why this might be a phenomenal hire, or a complete failure.

Reasons for Optimism

If you are looking for reasons to like the hire, you can point to the fact that Yormark has been heavily involved in the sports world. He's spent a lot of time running an NBA franchise and there are likely at least SOME skills that translate over to running a college conference. And the Barclays Center has become somewhat of a destination for big college basketball events, so he has at least been college sports-adjacent in the past.

But the biggest selling point for him has to be that lack of experience in college athletics. One of the biggest criticisms of the leadership in college athletics is that they aren't flexible enough to handle the quickly changing landscape. And that is definitely true to a degree.

The emergence of NIL has moved college athletics much closer to the professional sports leagues. It will likely never be the same, but more and more those in college athletics are having to prepare athletes for professional opportunities NOW, not in four years when they graduate. And having a commissioner who is familiar with the professional landscape can be a helpful resource as they look to navigate these issues at a conference level.

And of course, the changing TV landscape is a huge challenge for the new commissioner as he looks to negotiate the next media rights deal for the conference. The loss of Texas and Oklahoma will make this difficult, but having someone with his experience in the business world, especially one who got NASCAR an incredible media rights deal, can't hurt.

Reasons for Worry

For every reason you have to be positive, there is just as compelling of one to be concerned.

While there have been plenty of calls for new ideas and innovative leaders in college athletics, it's true that there is a lot that goes into being a conference commissioner. Tasked with balancing the concerns of multiple sports across a diverse group of schools, the job is not easy. Add in that you are one of 5 leaders of "major" groups of schools and are constantly jockeying for position, and it's probably the least straightforward sports job there is.

Other conferences have gone with "non-traditional" hires. Kevin Warren was hired to the Big Ten from the front office of the Minnesota Vikings. George Kliavkoff came to the Pac-12 from MGM Resorts International. While both commissioners seem to have enjoyed some mild success, it's still way too early to call their tenures a success.

The Big 12 has some unique challenges, with conference members in three time zones, an uncertain schedule and not a lot that ties the institutions together other than a need for survival. Not only will Yormark need to develop working relationships quickly with each of the schools he is overseeing, but he will need to quickly establish his leadership style to try to avoid a dynamic similar to the one that was present with Oklahoma and Texas in the conference.

Ultimately, this move is about as high risk-high reward as they come. If Yormark is successful, the Big 12 may find itself in the strongest position it has ever been, the clear third conference in the pecking order behind the Big Ten and the SEC. If it goes poorly, there may not be a Big 12 conference for the next guy to lead.

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