Pac-12: 5 great choices to be the next commissioner
Current Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott leaves his post in June. Here are five good candidates to replace him.
When Commissioner Larry Scott announced he was leaving last month, most Pac-12 fans jumped for joy. Although they questioned why he was sticking around until June, attention quickly turned to who guide the conference next. The next hire is crucial. A complete reorganization is necessary. However, the new commissioner’s most important task is negotiating a new television contract
That’s one of the reasons why a current athletic director won’t due here. No offense to good AD’s like Gene Smith (Ohio State), Greg Byrne (Alabama), Bernard Muir (Stanford), or Dan Radakovich (Clemson). Still, the next commissioner has to be experienced at the next level of decision making.
Here are five candidates to be Scott’s successor. Some of them might not be traditional, but they have experience in dealing with high-level issues.
Jamie Zaninovich
Jamie Zaninovich is the number two man at the Pac-12 offices. His official title is Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer. One of his main duties is to run the conference basketball tournament, which has been widely successful since moving to Las Vegas.
Some might say the entire Pac-12 administration should go. They might be right, but Zaninovich had success before he joined the conference.
From 2008-2014, he was Commissioner of the West Coast Conference. One of Zaninovich’s biggest achievements was to bring Brigham Young into the WCC. If he could do the same thing for the Pac-12, it would be great for a conference looking to negotiate a new television deal. BYU has a huge global following and brings more eyeballs to conference games.
As far as other qualifications go, Zaninovich is a Past Chair of the Division I Collegiate Commissioners Association Division I Subdivision.
Gloria Nevarez
The first Latina to hold such a position, Gloria Nevarez is the West Coast Conference’s current commissioner. Before Nevarez took the job, the Bay Area native worked for the Pac-12 as the Senior Associate Commissioner.
She is credited with a complete overhaul of the WCC, which included negotiating a new television package. In addition, Nevarez created the Russell Rule. It’s a diversity hiring initiative that requires member schools “to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the final candidate pool for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach, and full-time assistant coaching search.”
When the ACC Commissioner job came open in 2018, Nevarez was one of the contenders.