Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
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 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.
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.
Here is an out of the box solution to a huge problem. Condoleezza Rice is one of the most respected people on the planet. As the Secretary of State, Rice faced down America’s most significant international challenges. Dealing with university presidents and television executives should be a walk in the park. But she’s also a sportsperson.
Rice once said her dream job was to become NFL Commissioner. She grew up as a Cleveland Browns fan in Birmingham, AL. Cleveland even talked about her as a potential head coaching candidate in 2018. It wasn’t just for show; it was out of respect for her football knowledge.
The Pac-12 isn’t the NFL, but it’s a Power-5 Conference. Closer to home, Rice has roots in the conference and college football. Currently, she is the director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Additionally, Rice is a former member of the College Football Playoff Committee.
Her biggest drawback is age. At 66-years-old, Rice wouldn’t be a long-term solution.
The biggest question mark among any of the candidates is Burke Magnus. He’s been with ESPN for 25 years and is currently the executive vice president, programming and original content. Before that, Magnus was instrumental in forging the network’s television contracts with sports leagues.
He’s probably the number one person to negotiate a new conference broadcast rights package. No one else the Pac-12 could hire knows the sports-television landscape than him. It’s hard to believe Magnus would leave the network for the Pac-12. If he did, ESPN would probably have some type of non-compete or non-negotiating agreement.
One other concern would be how much Magnus’ asking price is to make the jump. The Pac-12 got burned by an over-paid commissioner recently.
This is an interesting choice. Aside from his son Andrew playing football at Stanford, Oliver Luck has very few ties to the Pac-12. That’s okay because he makes up for it in other areas and checks many, many boxes the conference needs.
Luck was a four-year college quarterback at West Virginia (player – check). After four uneventful seasons with Houston Oilers, he went back to school and earned a law degree (lawyer – check). In 1991, Luck became an executive with the World League of American Football/ NFL Europe. That was part of a 10-year tenure with the NFL, where he rose to Vice President of Business Development (business partnerships – check).
From there, Luck became the CEO of the Houston Sports Authority. He was in charge of all sporting venues in the city. (facilities and event management – check, check). He left Houston to become the Athletic Director at his alma mater from 2008-2014 (college athletic administration – check). One of his biggest moves was to take WVU from the Big East to the Pac-12 (handling conference negotiations – check).
If Luck’s career stopped at this point, it would almost be enough, but he was far from done. His next move was to the NCAA. Luck was the Executive Vice President of Regulatory Affairs (former NCAA insider – check), which was in charge of NCAA regulations and investigations (NCAA compliance – check).
His most recent job was Commissioner and CEO of the XFL. The creation of WWE CEO Vince McMahon, the XFL was doing well before it closed permanently when the coronavirus cut short its first season. Say what you want about McMahon, but he’s a master of marketing and promotion. Luck was part of the XFL’s team that negotiated their television contract with ABC/ESPN and FOX (television contracts – check).
Other career highlights include: CEO of the MLS Houston Dynamo, a seat on the West Virginia University Board of Governors, and a member of the NCAA’s first football playoff committee.
It would be hard to find someone more qualified.
Who do you think should be the next Pac12 Commissioner? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.