Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott may be on the way out
The door to dismissal
The perfect storm is brewing for Scott’s removal when his contract is up in 2022. Pac-12 revenues are much lower than the other Power 5 conferences. Much of that has to do with the lack of availability of the PAC-12 Network. Yet Scott is the highest-paid NCAA commissioner. In contrast, his SEC counterpart Greg Sankey makes about $2M annually. Overhead at the conference office, as evidenced by the over $8M annually, the Pac-12 pays in rent for their cushy San Francisco Diggs (something Scott insisted on when hired).
While the pay cut memo is an embarrassing PR gaff, and certainly not the first during Scott’s watch. When something, such as pay cuts, happen in the business world, it’s one thing. When the conference makes a giant screw up with the on-field product, that’s another animal altogether.
The 2018 Instant Replay scandal undermined the PAC-12’s credibility. When a non-football executive, in this case, General Counsel and VP of Business Affairs Woody Dixon, can interfere and essentially overrule a replay decision on something as important as targeting, the conference looks like a joke. It’s even worse when then the decision had an impact on the outcome of the contest. The no-call helped USC beat Washington State by three points.
Scott said he was conducting a review of the process, after the incident. According to a memo sent by three former Pac-12 referees to Scott, several conference athletic directors, and the media, the commissioner was looking to cover his tail rather than fix the problem.
Mr. Scott, you know from personal experience this is no the first time he has overstepped his bounds…. Woodie singlehandedly caused the exit of the former Supervisor of Officials, and it is well known that several years ago he wanted to fire the gentleman who is now your Replay Supervisor. After the latest incident there is no question the Conference was far more interested in covering this up and finding the source of the info, rather than dealing with Woodie. You did so by removing a very valuable training tool for IR (instant replay). In your blind and bumbled approach you hid our reports and grades. This info had previously been transparent, which allowed IR to confer within itself…. Instead of dropping the hammer on Woodie you dropped it on IR.
So it happened more than once, in an atmosphere that Scott not only knew about but condoned.
Scott shouldn’t be worried about a contract extension. He might lose his job before 2022. John Canzano of the Oregonian reported Wednesday, the Pac-12 CEO Group (a three-member panel of the longest-tenured university presidents and chancellors) are discussing a buyout. The conference’s current network television deals expire after the 2023–24 school year. There is a growing sense that conference members want someone else to negotiate the next contract to be more in line with the other Power 5 conferences.
“Larry Scott’s email bragging about his 12% pay-cut from his annual salary of $5.3 M, compared to employees making $100K needing to take a 10% pay-cut, is a bad look. I’m not surprised they’re talking about trying to buy him out.”—@ClayTravis pic.twitter.com/PM9eYSDFxU
— OutKick (@Outkick) July 7, 2020
Well, Clay Travis, has some strong opinions about Larry Scott. How do you feel about Pac-12 Commissioner? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.