SAN ANTONIO — Here at the NCAA convention Thursday, college administrators listened to a goodbye address from outgoing president Mark Emmert and got a hello appearance from replacement Charlie Baker. Several hours earlier, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren was announced as the new president of the Chicago Bears.
This was a vivid, single-day snapshot of the breakneck pace of change in college athletics. The impermanence of recent years isn’t just a phase; it’s an ongoing way of life. From players to coaches to administrators, it feels like everyone is on the move, while the enterprise as a whole careens in no coherent direction. (Other than to the feet of Congress, begging for intervention to solve several of its issues.)
Emmert handing the baton to Baker was announced weeks ago, which makes Warren’s departure the bigger news of the day. His tenure was just three years, which by the old standards of commissionership is an eyeblink. It was a wildly momentous three years, with his league serving as one of the prime forces pushing the tectonic plates of college sports in conflicting directions.
