With Texas and Oklahoma still around the table awaiting an exit to the SEC and four incoming members getting their introduction, the Big 12 meetings had a changing of the guard feeling.
“This meeting has got some weirdness to it,” commissioner Bob Bowlsby said last week.
“It would be less than forthright to not admit that there’s some strangeness to it, and perhaps even some periods when there’s a little bit of tension.”
The Big 12 eventually got through the three days.
Less obvious was some unavoidable awkwardness regarding the commissioner job.
On Friday, Bowlsby sat next to Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec as he outlined the ongoing search for Bowlsby’s replacement.
It’s an important choice, every bit as significant as the decision to lure Bowlsby away from a great gig as Stanford’s athletic director.
Then it was about nothing less than the league’s immediate survival.
Now it’s about securing the Big 12′s status as one of the power conferences with a key media rights negotiation just over the horizon.
The Big 12 announced $42.6 million in average revenue per member, expected to be enough to keep the Big 12 third among power conferences. The media rights deal with ESPN and Fox that drives those figures expires June 30, 2025, also the last day that Texas and Oklahoma will be members, assuming an exit doesn’t come earlier.
That’s a pretty big lift for starters, even if BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Central Florida will be on board by the time of the next media rights deal.
“The financial aspects of this are very important to the health and vitality of our athletic programs,” Schovanec said. “We know that. And that’s why what we do beyond ‘24-25 is going to be so important.
“And I think a lot of that will depend on the relationships we develop with our new media partners. That will be one of the priorities of the new commissioner once that person is in place.”
Schovanec is still targeting an ambitious timetable of a new commissioner on board by football media days July 13-14 at AT&T Stadium.
Without going into too much detail, Schovanec reported plenty of interest, via search firm TurnkeyZRG. Schovanec, Baylor president Linda Livingstone and Kansas chancellor Douglas Girod will sort through the candidates.
Schovaneci said the “pool reflects a diversity of candidates in their professional experience, some from the more traditional athletic administrative roles and then others.”
“Others” is another way of saying non-traditional candidates. Best guess is that the Big 12 will go the traditional route of someone with experience as an athletic administrator at a school or conference office. Several Big 12 athletic directors said on-campus experience is invaluable.
We’ll see which way the Big 12 goes but a steep learning curve now would seem like a bad idea.
While Bowlsby has pretty much refrained from public comments on the search, he offered a telling answer about which quality might be needed in the job.
“A thick skin,” Bowlsby said. “It doesn’t come naturally for anybody but you adapt over time. It’s hard not to take some of this personally but you try not to. I remember my dad telling me you have to live your life above the circumstances.”
Yes, he took more than his share of criticism during 10 years on the job, and invariably handled it professionally.
Bowlsby seemed at peace with his status. He was honored at yet another dinner, with legendary Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder among those in attendance.
At the end of the final press conference June 3, he said brief goodbyes to a few assembled media members.
Bowlsby wasn’t quite ready to offer deep thoughts on his professional legacy. Actually, after his successor moves into the Big 12 offices, he has a fishing trip to Canada planned.
“Drinking a cold Labatt’s at 8 o’clock in the morning gives you time to ponder,” Bowlsby said.
