Big Ten's Jim Delany nearing retirement; who could succeed him?
CHICAGO -- Jim Delany has stood as one of the most prominent figures in college sports over the past three decades.
But that might be ending soon.
Delany plans to step down in 2020, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday afternoon.
When asked today about whether he will be around at the end of the Big Ten's new six-year television agreements, Delany indicated he probably will not.
"I have a lot of energy and I have a lot of interest in what is going on in the college space today -- operational issues, reform issues," said Delany, 68. "I will be around for a bit. Whether I'm around here for six years is probably a bit beyond how I see it."
Delany has been the Big Ten commissioner since 1989 and has been at the forefront of all the major changes in college athletics. He has served on the NCAA basketball committee, created the first college sports network with the Big Ten Network, pushed the latest round of conference shuffling and expansion while standing as one of the most prominent voices.
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He had always mentioned the looming TV negotiations would be part of his tenure and as he confirmed the six-year tenure of the agreements, he wouldn't speak about the financials of the reported ESPN, Fox and CBS Sports total of nearly $2.6 billion.
While it was not a formal retirement announcement, Delany is extremely careful with his public declarations and has avoided such timetables in the past. So it likely wasn't something that slipped either.
Whether the change comes in 2020 or another time, the search for his successor has the potential to impact the college sports landscape in a major way given the Big Ten's profile and reach.
Candidates in other conferences during recent transitions have come from all areas, including the conference offices with assistant commissioners like Greg Sankey being elevated in the SEC and from outside, like Larry Scott in the Pac-12 who ran the Women's Tennis Association previously.
The Big 12's most recent switch involved a former athletic director, Bob Bowlsby, who had led Iowa and Stanford.
That may be a strong option for the Big Ten when the time comes as there are a few athletic directors -- Michigan State's Mark Hollis and Northwestern's Jim Phillips -- who have national profiles. Hollis is the chair of the prestigious NCAA basketball committee and Phillips chairs the Division I Council, which gained notoriety in April when it passed the satellite camp ban.
When asked by the Free Press if he would be interested in the job, Hollis said he was happy with his current situation. "Jim Delany has provided tremendous leadership for our conference for many years," Hollis said through an MSU spokesman. "I have unfinished business at Michigan State University and I am committed to our student-athletes, coaches, staff and supporters."
Hollis gained a national reputation beginning in the early 2000s with his innovating marketing ideas and has built a nationwide network of relationships, most through his two decades at MSU.
Both are young enough -- Hollis in his mid-50s and Phillips around 50 -- to take the job for a longer term.
Negative recruiting: In an interview with the Reading (Pa.) Eagle last month, Penn State coach James Franklin implied that four rivals -- Ohio State, MSU, Michigan and Notre Dame -- were negative recruiting against the Nittany Lions, using the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Both Ohio State’s Urban Meyer and MSU’s Mark Dantonio today said that it is not occurring. U-M's Jim Harbaugh was not asked Monday.
“Absolutely not,” Meyer said. “And that's the first time I've heard that. I'll address that with coach Franklin if that is an issue. That's a pretty strong allegation that I've not heard yet. So that's not been presented to me until this moment. Absolutely not. We've got a great deal of respect for every school in our conference. We do just fine in recruiting and we don't have to worry about that stuff.”
Dantonio said the same.
“I have not said anything negative about Penn State,” he said. “And hopefully, our coaches have not, as well. So I was surprised to read that. I don't know what happens out there on the road completely. But it's not our MO. And that's not how we do business.”
Other topics: While College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock has discussed moving the semifinals off of New Year’s Eve after depressed ratings last year, Delany expects the Rose Bowl to retain its 5 p.m. Eastern time slot on New Year’s Day. The only exception is in years such as this, when the game would fall on a Sunday. It will move to Jan. 2 to avoid NFL conflicts.
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Contact Mark Snyder: msnyder@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark__snyder.
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