If the past three months are an indication, ACC commissioner John Swofford won’t have time to take a victory lap before retiring.
Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the pending significant changes in the hobbyist model, Swofford is spending too much to relax and unwind. That’s too bad. You have earned a break.
Swofford, who announced his intention to retire after the 2020-2021 sports year on Thursday, has had an incredible career as ACC commissioner since 1997 and before that for 17 years as North Carolina’s sports director.
He oversaw two waves of expansion during his tenure with the ACC. The league grew from nine to 15 members between 2004 and 2014. It kept the league relevant during a transition in major college sports that left others on the road (or worse).
It may have gone sideways when Maryland decided to jump into the Big Ten, but Swofford was able to come up with a sustainable solution with the addition of Louisville and a football deal with the notorious recalcitrant conference Notre Dame.
Last year, Swofford, 71, was instrumental in creating and launching the league’s own cable network. Swofford has recently become a leading advocate for mental health in major college sports.
And that’s just his resume with the conference. During his tenure at UNC, where he was a Morehead scholar and soccer player, the Tar Heels won 17 NCAA titles.
The league will have a hard time finding a replacement who can be as hearty as Swofford when necessary, and as fierce when necessary.
Swofford is rightly being rewarded by current and past ACC coaches in all sports after his announcement. From the remains of old Big East, they are singing a slightly different tune, which is understandable.
Leadership comes at a cost, and there is no time in the multibillion-dollar college sports industry to feel pain. Swofford faced a choice in the early 2000s: to follow the lead of the SEC and Big Ten or perish.
History shows that you chose correctly, even if the “New ACC” does not have the same quaint or cozy feel as the “Old ACC”.
And now the league faces another option. COVID-19 eliminated the postseason for college basketball and most of the spring season for all sports. At least, it threatens to disrupt the college football season.
Add in the pending seismic shift on the amateur model with the advent of the Name, Image, Image legislation and you’ll have a new fork on the way.
Swofford correctly chooses again. The launch of the ACC network was Swofford’s last white whale. I catch it.
The league’s financial reach since its media deal pales in comparison to Big Ten (consider Iowa has enough Big Ten Network money to pay its strength coach $ 1.1 million not to be the strength coach) and the SEC , but still have a stable seat at the table. The Big 12 and Pac-12 cannot say the same.
But Swofford was only 31 years old when he got the AD concert at UNC. That is a long career. Swofford has run his. It’s time to let someone else take a turn.
These new crises, with struggles looming on multiple fronts, require new energy and new blood. At his last public press conference at the ACC tournament in Greensboro in March, Swofford looked tired and confused.
His decision on the morning of March 12 to continue the fanless tournament, only to have it revoked hours later at the behest of Duke’s compelling leadership, was a low point for him.
It was inconsistent with his career as a progressive leader. Their decision to know when it’s time to hand it over to the next generation is not.
Where the ACC resorts to for Swofford’s replacement will determine whether it can build on Swofford’s successes. There are two ready candidates in a pair of former Swofford lieutenants: Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette McGlade and South Florida AD Mike Kelly.
Or the league could decide to turn to Syracuse AD John Wildhack for their ESPN connections. Either way, the next commissioner will be lucky, and so will the league, if his term is half as successful as Swofford’s.
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