Brett Yormark states 'negative energy' around Big 12 when he took job was 'misstated'

As the Big 12 prepared for Oklahoma and Texas to leave, the conference saw its commissioner step down. Bob Bowlsby announced his resignation, adding another subplot to the league’s new chapter as four teams awaited admission.

BYU and three Group of 5 teams — Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — were all waiting in the wings to help account for the Sooners’ and Longhorns’ departures. At the same time, talks of a merger with the Pac-12 flew around with people around college athletics painting a dark picture for the Big 12’s future.

But according to Bowlsby’s successor, Brett Yormark, the attitude around the conference wasn’t as bleak as previously speculated.

“Unfortunately, there was a lot of negative energy around the conference, which was unfortunate,” Yormark said on the Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast. “You know, Bob Bowlsby did a heck of a job. And I told him when I took the job, all he’s doing is passing the baton to me, and he gave me a really great platform, when you think about his recovery efforts with the four schools — Houston and UCF and Cincinnati and BYU.

“I mean, those were great gets on the heels of Oklahoma and Texas [leaving] and really solidified us. … So I think the negative energy around the conference was really misstated.”

Brett Yormark: Additions of Cincinnati, BYU, Houston, UCF played pivotal role in new TV deal

The conference officially wiped the slate clean when Yormark, an outside-the-box candidate who previously led Roc Nation, took over as commissioner in August 2022. He has made some major changes and moves since taking over, including the additions of the “Four Corners” schools to take the Big 12 to 16 teams in 2024.

But his biggest achievement — he has admitted as much — was striking a new media rights deal earlier than planned. He re-upped with ESPN and FOX for a $2.28 billion contract shortly after taking over, and he has said that agreement set the table for the rest of his first year as commissioner.

But it might not have been possible without Bowlsby’s ability to bring in the four new programs.

“In fact, if those four schools weren’t here, I’m not sure I would have had the ability to go early with ESPN and FOX because they really help me in my storytelling,” Yormark said. “When you think about BYU and what they bring as a national brand, you think about Cincinnati and their participation in the CFP. You think about Houston in basketball and an emerging football program, and then you look at UCF and their progress from an athletic standpoint over the years. So I was able to take all of that combined with the continuing aid to create a great story in our efforts to get the new TV deal done.”

How Brett Yormark took Bob Bowlsby’s Big 12 and ‘built it for the future’

In just over a year, Yormark has the Big 12 toward the forefront of the college athletics conversation. With multiple new additions — even though he said he’s done for now — and a new media deal in his arsenal, he thinks the league is set up for a bright future.

Yormark still gave credit to his predecessor, though, for leaving him with the right ingredients.

“I saw a wonderful opportunity to seize the moment and to take what Bob had left and, really, build it for the future,” Yormark said. “Listen, wherever I’ve been … I’ve been a bit of a change agent. I’ve never inherited those really shiny platforms for whatever the reason. But I just felt there was real opportunity here, and I felt Bob left me in a great place.

“It was really about the taking some of the assets and really leveraging them on a go-forward basis, which we first were able to do with the TV deal and we’re now doing in other ways.”