Bob Bowlsby out as Big 12 commissioner (author of How to Ruin a Conference)

[BattleshipTexas]

Bob Bowlsby, who has led the Big 12 since 2012 and most recently steered it through the tumultuous announcement of the departures of Texas and Oklahoma, will step down from his role as commissioner later this year, he said Tuesday.

Bowlsby, who turned 70 in January and has three years remaining on his contract, told ESPN he made the decision within the past two weeks but wanted to wait until after the Final Four to announce it. He said he knew he didn't want to extend the contract and spoke to conference leaders in an "honest conversation about the difficulty of the last two years and the challenges that were before us." He called it "very collaborative and very mutual in the outcome."

"They knew that sometime in the next year or two I was going to look for an off-ramp, and so the more we talked about it, the more we got to the point where, yeah, maybe it makes sense to transition now and bring somebody in that has a little longer runway," he said.

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...step-away-role-big-12-commissioner-later-year

 

[USMCatFan]

Ummm, Kevin Warren makes a strong case on how New Blood using new technologies and modern view can shake an otherwise formidable organization to its very foundation.

In all fairness, OK and TX didn't leave the Big12 because the conference was messed up (Besides, that's all TX fault anyway). They left because the Big12 ain't the SEC.

 

[KingWard]

Ummm, Kevin Warren makes a strong case on how New Blood using new technologies and modern view can shake an otherwise formidable organization to its very foundation.

In all fairness, OK and TX didn't leave the Big12 because the conference was messed up (Besides, that's all TX fault anyway). They left because the Big12 ain't the SEC.

This is correct. Also correct is that Bowlsby is old and that he has been through a terribly stressful time with respect to his job. I suppose he has done about as good a job of salvaging a semblance of credibility for the Big 12 as anyone could have. He's earned a rest.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

Ummm, Kevin Warren makes a strong case on how New Blood using new technologies and modern view can shake an otherwise formidable organization to its very foundation.

In all fairness, OK and TX didn't leave the Big12 because the conference was messed up (Besides, that's all TX fault anyway). They left because the Big12 ain't the SEC.

It wouldn't have been near as tempting if Bowlsby and Big 12 leadership had done a better job.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

This is correct. Also correct is that Bowlsby is old and that he has been through a terribly stressful time with respect to his job. I suppose he has done about as good a job of salvaging a semblance of credibility for the Big 12 as anyone could have. He's earned a rest.

He did a terrible job. Someone like Greg Sankey would have done a much better job. Bowlsby is 70 now, but he was just under age 60 when he took the job and flubbed up the most.

 

[KingWard]

He did a terrible job. Someone like Greg Sankey would have done a much better job. Bowlsby is 70 now, but he was just under age 60 when he took the job and flubbed up the most.

How could he have averted the defections?

 

[BattleshipTexas]

How could he have averted the defections?

The defections were long, long after he screwed up the conference. He irritated ESPN, accusing them of malfeasance with no proof. He made a fool of himself over and over.

As OUInsider publisher Brian Bishop wrote: “Bowlsby just alienated the biggest broadcast partner available in Disney’s ESPN and ABC properties. Cross them off the list as willing partners for whatever leftovers he has.”

Bowlsby was always into buzzwords. He wouldn't use the term "expansion" but instead talked of "conference composition". He became a joke.

His biggest mistake IMHO was never achieving a conference network like the SEC network. Texas didn't pursue its own LHN until it was apparent the other teams couldn't get a conference deal and wasn't that interested in it. Once Bowlsby arrived, he should have made that a priority. Negotiate a deal that exclude Texas or negotiate ESPN into incorporating it. The Big 12 to this day still has no conference network.

Bowlsby's negotiating skills must be terrible. He seemed to me to play favorites among conference members.

 

[KingWard]

The defections were long, long after he screwed up the conference. He irritated ESPN, accusing them of malfeasance with no proof. He made a fool of himself over and over.

As OUInsider publisher Brian Bishop wrote: “Bowlsby just alienated the biggest broadcast partner available in Disney’s ESPN and ABC properties. Cross them off the list as willing partners for whatever leftovers he has.”

Bowlsby was always into buzzwords. He wouldn't use the term "expansion" but instead talked of "conference composition". He became a joke.

His biggest mistake IMHO was never achieving a conference network like the SEC network. Texas didn't pursue its own LHN until it was apparent the other teams couldn't get a conference deal and wasn't that interested in it. Once Bowlsby arrived, he should have made that a priority. Negotiate a deal that exclude Texas or negotiate ESPN into incorporating it. The Big 12 to this day still has no conference network.

Bowlsby's negotiating skills must be terrible. He seemed to me to play favorites among conference members.

Why did such ineptitude not lead to an ouster a long time ago? I'll agree with you that the SEC has been blessed with some strong and visionary commissioners. The one we have now is doing well as far as anyone can tell.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

Why did such ineptitude not lead to an ouster a long time ago? I'll agree with you that the SEC has been blessed with some strong and visionary commissioners. The one we have now is doing well as far as anyone can tell.

A lot going on. The Baylor scandal kept them so busy. Kansas was a basketball school and cared little about football. West Virginia far away and had little to do with the other Big 12 teams. A nice football school but not really a fit for the Big 12. TCU was starting its inevitable slide. The disparity in resources between the haves, Texas, OU, Okie State versus the have-nots Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas Tech produced different visions for what the conference should be. He managed to keep his job with big talk, little action and playing favorites. He sees the writing on the wall now, having angered Disney/ESPN, and without OU/Texas, the odds are the Big 12 conference TV revenue will drop 75% in the next negotiation. It will be his fault but the next commissioner will be blamed.

 

[atl-cock]

Why did such ineptitude not lead to an ouster a long time ago? I'll agree with you that the SEC has been blessed with some strong and visionary commissioners. The one we have now is doing well as far as anyone can tell.

Finding the NCAA rule originally intended for D-II or some-such which allowed conferences with at least 12 members to hold a football championship and using that to re-expand the SEC to 12 members was visionary.

 

[atl-cock]

A lot going on. The Baylor scandal kept them so busy. Kansas was a basketball school and cared little about football. West Virginia far away and had little to do with the other Big 12 teams. A nice football school but not really a fit for the Big 12. TCU was starting its inevitable slide. The disparity in resources between the haves, Texas, OU, Okie State versus the have-nots Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas Tech produced different visions for what the conference should be. He managed to keep his job with big talk, little action and playing favorites. He sees the writing on the wall now, having angered Disney/ESPN, and without OU/Texas, the odds are the Big 12 conference TV revenue will drop 75% in the next negotiation. It will be his fault but the next commissioner will be blamed.

A conference with members far away from each other can lead to such disparities.

IMO, Pitt, Penn State, and West Virginia should all be in the same conference; should have happened in the mid-80s.