Kevin Warren believes he left Big Ten in 'demonstratively better position' than when he took over

Forty months ago, Kevin Warren took over as commissioner-elect of the Big Ten. Things were much different back then with 14 teams in the league, no rumors of expansion or media rights deals and no worries about postponing games because of a pandemic.

A lot has changed since, and perhaps the biggest is that Warren is now moving on to become the president and CEO of the Chicago Bears. He now leaves the Big Ten with USC and UCLA set to join next year and a multi billion-dollar media rights deal after a tenure that started with a decision to cancel the football season and subsequent change to an eight-game, conference-only schedule.

As he prepares to officially start with the Bears in April — depending on when a transition occurs with the Big Ten — Warren made one thing clear. The league is in better shape than when he took over.

“I just felt in 40 months there for us to be able to come in and handle the pandemic in a matter that I thought kept our student-athletes healthy and safe, for us to be a leader in social justice initiatives, for us to be a leader in the mental health space, for us to be able to set records from at television network creativity standpoint and to be able to expand with USC and UCLA, I would say I left the Big Ten in a demonstratively better position,” Warren said during his introductory press conference Tuesday. “I’m a big believer — I wouldn’t even feel good with myself if I just kind of stayed there and let that kind of drain out over the next years and say, ‘OK, it’s time to go.’ I just felt it was the right time.

“I had done what I was called there to be able to do. And that’s what I feel is different about me. I go by a calling. This is bigger than sports, to me. This is really about life, this is where God wants me to be. I just felt that I had made the impact at the Big Ten at that point in time, it’s in a phenomenal position, and someone else should be afforded that opportunity to recognize their dreams.”

Kevin Warren on if he had his ‘eye’ on the Chicago Bears opening: My focus was on the Big Ten

Reports surfaced just before the College Football Playoff that Warren was emerging as a serious candidate with the Bears. The connection made sense considering Warren’s background in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. But rumors swirled about his interest in a potential return to the league in which he spent 21 years.

He put those to rest Tuesday, confirming he didn’t seek out the Bears job and remained focused on running the Big Ten.

“I have had my eye on the Big Ten, between COVID and expansion, the media rights deals and social justice and George Floyd and taking our group to Selma and Montgomery and mental health issues,” Warren said. “At the Big Ten — and, still, to this day until I’m not there any longer — when I wake up in the morning and I say my morning prayers, we have 10,000 student-athletes in 14 schools, soon to be 16 schools, across 11 states, 14 chancellors and presidents, athletic directors, hundreds of coaches. That’s where my focus was.

“Quite naturally, I keep up with what’s going on in sports. I knew that this opportunity would be coming up, but sometimes, people change their mind about retiring. But it was never a focus like going for a job. … I promised myself that other than my wife that I was not going to ask anyone to call the Bears about my interest because that means if the job ended up coming to me and the opportunity, I knew it would be a blessing from God. And that was a sign — just like with the Big Ten and just like here. So I didn’t leverage any contacts or whatever. I just let it happen naturally, and that was the sign that for a lot of different reasons, this was the right place at this time to come here and be blessed with this opportunity.”