Seismic change awaits CFP's new executive director Air Force Lt. Gen Richard Clark

As Air Force Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard Clark assumes the role of new executive director of the College Football Playoff, the former standout college football linebacker begins to steward an increasingly lucrative postseason property amid seismic change.

College football is on the brink of unbridled professionalization, and much of what we’ll see in that new model will play out in the sport’s new-look postseason – where it is broadcast, where the dollars flow and how much power the CFP will wield.

It’s a brave new world – and Clark is expected to be the face of the postseason tournament for the nation’s clear-cut second-most-popular sport, behind only the NFL.

The venerable Bill Hancock, 73, is retiring after overseeing college football’s postseason, beginning as administrator of the Bowl Championship Series, for the past 18 years. Genuine, collegial and transparent, Hancock was impossible not to like. And he was the face of a postseason that, at times, was impossible to fully embrace. It was riddled with imperfections.

Now comes a whole new age before us.

Monumental tournament expansion, tripling the number of participants to 12 teams. The dawn of true super conferences begins next year, along with a Power Four conference world. The 108-year-old Pac-12 will be no more. The Big Ten (18), ACC (17), Big 12 (16) and SEC (16) will all boast at least 16 teams, with the Big Ten and ACC standing as true coast-to-coast conferences.

The broadcast space continues to change before our eyes, as cord-cutting persists and the viewing habits of Gen Zers stand in stark contrast to that of older generations. Big Tech streaming partners like Amazon are now major players in rights deals. 

There are two years remaining on ESPN’s current contract with the College Football Playoff. The expanded event could fetch upwards of $2 billion in its new long-term media rights deal for 2026 and beyond, perhaps with multiple partners. 

And that revenue pie will grow ever larger at a time when almost all forces are incrementally moving – albeit slowly – toward a revenue-sharing model in which at least some athletes can finally enjoy a slice of the enormous broadcast rights pie. 

Will role of the College Football Playoff grow?

Last, and perhaps most importantly, the College Football Playoff’s place in the college football landscape is not concrete. While nothing is decided, the power and influence of the CFP – and of Clark in particular – could grow considerably. 

The NCAA continues to find courts and entities like the National Labor Relations Board looking askance at its obsolete amateur model and rules that directly prohibit athletes from receiving compensation from schools. Several proceedings are underway now that could potentially end or financially cripple the NCAA as we know it. 

In the meantime, whispers of a so-called FBS – or power conference – breakaway from the NCAA grow louder, as leagues increasingly tire of being sued because of the NCAA’s legal vulnerabilities. What would that model look like? What would be the governing body? 

That’s where the College Football Playoff – and Clark – could take the lead.

That issue is for another day. But given where the industry is trending, the scenario is certainly in play. 

On the more immediate front, Hancock will retire when his contract expires at the end of January. He is expected to remain in an advisory role during the first year of the 12-team tournament in 2024. 

After a meeting with FBS commissioners and Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick on Thursday that yielded no major developments, CFP leadership still needs to hash out a host of consequential issues. 

Among them, how many conference champions will receive automatic berths in the event’s first two years – six, five, or another number? How will the current $460 million revenue pie be divided in a post-Pac-12 world? Will ESPN – which has the rights for the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship the next two years – also land the four first-round games? Or will another broadcast partner secure those games?

Most importantly, what will a potential entirely new media rights package look like beginning in 2026 and beyond, one that could usher in a bevy of wholesale changes? 

In the coming years, the College Football Playoff will become an even larger, more coveted property. The sport is on the cusp of professionalization. Many of the potential changes will be seen in the postseason tournament, how it is broadcast, where the dollars flow and how much control and influence the CFP wields.

It is a brave new college football world – and Clark is expected to soon be one of its most prominent faces.