Boo Corrigan wrapped up the end of his tenure as the College Football Playoff selection committee chair at the end of last season.
Now free of that responsibility on the eve of the 2024 season, Corrigan took some time to reflect on the experience — and all that came with it — while speaking with reporters this week.
Corrigan emphasized the difficulty of speaking on behalf of all 13 committee members and also shared some encouraging words for his successor — Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel.
“The key to being the chair is you’re speaking for 13 people,” Corrigan said. “I don’t think people understand that all the time. It’s not like the chair has four votes and everyone else has one. It’s 13 people coming to a conclusion. It got a little dicey in the end. I will share that. But at the end of the day, my job as the chair was to represent the committee the best that I could as we went through the last two years with ESPN. Then from ESPN, you go to radio.
“It’s all around the country. Then you have another radio hit after that on that side of it. I think Warde Manuel is going to do a great job.”
The “dicey” ending that Corrigan is referring to is presumably a nod to the controversy surrounding Florida State at the end of the 2023 regular season. Last year, the Noles became the first-ever undefeated power-conference champion to ever be left out of the College Football Playoff. It was a highly-controversial decision that remains a sensitive topic for some.
Corrigan indicated that he often heard from fans who were angry about the committee’s decision — both on social media and at his office. He cited one example from the CFP’s initial rankings release last season, but admitted it was his family members who wore the brunt of a lot of the criticism.
“For me, it was okay. I’m not on social media. I don’t spend any time on social media. Candidly, it was hard for my family,” Corrigan said. “It was hard for my wife and my three kids. They took the brunt of it to be honest with you. At one point in time after the first week, there were 2,500 voicemails and emails to the office. That was difficult from a personal standpoint. That’s about all I’m going to say about it.
“It was an honor to be on the committee. I’m the guy speaking for 13 as you go into it. You know that going in. It wasn’t a matter of I don’t feel well today, I’m not going out there. You’re the guy on the hook. That’s what you do. You make sure that you’re prepared to answer the questions.”
Corrigan was the CFP selection committee chairman for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Manuel will now be tasked with articulating the committee’s decision for the start of the 12-team era. The first CFP rankings release will happen on Nov. 5.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
