One of the titans of the college football world will soon be stepping down from his position of power as the Big Ten has announced longtime commissioner Jim Delany will retire in 2020.
Delany has served in that role since 1989 and was an advocate for the creation of the Bowl Championship Series, also known as the BCS. Before the BCS came into creation, the Big Ten champion and the Pac-12 Champion were locked into a matchup in the Rose Bowl, which resulted in several split national championships. Delany also was instrumental in the creation of the Big Ten Network, which was launched before the SEC Network.
A successor to Delany has not yet been named but a committee has been formed to find the Big Ten’s next leader.
“Jim has had an extraordinary impact on the Big Ten Conference, its member institutions, administrators, students and coaches since 1989,” Morton Schapiro, Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors chairman, said in a statement. “He has been a forward-thinking, collaborative and decisive leader in every aspect of conference proceedings. We thank him for his dedicated service to date and look forward to working with him through the conclusion of his contract.”
“It’s been an amazing opportunity to serve and lead these preeminent institutions, presidents, administrators, coaches and students,” Delany offered up in an additional prepared statement. “It is incredibly fulfilling to support the hundreds of thousands of young men and women who have been afforded an opportunity to obtain best-in-class educations as a result of the invaluable, one-of-a-kind lessons learned through the unique combination of athletic and classroom competition. I would like to recognize and thank each of my colleagues for being such invaluable members of, and contributors to, the Big Ten Conference team, while acknowledging that there is still plenty of work to be done. I look forward to continuing that work through the balance of my term.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
