ACC announces league commissioner John Swofford is retiring
One of the most powerful voices in college sports is ready to ride off into the sunset.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford is set to retire following the 2020-21 athletic year. Swofford served the conference for 24 years.
An early pioneer of the College Football Playoff, Swofford also oversaw an aggressive expansion of the league — with the additions of Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Louisville — taking the ACC from nine to 15 teams.
Those moves were instrumental in ensuring the future of the conference for years to come following a period of uncertainty for many leagues around the country. Once the school and conference game of music chairs stopped, the ACC found itself standing on solid ground — unlike some others during the realignment era.
“It has been a privilege to be a part of the ACC for over five decades and my respect and appreciation for those associated with the league throughout its history is immeasurable,” Swofford said in a prepared statement. “Having been an ACC student-athlete, athletics director and commissioner has been an absolute honor. There are immediate challenges that face not only college athletics, but our entire country, and I will continue to do my very best to help guide the conference in these unprecedented times through the remainder of my tenure. Nora and I have been planning for this to be my last year for some time and I look forward to enjoying the remarkable friendships and memories I’ve been blessed with long after I leave this chair.”
The ACC has yet to name a successor to Swofford.