Current:Home > Contact-usPac-12 hires new commissioner to lead two-team league into uncertain future-InfoLens
Pac-12 hires new commissioner to lead two-team league into uncertain future
View Date:2024-12-23 14:11:00
The Pac-12 Conference has hired a new commissioner to take charge of a league with only two schools remaining and two years left to figure out how it might survive beyond that.
Her name is Teresa Gould, who previously served as deputy commissioner of the league and has more than 30 years of experience in college sports administration. She replaces commissioner George Kliavkoff, whose departure was announced on Friday. Gould now becomes the first female commissioner of a so-called Power Five conference - an exclusive club that essentially will become the Power Four after the departure later this year of 10 Pac-12 teams to the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences.
“We find ourselves navigating an extraordinarily complex time in our industry,” Gould said in a statement Monday. “The challenges we face must be met head on, with a reinvigorated energy to transform and forge ahead. I look forward to working with both campus and national leaders to find solutions that will preserve opportunities for student-athletes and set us up for long term viability and success.”
What is Teresa Gould stepping into at the Pac-12?
Gould inherits a mess after the latest wave of college football realignment knocked the Pac-12 down to two members: Washington State and Oregon State. Those schools appointed her to her new job and now control the Pac-12’s assets and future revenues after the other 10 schools decided to leave for greener pastures starting this summer.
Under NCAA rules, the two-team Pac-12 has a two-year grace period to continue as a league in the Football Bowl Subdivision, which otherwise requires leagues to have at least eight members. After that, the future is uncertain, though the Pac-12 could remake its brand by combining with the Mountain West Conference.
In the meantime, Oregon State and Washington State will fill their football schedules with Mountain West teams and other non-conference games besides playing each other. In basketball and other sports, Oregon State and Washington State will compete as affiliate members of the West Coast Conference. The Pac-12 also said it will continue to sponsor select sports, sign media rights partnerships, and produce live events and content from the Pac-12 Enterprises studio in San Ramon, Calif.
What is Teresa Gould's background?
Gould starts on the job March 1. As deputy commissioner, Gould oversaw management of all Pac-12 sports, including oversight of championship events, rules compliance and operations. She joined the league in 2018 and previously served in leadership positions at the University of California, Davis and the University of California, Berkeley.
In her new job, she takes on a role with a far different job description than 2021, when Kliavkoff came over from MGM Resorts International, where he served as president of entertainment and sports.
“You would need someone with a specific skill set based on what the services are going to be for the next two years,” Washington State athletic director Pat Chun told USA TODAY Sports in November when asked about a potential leadership change.
Kliavkoff’s official departure date is Feb. 29.
“Teresa’s deep knowledge of collegiate athletics and unwavering commitment to student-athletes makes her uniquely qualified to help guide the Pac-12 Conference during this period of unprecedented change in college sports,” Washington State University President Kirk Schulz said in a statement Monday. “As the first female commissioner of an Autonomy Five conference, Teresa will be able to bring new perspectives and fresh ideas to the table as the industry works to find its way through this shifting landscape. We look forward to her leadership as we write the next chapter in the Pac-12’s storied history."
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]
veryGood! (38)
Related
- A growing and aging population is forcing Texas counties to seek state EMS funding
- Dozens indicted on Georgia racketeering charges related to ‘Stop Cop City’ movement appear in court
- One of Virginia’s key election battlegrounds involves a candidate who endured sex scandal
- 'Insecure' star Yvonne Orji confirms she's still waiting to have sex until she's married
- Jason Statham Shares Rare Family Photos of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Their Kids on Vacation
- EU envoy in surprise visit to Kosovo to push for further steps in normalization talks with Serbia
- Inside Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's Road to Baby Boy
- The ballot issues for Election Day 2023 with the highest stakes across U.S. voting
- Don't Miss Cameron Diaz's Return to the Big Screen Alongside Jamie Foxx in Back in Action Trailer
- A 17-year-old boy wanted in the killing of a passenger resting on a Seattle bus turns himself in
Ranking
- Will Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul end in KO? Boxers handle question differently
- WeWork seeks bankruptcy protection, a stunning fall for a firm once valued at close to $50 billion
- Charlie Adelson found guilty in 2014 murder-for-hire killing of Dan Markel
- Eye drop recall list: See the dozens of eye care products recalled in 2023
- Mike Williams Instagram post: Steelers' WR shades Aaron Rodgers 'red line' comments
- Virginia voters to decide Legislature’s political control, with abortion rights hotly contested
- Daniel Jones injury updates: Giants QB out for season with torn ACL
- Virginia voters to decide Legislature’s political control, with abortion rights hotly contested
Recommendation
-
Amtrak service disrupted after fire near tracks in New York City
-
'Rap Sh!t' is still musing on music and art of making it
-
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sued by book publisher for breach of contract
-
Cubs pull shocking move by hiring Craig Counsell as manager and firing David Ross
-
What do nails have to say about your health? Experts answer your FAQs.
-
Special counsel in Hunter Biden case to testify before lawmakers in ‘unprecedented step’
-
8 simple things you can do to protect yourself from getting scammed
-
Nearly 1M chickens will be killed on a Minnesota farm because of bird flu