Brad Cesmat reports that the B1G Ten conference has engaged Turnkey ZRG to help it find a new commissioner to replace Kevin Warren. The search is expected 'to last deep into the spring.'

Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

https://sports360az.com/2023/01/the-pac-...d-up-more/

after the Sankey criticism I wonder will it be another "outsider" and not a guy who's been around College Sports

(01-29-2023 02:33 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

(01-29-2023 02:53 PM)Alanda Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:33 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

As long as the B1G doesn't fall for making an 'Alliance' with itself, it should be fine.

(01-29-2023 02:51 PM)Glenn360 Wrote:  after the Silve criticism I wonder will it be another "outsider" and not a guy who's been around College Sports

We'll see. After losing a commissioner to the NFL, B1G presidents might want somebody who is more experienced with college sports.

(01-29-2023 03:09 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:53 PM)Alanda Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:33 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

As long as the B1G doesn't fall for making an 'Alliance' with itself, it should be fine.

If Kliavkoff is the result the PAC 12 got from Turnkey, then I would say the prospects are suspect at best.

(01-29-2023 03:19 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 03:09 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:53 PM)Alanda Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:33 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

As long as the B1G doesn't fall for making an 'Alliance' with itself, it should be fine.

If Kliavkoff is the result the PAC 12 got from Turnkey, then I would say the prospects are suspect at best.

Kliavkoff was fine until the LA schools left. And there’s nothing he could’ve done differently that would’ve kept them.

TurnkeyZRG assisted:
- Big 12 for Brett Yormark (Commissioner)
- NCAA for Charlie Baker (President)
- Fiesta Bowl Erik Moses (CEO)

(01-29-2023 03:25 PM)Just Joe Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 03:19 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 03:09 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:53 PM)Alanda Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:33 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

As long as the B1G doesn't fall for making an 'Alliance' with itself, it should be fine.

If Kliavkoff is the result the PAC 12 got from Turnkey, then I would say the prospects are suspect at best.

Kliavkoff was fine until the LA schools left. And there’s nothing he could’ve done differently that would’ve kept them.

Do we know that? He was just completing his first year on the job, when USC and UCLA left.

Who hired Kliavkoff. In any conference, some presidents will be engaged in the running of the conference, and others will technically be on the board of directors, but will skip meetings and carelessly read documents, or depend on the AD.

The executive committee for Kliavkoff included the heads of Oregon, WSU, Washington, Colorado, and USC. Did USC see intrinsic problems with the PAC-12 and start looking elsewhere.

Kliavkoff hasn’t made any meaningful errors as commissioner. Frankly, I’d be thrilled if the B1G hired him.

(01-29-2023 03:19 PM)JRsec Wrote:  If Kliavkoff is the result the PAC 12 got from Turnkey, then I would say the prospects are suspect at best.

University leaders don't decide matters the same way many fans do, apparently. We'll see what happens.

I'll share this observation, though: If anyone truly appreciates the realities of inheriting problems and righting ships, it's a university president.

(01-29-2023 04:27 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 03:19 PM)JRsec Wrote:  If Kliavkoff is the result the PAC 12 got from Turnkey, then I would say the prospects are suspect at best.

University leaders don't decide matters the same way many message-board fans do, apparently. We'll see what happens.

I'll share this observation, though: If anyone truly appreciates the realities of inheriting problems and righting ships, it's a university president.

My point is that the Presidents should hire their own and reach consensus in doing it. Search companies don't present warts, they sell a package. The commissioner is going to be working with, and for the presidents. They should compile a list of qualities they are looking for in a commissioner and solicit applications and make the decisions themselves. When you go to an outside firm you are wanting to distance yourself from the responsibility of selecting the candidates.

This method employed is a Corporate, not Academic approach, and is designed to create plausible deniability when the selected needs to be fired, and to keep the attachment the commissioner might have to any president or group of presidents minimalized.

In my experience this is a procedure which will not heal the obvious differences that exist in the Big 10 now.

Now sir, that is why I chide. And you Gitanole are a message board fan regardless of your occupation, and you do not know the occupations of other posters unless they have been revealed. Most academics I have known, and it's a pretty good list, simply don't want to fool with sports because the whole subject is loaded with risk, and they want relationships with donors apart from sports for obvious reasons. But as the hiring and voting body over such matters if they are going to get on the same page that is their responsibility and not that of a commissioner. The commissioner will seek the best way forward, but only with their consent.

As to the last point you make, that goes for anyone who is the next CEO, next general manager, next president of an organization, or anyone who is hired to lead or direct. It is not peculiar to academia, as much as they may like to feel they are unique, they are unique only in that most of their decisions do not impact life or death.

(01-29-2023 02:33 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  Brad Cesmat reports that the B1G Ten conference has engaged Turnkey ZRG to help it find a new commissioner to replace Kevin Warren. The search is expected 'to last deep into the spring.'

Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

https://sports360az.com/2023/01/the-pac-...d-up-more/

Imagine if they hire Kliavkoff...

This is an unconfirmed rumor, heresay really, perhaps just fiction, but I heard it from somewhere that Matt Brown is in tight with Turnkey ZRG. Probably just a coincidence...

(01-29-2023 04:24 PM)OhioBoilermaker Wrote:  Kliavkoff hasn’t made any meaningful errors as commissioner. Frankly, I’d be thrilled if the B1G hired him.

Me, too - said every Pac President.

(01-29-2023 03:09 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:53 PM)Alanda Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 02:33 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  Turnkey assisted the Pac-12 in 2021. That search led to the hiring of present PAC commissioner George Kliavkoff.

As long as the B1G doesn't fall for making an 'Alliance' with itself, it should be fine.

Nah. Kliavkoff has shown himself to be a BS artist. And the last time the B1G used a search firm it led to mixed results. Warren helped get them an amazing media deal, but the COVID decision still seemed to hang over him.

(01-29-2023 04:50 PM)JRsec Wrote:  My point is that the Presidents should hire their own and reach consensus in doing it. Search companies don't present warts, they sell a package. The commissioner is going to be working with, and for the presidents. They should compile a list of qualities they are looking for in a commissioner and solicit applications and make the decisions themselves. When you go to an outside firm you are wanting to distance yourself from the responsibility of selecting the candidates.

This method employed is a Corporate, not Academic approach, and is designed to create plausible deniability when the selected needs to be fired, and to keep the attachment the commissioner might have to any president or group of presidents minimalized.

This approach is standard with high-profile hires in many fields. University presidents are themselves scouted and hired in similar ways, as are ADs, CEOs of major companies, etc. 'Compiling a list' of desired traits is already a key part of it.

If athletes benefit from the work of agents, it makes sense that a conference helmed by busy presidents can benefit from the services of an agency.

Agencies help navigate certain diplomatic situations. Things get a bit delicate, after all, when someone who is the commissioner of, say, the ACC wants to be considered for the same job with the B1G. Or if the president at the University of Houston wants to be considered for the president's job at Texas A&M. You don't just read an ad and send a CV. There is the current job to consider, with all the relationships and responsibilities that position involves. Everything that happens, win or lose, will reflect on the community that person currently serves.

You recognize these things yourself, JR, when you describe conference expansion rituals. You've explained here why all (public) bids are accepted and all (recorded) votes are unanimous. Other high-profile situations work in a similar way. For similar reasons.

Quote:In my experience this is a procedure which will not heal the obvious differences that exist in the Big 10 now.

There are always differences. John Swofford compared the task of a conference commissioner to herding cats.

The goal in a search process is to make the right hire. The right person will facilitate group consensus.

When the best people are asked to apply, the odds go up of making that hire.

Quote:....
As to the last point you make, that goes for anyone who is the next CEO, next general manager, next president of an organization, or anyone who is hired to lead or direct. It is not peculiar to academia, as much as they may like to feel they are unique, they are unique only in that most of their decisions do not impact life or death.

Being a leader of a large professional community carries daily responsibilities impacting life and death. Anyone who doesn't know this is unfit to be leader.

The demands of such a role are extraordinary. Run-of-the-mill assumptions are inadequate to describe responsibilities that go well beyond the run-of-the-mill.

(01-29-2023 08:43 PM)Gitanole Wrote:  

(01-29-2023 04:50 PM)JRsec Wrote:  My point is that the Presidents should hire their own and reach consensus in doing it. Search companies don't present warts, they sell a package. The commissioner is going to be working with, and for the presidents. They should compile a list of qualities they are looking for in a commissioner and solicit applications and make the decisions themselves. When you go to an outside firm you are wanting to distance yourself from the responsibility of selecting the candidates.

This method employed is a Corporate, not Academic approach, and is designed to create plausible deniability when the selected needs to be fired, and to keep the attachment the commissioner might have to any president or group of presidents minimalized.

This approach is standard with high-profile hires in many fields. University presidents are themselves scouted and hired in similar ways, as are ADs, CEOs of major companies, etc. 'Compiling a list' of desired traits is already a key part of it.

If athletes benefit from the work of agents, it makes sense that a conference helmed by busy presidents can benefit from the services of an agency.

Agencies help navigate certain diplomatic situations. Things get a bit delicate, after all, when someone who is the commissioner of, say, the ACC wants to be considered for the same job with the B1G. Or if the president at the University of Houston wants to be considered for the president's job at Texas A&M. You don't just read an ad and send a CV. There is the current job to consider, with all the relationships and responsibilities that position involves. Everything that happens, win or lose, will reflect on the community that person currently serves.

You recognize these things yourself, JR, when you describe conference expansion rituals. You've explained here why all (public) bids are accepted and all (recorded) votes are unanimous. Other high-profile situations work in a similar way. For similar reasons.

Quote:In my experience this is a procedure which will not heal the obvious differences that exist in the Big 10 now.

There are always differences. John Swofford compared the task of a conference commissioner to herding cats.

The goal in a search process is to make the right hire. The right person will facilitate group consensus.

When the best people are asked to apply, the odds go up of making that hire.

Quote:....
As to the last point you make, that goes for anyone who is the next CEO, next general manager, next president of an organization, or anyone who is hired to lead or direct. It is not peculiar to academia, as much as they may like to feel they are unique, they are unique only in that most of their decisions do not impact life or death.

Being a leader of a large professional community carries daily responsibilities impacting life and death. Anyone who doesn't know this is unfit to be leader.

The demands of such a role are extraordinary. Run-of-the-mill assumptions are inadequate to describe responsibilities that go well beyond the run-of-the-mill.

I guess the SEC is a bit different, and I've been spoiled by that. Schiller, Kramer, Slive and Sankey were not sponsored by agents. Slive did a great job for a smaller conference and the SEC essentially promoted him. Sankey was hired from within after having served closely with Slive on his staff. It helped with continuity which should be apparent from the SEC's long-range plans remaining consistent from 1990-2 to present. Kramer's long range vision endeavors were simply stellar. Primary desires of the conference were set, complete with an order in which to pick to make available those ultimate prizes both to the West and to the East. Kramer was the one who saw the future of FSU while some of our presidents couldn't fathom your potential. It was a road map for the greatest consensus builder the SEC has known to follow when Mike Slive came on board. And Slive saw quite the politician and visionary in Greg Sankey.

So, you see it hasn't been S.O.P. in the SEC. Auburn hired an agency, and they gave us the biggest disaster of a president we have had in quite some time, Leath. Auburn went back to the same and we got Harsin. Wonder why I'm skeptical? There it is.
,
I've been around a long, long time now. The SEC prior to OU/UGa vs NCAA hired people affiliated with Southern Sports and usually from our own schools. After the SCOTUS ruled in favor of universities handling their own TV contracts, we turned to those with experience in the TV contract intricacies. I'd say mixed success but mostly due to a totally novel situation and little understanding of the conferences actual value, while networks were unsure what to offer.

It has developed into what it is over those 40 years.

While I understand the beneficial buffer which agents create, and the increased confidentiality, I still believe that continuity and a hands-on approach are essential to those making the decisions grasping the intricacies and nuances of such hires and the necessity to keep continuity. The agent approach seems to have a great deal of difficulty with that. Whether that is inherent, or the result of who they represent is quite debatable, but tried and true is hard to abandon.

I don't like the buffers. I like raw impressions. But that's me. I understand the theory. I'd just like to see a track record of efficacy to go along with it.

(01-29-2023 06:48 PM)Alanda Wrote:  Nah. Kliavkoff has shown himself to be a BS artist.
....

Some people think that's a skill to be celebratized.

I wonder if hiring Jim Phillips would be able to give the Big 10 a leg up on deciphering the dispositions of some of the ACC schools they’d like to court.

(01-29-2023 10:33 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  I wonder if hiring Jim Phillips would be able to give the Big 10 a leg up on deciphering the dispositions of some of the ACC schools they’d like to court.

I'm not sure if Phillips gives them a leg up on the ACC schools they want, but he has to be the odds on favorite right now.