Whose power is diminishing? Larry Scott, Pac 12 Commissioner
"No longer is policy set in San Francisco by commissioner Larry Scott and his top executives, leaving campus officials feeling like, as one said, they were “being told what our priorities are.’’
Whose power is growing? The Pac 12 ADs in agreement with the Pac 12 presidents and chancellors
"In the new world order, the athletic directors are setting the direction for the conference with the help of the Pac-12 staff and the blessing of the Pac-12 chancellors and presidents."
When did this take place? About 4 or 5 months ago.
Why did this happen? Many of you know about some of the problems in the Pac 12 due to a series of articles written by Jon Wilner. But the straw that broke the camel's back seems to be when an untrained executive overturned an on field call by telephone whose play was under review by game officials.
Who is taking the lead? "Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano, who took over as chair of the Pac-12’s board of directors last year and has been a prime driver in the power shift.
What is next?
"This weekend, those same athletic directors will gather with those same Pac-12 officials in Las Vegas to discuss the latest conference initiatives, albeit with two important differences:
The presidents and chancellors will be present; the acrimony will be absent.
“There has been a hard shift since those fall meetings,” a source said."
Over the past four months, the Pac-12 has undergone a mammoth change in how it operates.
No longer is policy set in San Francisco by commissioner Larry Scott and his top executives, leaving campus officials feeling like, as one said, they were “being told what our priorities are.’’
In the new world order, the athletic directors are setting the direction for the conference with the help of the Pac-12 staff and the blessing of the Pac-12 chancellors and presidents.
From bad has come good.
“The athletic directors are the keys to the success of the Pac-12,’’ said Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano, who took over as chair of the Pac-12’s board of directors last year and has been a prime driver in the power shift.
DiStefano’s vision of a more collaborative process took root in the late fall and has prompted a degree of unity not seen since the early years of Scott’s tenure — when the conference was ahead of its peers financially, when Scott could do wrong, when the promise of the Pac-12 Networks seemed limitless and the conference looked destined for extraordinary heights.
How does DiStefano plan to get it done?
“That’s how I’ve operated at Colorado, with a great deal of cooperation with my senior level team, including our athletic director,’’ DiStefano told the Hotline last week. “It’s a leadership style that I’ve adopted over the years. It works best when you hear different opinions before decisions are made.
“When I took over (the Pac-12 board), I didn’t plan to change that approach. I shared that plan with my colleagues, and they have been extremely supportive of how we’ve moved toward a collaborative model.”
He made those intentions clear to Scott, as well.
“I had conversations with (Scott), and he was very open to moving this forward the way I wanted,” DiStefano said.
“The way I explain it is, we are going through an evolution. When (Scott) was hired, it was a very different group of presidents. They did things one way. I see new individuals coming in’’ — the majority of presidents and chancellors have been appointed within the past few years — “and I think most of us … believe in an open, transparent model.”
That approach, according to sources, runs counter to the model in place for most of the decade.
But those days are over.
The athletic directors and chancellors/presidents will be in the same room Saturday in Las Vegas, when the conference will discuss its latest initiatives and receive an update from The Raine Group on the pursuit of an equity sale.
Why the change?
The executive committee of the board of directors — Washington president Ana Mari Cauce, Oregon president Michael Schill and, of course, DiStefano — pushed for the inclusive gathering.
“All the groups, including (Scott), have adopted and embraced the way we’ve engaged with each other,” DiStefano explained.
Asked for his views on conference leadership, DiStefano said:
“(Scott) still has a contract with us. He’s the commissioner, and we’re working on things together. That’s something we’ll take up at another time.
There is a new sheriff in town and he is going to run the Pac 12 the way he has always run things. And apparently that sounds good enough to most of the presidents, chancellors and ADs of the Pac 12 conference.
"No longer is policy set in San Francisco by commissioner Larry Scott and his top executives, leaving campus officials feeling like, as one said, they were “being told what our priorities are.’’
Whose power is growing? The Pac 12 ADs in agreement with the Pac 12 presidents and chancellors
"In the new world order, the athletic directors are setting the direction for the conference with the help of the Pac-12 staff and the blessing of the Pac-12 chancellors and presidents."
When did this take place? About 4 or 5 months ago.
Why did this happen? Many of you know about some of the problems in the Pac 12 due to a series of articles written by Jon Wilner. But the straw that broke the camel's back seems to be when an untrained executive overturned an on field call by telephone whose play was under review by game officials.
Who is taking the lead? "Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano, who took over as chair of the Pac-12’s board of directors last year and has been a prime driver in the power shift.
What is next?
"This weekend, those same athletic directors will gather with those same Pac-12 officials in Las Vegas to discuss the latest conference initiatives, albeit with two important differences:
The presidents and chancellors will be present; the acrimony will be absent.
“There has been a hard shift since those fall meetings,” a source said."
Over the past four months, the Pac-12 has undergone a mammoth change in how it operates.
No longer is policy set in San Francisco by commissioner Larry Scott and his top executives, leaving campus officials feeling like, as one said, they were “being told what our priorities are.’’
In the new world order, the athletic directors are setting the direction for the conference with the help of the Pac-12 staff and the blessing of the Pac-12 chancellors and presidents.
From bad has come good.
“The athletic directors are the keys to the success of the Pac-12,’’ said Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano, who took over as chair of the Pac-12’s board of directors last year and has been a prime driver in the power shift.
DiStefano’s vision of a more collaborative process took root in the late fall and has prompted a degree of unity not seen since the early years of Scott’s tenure — when the conference was ahead of its peers financially, when Scott could do wrong, when the promise of the Pac-12 Networks seemed limitless and the conference looked destined for extraordinary heights.
How does DiStefano plan to get it done?
“That’s how I’ve operated at Colorado, with a great deal of cooperation with my senior level team, including our athletic director,’’ DiStefano told the Hotline last week. “It’s a leadership style that I’ve adopted over the years. It works best when you hear different opinions before decisions are made.
“When I took over (the Pac-12 board), I didn’t plan to change that approach. I shared that plan with my colleagues, and they have been extremely supportive of how we’ve moved toward a collaborative model.”
He made those intentions clear to Scott, as well.
“I had conversations with (Scott), and he was very open to moving this forward the way I wanted,” DiStefano said.
“The way I explain it is, we are going through an evolution. When (Scott) was hired, it was a very different group of presidents. They did things one way. I see new individuals coming in’’ — the majority of presidents and chancellors have been appointed within the past few years — “and I think most of us … believe in an open, transparent model.”
That approach, according to sources, runs counter to the model in place for most of the decade.
But those days are over.
The athletic directors and chancellors/presidents will be in the same room Saturday in Las Vegas, when the conference will discuss its latest initiatives and receive an update from The Raine Group on the pursuit of an equity sale.
Why the change?
The executive committee of the board of directors — Washington president Ana Mari Cauce, Oregon president Michael Schill and, of course, DiStefano — pushed for the inclusive gathering.
“All the groups, including (Scott), have adopted and embraced the way we’ve engaged with each other,” DiStefano explained.
Asked for his views on conference leadership, DiStefano said:
“(Scott) still has a contract with us. He’s the commissioner, and we’re working on things together. That’s something we’ll take up at another time.
There is a new sheriff in town and he is going to run the Pac 12 the way he has always run things. And apparently that sounds good enough to most of the presidents, chancellors and ADs of the Pac 12 conference.
