Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott kicked off Pac-12 Football Media Day on Wednesday, July 24 with a statement that should make members of all sports perk up and listen.
It’s no secret college football is king in the collegiate world of sports. Part of what made Utah so attractive to the Pac-12 seasons ago was their success on the gridiron. With football ruling college sports, pressure is felt from coaches, players and everyone involved in programs to perform on the field. This pressure has, at times, led to rule-bending, recruiting violations and players receiving improper benefits. The current collegiate landscape has drawn doomsday predictions from commissioners across the country, but Scott is taking the more optimistic road.
On July 22, at his conference’s media day, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby spoke about the current condition of college football.
“Enforcement is broken,” he said. “The infractions committee hasn’t had [an FBS] hearing in almost a year, and I think it’s not an understatement to say cheating pays presently. If you seek to conspire to certainly bend the rules, you can do it successfully and probably not get caught in most occasions.”
He continued by saying the current landscape could spell the end to some collegiate programs.
“We certainly are operating in a strange environment in that we have lawsuits,” Bowlsby said. “I think all of that in the end will cause programs to be eliminated. I think you’ll see men’s Olympic sports go away as a result of the new funding challenges that are coming down the pipe. I think there may be tension among and between sports on campus and institutions that have different resources. It’s really unknown what the outcomes will be.”
In almost stark contrast to his colleague in the Big 12, Scott spoke with optimism about the current and future environment of college sports.
“There is an amazing amount of access that is provided for 7,000 student-athletes in this Conference every year,” Scott said. “Many of whom, most of whom, use sports as a vehicle to go on and be successful in something else other than their sport in life.”
Bowlsby talked about the possibility of losing some sports, but Scott chose to defend them. In much of his address, Scott sounded as if he wanted to forget all the talk about the professionalization of collegiate athletics and once again put the focus on the student. He talked about the Pac-12 networks producing segments where athlete’s accomplishments in their academic field will be highlighted. The segments will profile players that are excelling in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
During his address Scott revealed stats about his conference in the professional sports world. He stated only two percent of Pac-12 football student-athletes get drafted into the NFL, while only three percent of its basketball players go on to the NBA.
“The fact is, almost all of the 7,000 Pac-12 student-athletes are never going to play professional sports or certainly not long enough to actually make a living at it,” Scott said. “My focus is on the vast majority, that 97 or 98 percent of our student-athletes for whom this experience of being a student-athlete in the Pac-12 is transformative. It’s providing access, providing opportunity, that’s going to allow them to be more successful in life than they would have otherwise. We have to do right for these student-athletes and not design a system around the two percent.”
Though he believes his conference is successful, he didn’t hide the fact that changes need to be made, and he is looking forward to positive modifications.
“For all the good that college sports is doing, we also know there are some significant challenges out there, and we know it’s time to make significant changes,” Scott said. “Today requires that we do more for student-athletes who work so hard to balance their passions for their sport while still wanting to get an education. While I understand the concern of my colleagues that’s been expressed, we’ve heard some doomsday and some threats over the last week, I am very confident and optimistic about where college sports is going and some of the recent reforms that we’re seeing.”