Mar 12, 2020; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby announces to media that Big 12 Tournament games are canceled at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby to step down later this year

Bob Bowlsby plans to step down as commissioner of the Big 12 Conference later this year, the league announced Tuesday.

Bowlsby, 70, has served as commissioner since 2012. He is the longest-tenured commissioner of a Power Five conference, a distinction that will go to the SEC’s Greg Sankey after Bowlsby departs.

Bowlsby will remain in the position until a replacement is appointed, at which point Bowlsby will take on a new, interim role within the Big 12.

“After more than 40 years of serving in leadership roles in intercollegiate athletics, including the last 10 with the Big 12, and given the major issues that college sports in general and the Big 12 specifically will address in the next several years, I have reached a natural transition point in my tenure as Commissioner, as well as in my career,” Bowlsby said in a news release Tuesday.

His announcement comes one day after Kansas became the second straight Big 12 program to win an NCAA championship in men’s basketball. The Jayhawks beat North Carolina 72-69 Monday night, one year after Baylor defeated Gonzaga in the title game.

Under Bowlsby’s term, Texas and Oklahoma made the decision to jump from the Big 12 to the SEC, leading the conference to accept four new programs from the mid-major ranks: BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. The four new member institutions will join no later than the 2024-25 school year.

The conference’s news release said it is engaging a search firm to consult it in a national search process for the next commissioner, a process that will begin in the coming weeks.

Before coming to the Big 12, Bowlsby was the athletic director at Stanford (2006-12) and Iowa (1990-2006).

–Field Level Media

Jul 14, 2021; Arlington, TX, USA;  Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to the media during Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Bob Bowlsby: NCAA groups have discussed ending or moving the early signing period

The early signing period in college football continues to be a controversial topic, especially in the aftermath of an eventful couple of weeks in coaching moves within the sport. According to Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, change might be on the way.

On Wednesday, Bowlsby addressed the Sports Business Journal Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, and discussed the impact of the early signing period, which locks prospective athletes into letters of intent during a time period that is often chaotic in terms of coaching moves.

Speaking specifically of the NCAA’s football oversight committee as well as the American Football Coaches Association, Bowlsby said, “There’s a lot more talk than I’ve heard in recent years about either getting rid of (the early signing period) altogether or perhaps moving it to after the first of the year. We’ll see how that goes.”

In addition, the NCAA recruiting subcommittee has begun discussions along the same track.

The early signing day for 2021 falls on Dec. 15. Meanwhile, high-profile coaching moves, such as Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma for Southern Cal and Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU, continue to reverberate. As high school prospects attempt to make their college choices, many football staffs (high profile or not) remain unsettled.

“Clearly, things have changed since the early signing date was put in,” Bowlsby said. “The transfer portal didn’t exist at the time, and there are things that have changed. At the end, we’re going to have to go back to the reason we put it in place and ask if that’s still a valid reason.”

Reporting from Sports Illustrated said these discussions are very early in the process and nothing formal has been proposed. Meanwhile, ESPN noted that 22 coaches have already been hired in this cycle — a large number — and that some of it might be attributable to schools trying to get ahead of the early signing period.

“If we change the signing date again, will it eliminate this accelerated (coach hiring) timeline?” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey asked. “I’m not sure it will. We may have let the toothpaste out of the tube.”

–Field Level Media

Jul 14, 2021; Arlington, TX, USA;  Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to the media during Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Bob Bowlsby: No decision yet on Big 12 COVID protocols for ’21

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby on Wednesday said the conference has yet to establish COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming football season but added that any unvaccinated athlete will be in the testing protocol.

Bowlsby made the comments to open Big 12 Media Days in Arlington, Texas, and encouraged everyone — especially student-athletes — to get vaccinated. However, Bowlsby also said the league cannot mandate vaccinations for its athletes.

“Frankly, anyone not getting vaccinated is taking unnecessary and unwarranted risks,” Bowlsby said. “That’s not just student-athletes but anyone in society. … I think it’s very short-sighted to not get vaccinated.”

Bowlsby said the Big 12 will have COVID-19 protocols in place in 30 days.

“Frankly, we’re not excited to think about having to have protocols,” Bowlsby said. “But we’re also not unprepared.”

Big 12 conference play opens Sept. 18 with Baylor at Kansas.

–Field Level Media

Mar 12, 2020; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby announces to media that Big 12 Tournament games are canceled at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Big 12 commissioner: Later CFP dates not out of question

The College Football Playoff games are set for Jan. 1 and Jan. 11, but that doesn’t mean they are set in stone, according to Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby.

It is “within reason,” if unlikely, that the games could be moved back to accommodate more regular-season games, Bowlsby said Thursday on SiriusXM College Radio.

“I’m on the CFP operations committee, and we’ve spent some time talking about” moving the games back, he said. “We haven’t come to any closure on it, but there is some latitude to postpone if that need should arise, and the same is true with some of the New Year’s Six games. But within reason you can do those things.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages nationwide, nearly two dozen college games were postponed or canceled between last week and this week.

Four of the games that won’t be held this week are in the Southeastern Conference.

The Big Ten and the Pac-12, among other conferences, have been canceling games rather than postponing them because of a lack of time to make them up before the conference title games, which are scheduled for Dec. 19, as is the SEC’s.

“I don’t know if I see us playing a championship game in February, but you just never know,” Bowlsby said. “These are unusual times, and things that might otherwise not be acceptable have to be considered in this kind of circumstance.”

Bowlsby’s comments came a day after SEC commissioner Greg Sankey tried to keep the focus on the scheduled game dates.

“We have finish lines right now, so my focus is on Dec. 19 for an SEC championship game,” Sankey said. “I’ve said that. The semifinals are on (Jan. 1). The championship on the 11th … I’m not going to hypothesize about change, but I’m not inattentive to the potential that change may need to occur at a number of different levels.”

Bill Hancock, the College Football Playoff executive director, told ESPN this week: “No one knows how many games any team will be playing. Everyone’s goal is to get the games in within the cone of safety. For the selection committee, it’s status quo. This is not a surprise. Most of us expected games to be postponed or canceled. Everyone is moving forward as best they can.”

–Field Level Media