Tag: Yormark

Big 12 commish Brett Yormark calls Notre Dame AD’s remarks ‘egregious’

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Big 12 Conference commissioner Brett Yormark said Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua was “totally out of bounds” for how he’s gone about criticizing the Atlantic Coast Conference this week.

Notre Dame has a football scheduling alliance with the ACC and is a full member of the conference in other sports. Bevacqua has claimed the ACC damaged Notre Dame’s chances at making the College Football Playoff as an at-large with how it campaigned for Miami’s inclusion.

Miami was the last at-large selected — with the committee reasoning that the Hurricanes’ head-to-head win over the Irish only mattered once they were side-by-side in the rankings. Bevacqua said Tuesday that the ACC engaged in a targeted social media campaign over multiple weeks showing it favored Miami’s inclusion in the field over Notre Dame.

“We were definitely being targeted,” Bevacqua said. “And for better or for worse, we have a different relationship with the ACC than any other team in college football, other than the (football) teams that are in the ACC. Because we’re in the ACC for 24 sports, we have a scheduling agreement with the ACC. The ACC does wonderful things for Notre Dame, but we bring tremendous football value to the ACC, and we didn’t understand why you would go out of your way to try to damage us in this process.”

Later Tuesday, Yormark appeared at the Sports Business Journal’s Intercollegiate Athletics Forum and addressed Bevacqua’s criticism of the league.

“I think his behavior has been egregious,” Yormark said. “He is totally out of bounds in his approach and if he was in the room, I’d tell him the same thing.”

The public pushback is notable given Bevacqua’s unique standing as Notre Dame’s AD. For example, Bevacqua sits on the College Football Playoff Management Committee with the 10 FBS conference commissioners, representing the interests of football independent Notre Dame.

Rumors have also spread about Notre Dame’s next moves if it wants to split with the ACC, which included partnering up with the Big 12.

Consider that one less likely after Yormark took Bevacqua to task on Tuesday. Yormark pointed out that the ACC gave Notre Dame a lifeline during the COVID-affected 2020 season by giving the Irish a full 10-game conference slate and a berth in its championship game against Clemson.

“His behavior has been egregious,” Yormark said. “It’s been egregious going after Jim Phillips, when they saved Notre Dame during COVID. … The chair said that as Notre Dame and Miami got closer together, head to head would be a factor, OK?”

–Field Level Media

Jul 8, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark addresses the media during the 2025 Big 12 Football Media Days at The Star. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

Big 12 Media Days: BYU to let QB Jake Retzlaff ‘speak for himself’

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BYU coach Kalani Sitake plans to let quarterback Jake Retzlaff speak for himself on the topic of his court matter and seven-game suspension for having premarital sex, a violation of the university honor code.

“First of all, I love Jake Retzlaff,” Sitake said Tuesday at the Big 12 Conference gathering in Frisco, Texas.

“We love Jake Retzlaff and appreciate all that he’s done for our program. I think it would be inappropriate for me to make a statement in his situation first. I think that’s his right. I think it’s a private matter that he can speak for himself, and I’m going to give him the opportunity to do that.”

Retzlaff is planning to transfer, according to reports, rather than return to the program where he faced a civil suit accusing him of sexually assaulting a woman at his home in 2023. The suit was recently dismissed but Sitake said three quarterbacks will compete for the starting job in 2025, but the list of candidates no longer includes Retzlaff.

Two transfers — Treyson Bourguet from Western Michigan and Bear Bachmeier from Stanford — and holdovers from last season are competing with McCae Hillstead. Hillstead is the newest arrival after transferring from Utah State.

Replacing Retzlaff might be more of a concept than a reality.

He led the team in rushing and was responsible for more than 65 percent of the Cougars’ total offense on the way to a 9-0 start in 2024. BYU finished with an 11-2 record and capped the season with a 36-14 blowout of Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.

BYU begins the 2025 season against Portland State on Aug. 30 before facing Stanford (Sept. 6), East Carolina (Sept. 20) and Colorado (Sept. 27).

–Commissioner Brett Yormark stands up for Big 12

A single representative in the expanded College Football Playoff from the Big 12 was not sufficient in the opinion of conference commissioner Brett Yormark.

Arizona State took Texas to double-overtime in the Peach Bowl, a quarterfinal in the first 12-team playoff, but Yormark said his league is the “deepest football conference in America.”

The Big 12, ACC and Notre Dame are supporting a change to the current playoff model, counter the plan of the Big Ten and SEC to load the bracket with teams from their leagues.

For the 2026 season, with 16 teams expected to be in the playoff, Yormark has gained allies who are on board with granting automatic bids to the five highest-rated conference champions with the CFP selection committee deciding how to award 11 at-large bids. The Big Ten touts a model with its teams automatically receiving four bids, and four more going to the SEC.

“We want to earn it on the field. It might not be the best solution today for the Big 12 … but long-term, knowing the progress we’re making, the investments we’re making, it’s the right format for us. And I’m doubling down today on 5-plus-11.”

–Scott Frost comes to grips with ‘wrong move’ to Nebraska

With 16 wins in five seasons at his alma mater Nebraska from 2018-2022, Scott Frost can agree with the sentiment that one can never go home again. He was hired as coach of the Cornhuskers following a 13-0 season at UCF in 2017.

“I got tugged in a direction to try to help my alma mater and didn’t really want to do it. It wasn’t a good move,” Frost said Tuesday. “I’m lucky to get back to a place where I was a lot happier.”

When Gus Malzahn departed UCF to become offensive coordinator at Florida State, the door opened for another return Frost never felt would happen. Now he’s back at UCF with a new perspective.

Frost, 50, worked for the Los Angeles Rams as an offensive consultant last year and was introduced a second time as UCF head coach in December.

“Biggest thing I’ve learned, probably. … You can’t do anything alone,” Frost said, arousing many corners of the Nebraska fanbase on social media with his final, lasting lesson.

“Don’t take the wrong job.”

–Field Level Media

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Reports: Big 12 boss Brett Yormark gets 3-year extension

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Big 12 Conference approved a three-year contract extension for commissioner Brett Yormark on Tuesday, multiple outlets reported Tuesday.

ESPN first reported that the board of directors had extended his original five-year deal, which was set to expire in 2027.

Yormark, 58, succeeded Bob Bowlsby in 2022. He helped the Big 12 navigate a national realignment of the conference landscape and boost its membership to coincide with the departures of Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference.

Yormark landed a new $2.3 billion television deal with ESPN and Fox in 2022 and shepherded the 2024 additions of four former Pac-12 members: Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah. He also oversaw the previously negotiated expansion that brought BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF into the fold in 2023.

Yormark was the CEO of Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation before taking over the Big 12.

–Field Level Media

July 12, 2023; Arlington, TX, USA; The Big 12 Championship Trophy on display during the first day of Big 12 Media Days in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, July 12, 2023. Mandatory Credit: Sara Diggins-USA TODAY Sports

Big 12 commish on further expansion: ‘We have a plan’

Posted on | by Field Level Media

As the Big 12 braces for the loss of Oklahoma and Texas, commissioner Brett Yormark understandably reset the narrative at the conference football media days in Dallas on Wednesday.

“I feel like I’ve been talking about expansion for a year now. When I said we were open for business last year, I think people took that as, ‘My God, this guy is new and he wants to go and disrupt’ … I guess, in some respects.

“Open for business was that we were going to explore every and all possibility to grow revenue, to diversify our conference, and to do things that hadn’t been done before. We did a lot of that.”

The Big 12, which announced the conference championship game would remain on the Dallas Cowboys’ home turf of AT&T Stadium through 2030, welcomes four new programs beginning with the 2023 season. For this season only, the league has 14 teams, as Texas and Oklahoma prepare to jump to the Southeastern Conference next season.

“They have great identity. They’re national brands. They’re a big part of the history of this conference,” Yormark said. “But like I said last year, this conference is bigger than any two schools. We’re in a great place. There’s never been a better time than right now to be involved with this conference, and I’m excited about our future.”

Yormark commended FOX for partnering with the conference and advancing a vision and goal to reach “Gen Z” and “future college students” in a nod to the combination linear and digital media deal.

UCF, Cincinnati, Houston and BYU bring a new look to the league — and expand the market reach of the conference — and make the Big 12 the only Power 5 league with teams in three time zones. Yormark said the ideal makeup of the Big 12 would be to stay at 14 teams even when the Sooners and Longhorns relocate.

“Relative to expansion, I said coming out of our spring business meetings at the Greenbrier that we have a plan, and we have a plan for expansion,” Yormark said, adding he wasn’t prepared to address it any further. “We do have a plan, and hopefully we can execute that plan sooner than later. But as I’ve always said, I love the composition of this conference right now. The excitement the four new members have brought to this conference has been incredible, and if we stay at 12 (teams), we’re perfectly fine with that.”

–Field Level Media

Dec 3, 2022; Arlington, TX, USA; Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark watches the game between the TCU Horned Frogs and the Kansas State Wildcats at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Commish: Big 12 has ‘a plan’ for expansion

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told reporters Friday that the league has “a plan” to approach another expansion of its membership.

The Big 12 is preparing to welcome BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF into the fold in 2023-24. When Texas and Oklahoma depart for the SEC, the league will be back to its size of 12 member institutions.

But reports from multiple media outlets have linked Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Memphis to the Big 12 as potential additions, along with UConn and Gonzaga as basketball-only options.

Yormark addressed the situation with the media via video conference from the league’s spring meeting at the Greenbrier Resort in West Sulphur Springs, W.V.

“As I’ve said all along, we have an appetite to be a national conference in our makeup from coast to coast, and we do believe in the upside of basketball moving forward as a collective group,” Yormark said. “That being said, we love our current composition, love the four new schools that are coming in next month. However, if the opportunity presents itself to create value, we will pursue it.”

The Big 12 has emerged as the premier basketball conference in college sports in recent years, with Baylor and Kansas winning the national title in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and other schools like Kansas State and TCU competitive in the NCAA Tournament.

But Yormark and his peers know conference realignment is fueled by the money from football in particular.

“We do see the upside in basketball moving forward for all the right reasons,” Yormark said without mentioning any specific schools. “We think it’s undervalued and there’s a chance for us to double down as the No. 1 basketball conference in America, but football is the driver and we all know that.

“As we think about the future and ways to create value,” he added, “there is always that option to decouple basketball from football to see if there’s further value we can create for the conference.”

Colorado was a member of the Big 12 from 1996 through 2011 before leaving for the Pac-12. With that conference still struggling to complete a media rights deal, Colorado returning to the Big 12 has become an option. The league has had “substantive” talks with Colorado, recent reports said.

–Field Level Media