Jim Delany will be remembered for his moxie, his business savvy, his willingness to green-light a national football playoff and his questionable decision to let Rutgers and Maryland in the Big Ten.
Delany _ who will step down as Big Ten commissioner in 2020, the conference announced Monday _ added Nebraska and a Big Ten football championship game. He clashed with some schools and coaches, including Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald, by adding Friday night football games. He took a shot at the SEC regarding academic standards for football signees. He pushed for better basketball matchups, such as the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, and moved the men's basketball tournament to Washington and New York, enraging Midwestern fans.
He made Big Ten schools rich by embracing multiple media outlets, resulting in a six-year football/basketball rights deal with ESPN, Fox, CBS and Big Ten Network worth $2.64 billion.
He oversaw scandals affecting nearly every school in the conference: Jerry Sandusky at Penn State, Larry Nassar at Michigan State, Tattoogate at Ohio State, Michigan's Fab Five, Rutgers and Mike Rice, Maryland's failure to save Jordan McNair, Tim Beckman's Neanderthal style at Illinois and point shaving at Northwestern.
And he created the Big Ten Network on a dare after then-ESPN executive Mark Shapiro lowballed him on a rights-fee offer, saying in 2004: "If you don't take our offer, you are rolling the dice."
Delany replied: "Consider them rolled."
As recently as July, Delany took a bold stand by calling for nationwide injury reports, saying: "The availability of personnel, whether it comes from injury or transgression (suspension), is critical to people who are interested in gambling legally and illegally."
And after Big Ten champion Ohio State was denied a spot in the College Football Playoff, he expressed an openness to consider expanding beyond four teams. Such a stance was unthinkable even two or three years ago.
College sports fans and administrators will have time to debate his legacy, given the news that dropped Monday. Delany, 71, will conclude his term after 31 years on June 30, 2020, following through on a retirement plan reported in 2016.
The Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors already has initiated a search process under the direction of chairman Morton Schapiro, Northwestern's president. The firm Korn Ferry, which has a strong Chicago presence, will aid in the search.
Industry speculation for years centered on two potential successors: Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips and Michigan State's Mark Hollis. But Hollis resigned as Michigan State AD last year in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal, so he's out.
Phillips has gained national respect at Northwestern for overseeing a massive facilities upgrade while retaining top coaches such as Pat Fitzgerald (football) and Kelly Amonte Hiller (women's lacrosse) and hiring men's basketball coach Chris Collins, who took the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament in 2017.
He remains a prime candidate to replace Delany, whom the Big Ten hired as commissioner in August 1989.
"Jim (Delany) has had an extraordinary impact on the Big Ten Conference, its member institutions, administrators, students and coaches since 1989," Schapiro said in a statement. "He has been a forward-thinking, collaborative and decisive leader in every aspect of conference proceedings. We thank him for his dedicated service to date and look forward to working with him through the conclusion of his contract."
Delany said in a statement: "It's been an amazing opportunity to serve and lead these preeminent institutions, presidents, administrators, coaches and students. It is incredibly fulfilling to support the hundreds of thousands of young men and women who have been afforded an opportunity to obtain best-in-class educations as a result of the invaluable, one-of-a-kind lessons learned through the unique combination of athletic and classroom competition. I would like to recognize and thank each of my colleagues for being such invaluable members of, and contributors to, the Big Ten Conference team, while acknowledging that there is still plenty of work to be done. I look forward to continuing that work through the balance of my term."
