The University of Oregon officially hired John Karl Scholz as the 19th president of the university on Monday. Scholz will take over for Michael Schill, who left to take the job of president at Northwestern University last year.
While this is a story that is much bigger than just sports, it certainly reaches the world of football, and could potentially have some ramifications down the road for the Ducks. Before coming to Eugene, Scholz was the provost at the University of Wisconsin, a prominent member of the Big Ten Conference. Scholz is a sports fan, and he has been very vocal about his respect for the Big Ten in the past. He also had a role to play in the conference expansion that took place a year ago, leading to USC and UCLA leaving the Pac-12.
So now that Scholz is in Eugene, does that mean that Oregon will be announcing its departure to the Big Ten in the coming week? It’s not all that simple. However, Scholz could end up playing a key role in the continued conference realignment talks out west. Here are some interesting notes about him, and how it could impact Oregon’s standing in the Pac-12 going forward.