Tag: Sandy Barbour

NCAA announces Mark Emmert retirement plan

NCAA announces retirement plan for president Mark Emmert.

The NCAA is preparing for a monumental change in leadership. On Tuesday evening, the NCAA released a statement announcing Mark Emmert will step down from his position as president of the NCAA effective in June 2023. Emmert is now officially entering his final season as president of the highest governing body in collegiate athletics.

“Throughout my tenure I’ve emphasized the need to focus on the experience and priorities of student-athletes,” Emmert said in a released statement. “I am extremely proud of the work of the Association over the last 12 years and especially pleased with the hard work and dedication of the national office staff here in Indianapolis.”

Emmert’s pending resignation comes as the entire collegiate athletics landscape is undergoing seismic changes. The era of NIL rules and years of conference realignment in search of larger media revenue packages has led to many questioning where the NCAA stands in all of this. Emmert, fairly or not, has been tasked with being the face of an organization seemingly losing more and more credibility and respect as the years have gone by.

Emmert has been in the position of president of the NCAA since 2010, a role he ascended to after a six-year run as the president of the University of Washington. Emmert has been the target of criticism over many NCAA investigations, including the one into Penn State in the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal in 2011.

Emmert was also the voice of the NCAA in the landmark Ed O’Bannon lawsuit which challenged the authority the NCAA had over prohibiting the ability for athletes to capitalize on their own name, image, and likeness.

For all the controversy aside, the bottom line here is the NCAA is now in a position to hire a new president, and one that will carry on as the voice of an institution in need of respected leadership and able to take on the ever-changing landscape of the college sports world.

And while the list of worthy candidates for the job will no doubt be intriguing to monitor, one can’t help wonder if outgoing Penn State AD [autotag]Sandy Barbour[/autotag] could be a viable candidate, or if she would even be interested in such a position. Barbour has been a well-respected athletics director at Cal and Penn State, and she is heading into her own retirement from her current position at Penn State later this summer (and her successor may already be lined up).

Perhaps just something to keep tucked away in the back of your head for now. Odds are the NCAA will go for someone with experience as a university president, but this is a decision that will be watched very closely over the next year.

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Reports peg Boston College’s Patrick Kraft as next Penn State AD

Penn State AD search: Reports peg Boston College AD as successor to Sandy Barbour

Penn State’s search for a new athletics director may soon be coming to an official close. Multiple reports on Tuesday note Penn State is expected to name Patrick Kraft its next athletic director, possibly by the end of the week according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. Kraft is currently the athletics director for Boston College.

Kraft has been the athletics director for Boston College since 2020, but he served for six years as the director of athletics for Temple prior to shipping up to Boston. One of Kraft’s biggest successes while at Temple may have been finding a way to keep former head coach [autotag]Matt Rhule[/autotag] in Philadelphia for as long as he did. With Kraft as the AD at Temple, Rhule announced he would remain the head coach of the Owls after coaching the program to a record of 10-4 and a top 20 ranking during the season.

Kraft left Temple to take on the same position at Boston College in 2020, where he has reportedly been a solid leader behind the scenes and out of the limelight. Kraft is responsible for the hiring of former Ohio State assistant Jeff Hafley to be head coach of the Boston College football program.

Oddly enough, the hiring of Kraft will present a unique reunion for the football program. Kraft once hired current defensive coordinator [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] to be the head coach at Temple, only for Diaz to turn around after an introductory press conference and accept a head coaching offer from Miami. To be a fly on the wall for that first interaction in Happy Valley.

[autotag]Sandy Barbour[/autotag], Penn State’s current athletics director, will be resigning from her position later this year.

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Retiring Penn State AD a finalist for prestigious award

Penn State AD Sandy Barbour is a finalist for the Sports Business Journal’s top AD award for the third time.

Outgoing Penn State athletics director Sandy Barbour may be going into retirement with a crowning achievement on her résumé. Barbour has been named a finalist for the Sports Business Journal’s Sports Business AD of the Year Award by the Sports Business Journal. And for Barbour, the hope is that the third time will be the charm.

Barbour has been a finalist for one of the nation’s top individual awards for an athletics director twice before, including once during her tenure at Penn State. Barbour was a finalist for the award in 2009 while at Cal and in 2018 at Penn State.

Penn State’s athletics department as a whole has been tremendously successful in a wide range of areas. The football program and basketball programs may not have the wins to showcase the past two years, but the wrestling program is coming off its ninth national title in the past 11 years and the athletics program saw five teams win conference or tournament championships including women’s soccer, wrestling, women’s hockey, men’s volleyball, and men’s soccer. Penn State finished the 2021 season in fifth place for the Learfield Directors’ Cup.

Penn State is also in the early stages of a massive renovation project to various athletics facilities, including long-overdue upgrades to Beaver Stadium.

Last week it was announced that Barbour will be retiring from her position as director of athletics at Penn State later this summer, likely coinciding with the end of the fiscal year for the university.

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Everything James Franklin said in his spring press conference

Here is everything James Franklin had to say in his spring football press conference.

As Penn State hit the football practice fields for the first spring practice of the year, head coach James Franklin spent some time in front of a microphone to answer questions from reporters about the current state of the program for the 2022 season. After two mediocre seasons, a number of departures to the NFL, and some notable changes on the staff and roster, there was no shortage of topics to discuss with the head coach of the Nittany Lions on Monday afternoon.

Franklin covered a lot of ground, including key position battles and concerns, the future of the program under a new athletics director, and how the confidence level is for a program that has struggled the past two years. Franklin also discussed the impact some of the newest additions to the program are having in workouts, whether as an early enrollee or via the transfer portal.

The following quotes from Franklin were provided by Penn State.

Penn State athletics director search underway following Sandy Barbour’s retirement announcement

Penn State is now officially searching for a new athletics director following Sandy Barbour’s big announcement.

The search for a brand new athletics director is officially underway for Penn State. It was announced on Wednesday that Sandy Barbour will retire from her position as athletics director this summer, leaving Penn State with a high-profile AD vacancy to fill moving forward.

Barbour’s retirement announcement comes months after Penn State locked in head football coach James Franklin to a 10-year contract and a year after making her last head coaching hire in men’s basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry. Penn State also navigated its way out of the impact of the NCAA sanctions related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal and a global pandemic that left Beaver Stadium empty for an entire college football season all during Barbour’s tenure in Happy Valley.

“These last eight years have been the most incredible and satisfying of my career,” Barbour said in a released statement. “The passion, the commitment and the purpose with which the Penn State community pursues excellence is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and I am honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to serve Penn State students, coaches, faculty, staff and our incredible community.”

Penn State said in a statement the school will conduct a national search to find its next athletics director, although no timeline for when a final decision will be made has been shared by the university. More details on this search will be shared at a later point in time, but prepare for the obligatory search firm hire to assist Penn State in the process of narrowing in on a new athletics director.

Some big challenges will be inherited for the next athletics director, including the ongoing task of renovating the athletics facilities, including Beaver Stadium. Fortunately, no coach on the Penn State payroll appears to be in any real jeopardy of quickly losing their job under a new AD. Athletic directors do like to hire their coaches of choice, but no situation appears to be in place for any such drastic changes under a new AD.

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Penn State announces 10-year extension for James Franklin

Penn State and James Franklin agree to a new 10-year contract that runs through 2031

Penn State doesn’t plan on having to find a new head coach for quite some time. On Tuesday afternoon, Penn State officially announced it had agreed to a massive contract extension with head coach James Franklin. Penn State and Franklin have agreed on a new 10-year contract, effective immediately.

The new contract for Franklin will keep him as head coach through the 2031 season. The contract was formally voted on and approved on Tuesday by the Subcommittee on Compensation of the Penn State Board of Trustees.

“Penn State’s future is bright, and I’m honored to continue to serve as your head football coach,” Franklin said in a released statement. “Nine weeks ago, the administration approached me about making a long-term investment in our football program. This prompted numerous conversations outlining the resources needed to be competitive at a level that matches the expectations and history of Penn State. What’s most evident from those conversations is the importance of our student-athletes’ success both on and off the field.”

Franklin is wrapping up his eighth season with Penn State. Hired in 2014 to replace Bill O’Brien, who headed to the NFL, Franklin came to State College from Vanderbilt. In Franklin’s time at Penn State, the Nittany Lions have compiled a record of 67-32, which is highlighted by a Big Ten championship in 2016 and victories in the Fiesta Bowl and the Cotton Bowl (2017 and 2019 seasons, respectively). Penn State is currently 7-4 heading into its final game of the 2021 regular season at Michigan State.

Franklin was 24-15 in three seasons as the head coach at Vanderbilt, including back-to-back nine-win seasons and bowl victories with the Commodores.

“We are excited to have James Franklin lead our football program for a long time,” Penn State athletics director Sandy Barbour in a released statement. “We will continue our collective efforts to constantly improve in all aspects of our program. We have made, and will need to continue to make, significant investment in our football program because we believe we have a very bright future under James. With this contract, we are signaling our sustained commitment to being one of the premiere programs in the history of college football.”

The agreement between Franklin and Penn State is a major commitment to the future of the program as Penn State continues to build what they feel is needed to take the next step toward putting together a program worthy of a possible College Football Playoff berth on top of competing at a high level for a Big Ten championship.

This is also a significant recruiting tool for a coach who is already well-known for his recruiting abilities. Being able to sell a 10-year commitment to the school helps silence any comments or thoughts about Franklin potentially leaving Penn State for another opportunity at another school.

This is a landmark day for Penn State and James Franklin. And the next decade will surely be one where progress must be made toward the bigger goals still to be achieved.

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Penn State AD Sandy Barbour says no proof of vaccination required to attend games in Beaver Stadium

Penn State will not require fans attending football games to show proof of vaccinations this fall, but masks will be required indoors

The college football season is quickly approaching and schools and conferences are hoping to make this season go much smoother than last year’s bumpy ride during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some schools around the country are opting to require proof of being vaccinated to attend football games this fall, no such proof will be required at Penn State.

Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour spoke to members of the media on a conference call Saturday to address how attendance at Beaver Stadium will be handled this fall. While Barbour said there are no suggestions anything less than a fully open Beaver Stadium will be available at this time, Barbour also announced fans will not be required to provide proof of vaccination to attend a game in the 107,000-seat stadium this fall.

Barbour did confirm fans will be required to wear a mask in indoor areas at Beaver Stadium, but masks will not be required in outdoor areas, including the seats of the stadium.

If the state of Pennsylvania or Centre County (where Penn State is located) tells officials at Penn State to reduce their capacity, Barbour said the following;

“What we’ve learned, last year we obviously went through a ton of planning for capacity sizes we still have, it’s not been forgotten or thrown out,” Barbour said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t have to make some tough decisions, but that’s not what we’re planning.”

As of now, Penn State is expecting to have 107,000 inside Beaver Stadium for the 2021 season with their first home game being on September 11, when they take on Ball State.

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Sandy Barbour comments should get USC’s attention

Former Cal and current Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour comments on what the fall might look like in the Pac-12 and Big Ten.

If you are a USC or Pac-12 football fan wondering what will happen with your team’s athletes this fall — in the absence of actual games on Saturdays — that particular question is being wrestled with by administrators in both the Pac-12 and Big Ten Conferences.

The fact that the Pac-12 and Big Ten have both shut down fall football (with the Big Ten receiving considerable pushback, as we noted on Sunday) means that the two Power Five conferences have to consider what to do with their athletes in the next several months. This is part of a longer and more complicated conversation about separating or integrating athletes with the other members of the general student population on college campuses. This conversation includes the question of whether to allow any students onto campuses at all for the 2020 fall semester, given the concerns about the coronavirus. Administrators are basically working with a Rubik’s Cube, trying to shift all these different components into an alignment which balances every possible consideration.

Schools want to get some students on campus and into a dorm room so that they can collect room and board expenses. They want to be able to offer a full campus experience to justify tuition rates as they currently exist. They want to go as far as they can while still preserving public health and safety, and while operating within the guidelines put forth by their state’s governor and other local health officials. This is an extremely complicated calculus, as one can readily appreciate.

In the Big Ten and Pac-12, the landscape is different from the SEC, Big 12, and ACC, given the decision to shut down fall football. What’s next in the Big Ten and Pac-12?

A particular person spoke about this on Monday. Her statement is less important than the fact that she spoke up in the first place:

The folks in Berkeley might have the best appreciation of the importance of this development.

Sandy Barbour, you might recall, was the athletic director at the University of California before she moved to Penn State. She therefore holds down a Big Ten AD position while having previously worked in the same capacity in the Pac-12 (dating back to the conference’s days as the Pac-10). She therefore represents a crossover figure who can speak not just to the Big Ten’s current reality, but also the Pac-12’s set of circumstances.

Maybe the Big Ten and Pac-12 will propose appreciably different plans or roadmaps for their respective schools’ football players this fall. Yet, one cannot ignore how the Big Ten has charted a course the Pac-12 has seen fit to largely follow. No, the Pac-12 hasn’t operated on autopilot — it has made its own medical consultations and has to live with governors and health officials separate from those in Big Ten states. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the coronavirus politics of the Pac-12 are reasonably close to the Big Ten, set apart from the SEC-Big 12-ACC triumvirate.

Sandy Barbour might not be the final authority on any potential joint plan the Big Ten and Pac-12 might devise — if such a plan emerges at all — but among the various leaders in collegiate athletics whose words should be taken seriously on the Big Ten’s and Pac-12’s plans for the fall, Barbour would rate higher rather than lower on the list.

This should get USC’s attention, and one would presume it will.