Inside the Pac-12 demise from the staffers who lived through it: ‘We’re done’
By Antonio Morales
5h ago
On Thursday night, a Pac-12 assistant coach went to bed certain of one thing: “I was going to be in the Big 12.”
That was his preference anyway. The stability on the recruiting trail and television exposure were too good to pass up — and were something his program’s current conference couldn’t offer.
Then he woke up Friday morning and “everything had backtracked with the Pac-12,” he said.
In a way, it’s fitting that the day when the league essentially died unfolded like a “Pac-12 After Dark” classic. Drama. Chaos. Highs. Lows. The league was dead. Then it wasn’t. Then, Friday afternoon, it was time to say goodbye.
Cause of death: complete mismanagement, apathy and lack of foresight.
“Honestly, it was like a yo-yo,” a personnel staffer whose program secured a spot in the Big Ten said. “I was told we were going to find something out (on Friday). I didn’t know what to believe. I don’t know what’s real news, what’s fake news.”
The league’s ashes will be spread across the country. Some in the Big 12. Some in the Big Ten. And the rest wherever Oregon State, Washington State, Cal and Stanford decide to park their cars.
This is a look at that topsy-turvy fateful day from those who lived through it: an assistant coach whose program landed in the Big 12; a personnel staffer whose program is headed to the Big Ten; and a personnel staffer and analyst from two of the conference’s four remaining schools. They were granted anonymity so they could speak freely.
“When it did come down, it felt a little weird,” the analyst said. “We don’t know what that means for us as the odd man left out at this moment. You feel kind of lonely, feel kind of deserted.”
People consumed the realignment news in different ways. On one end of the spectrum, there were those who didn’t want to know anything until the dust settled.
“The (mindset) has always been when ESPN shows it on the ticker, that’s when most of us find out anyway,” the analyst said.
And on the opposite end …
“I’ve been following so many burner accounts, it doesn’t make sense,” the assistant coach said. “Been following it religiously.”
The assistant coach and everyone who had been tracking the developments closely knew the Pac-12 found itself in a pretty dark place Wednesday. Colorado announced its intention to return to the Big 12 the week prior, Arizona’s talks with the Big 12 were only intensifying and the Big Ten started taking a more serious look at Oregon and Washington. By Thursday night, all indications were that the league was closer to disbanding than surviving.
But by early Friday morning on the West Coast, there was a sudden surge of optimism that the schools could possibly come to an agreement on a grant of rights deal.
“Some of our support staff would get in the office, were excited, saved from the brink of death,” the personnel staffer whose program remains in the league said. “Then you go back down the roller coaster and it goes the other way around and the Big Ten suddenly wants to engage Washington and Oregon again.”
The Pac-12 was in serious trouble well before last week’s dramatic events. It had been 13 months since USC and UCLA stunned the college football world and announced their departure to the Big Ten (starting in 2024), a seismic move that would leave the league without a presence in the second-largest media market in the country.
Oregon and Washington are two highly respected brands whose aspirations were always going to be greater than what the league could offer. That put the conference on shaky ground: Why would any program commit to a long-term future with the league when the two most prominent remaining schools were going to have wandering eyes?
With an uncertain future, Pac-12 programs couldn’t sell stability on the recruiting trail and couldn’t guarantee exposure or tell recruits how their families would be able to watch their games.
“The Pac-12 was just not going to be sexy whatsoever to sell to a kid,” the assistant coach said. “Because there are going to be too many guys taking shots (at you): ‘Are you sure you want to consider (them)? Those guys are playing in the new Mountain West.’”
Tuesday, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff presented the remaining schools with an offer from Apple. The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel reported it was approximately $25 million per school. That was less than the $31.7 million per school the Big 12 received for its recent media rights deal — which served as a benchmark for the Pac-12 — and it was a heavy streaming deal with no guarantee of broadcasts on a linear network
For a league that has struggled with exposure for years — thanks to poor distribution of the Pac-12 Network — that was a hard pill to swallow.
“Our coach came to me and asked me, ‘What do you think of this Apple TV deal?’” the personnel staffer whose program is headed to the Big Ten said. “I said, ‘We’re done.’ Who is going to sign up for Apple TV to watch Pac-12 football?”
The personnel staffer whose program remains in the league said, “I do think in four or five years, just looking at the current media landscape, ESPN laying off all these people, everything going to streaming, I think we probably would’ve been OK in four or five years, but we had to be OK right now, especially in the Pac-12.”
The momentum was clearly heading in the wrong direction Friday morning, but there was some hope — thanks to Arizona State president Michael Crow, who’s been a staunch supporter of all things Pac-12 and was seemingly doing his best to keep the league together.
“Presidents look at it from an academic standpoint,” the assistant said. “But at the end of the day … it’s not about what logo is painted on the field. It’s about longevity. It’s about money, obviously. It’s about exposure, being in a conference that has relevance. … That matters more than having an Apple deal where we’re playing on an app and not playing on national television.”
On Saturday, after Arizona State accepted an invitation from the Big 12, Crow said, “We were the stalwarts fighting for the Pac-12 till the last ditch.”
When Oregon and Washington made the decision to depart, Crow was left with no choice but to find a new home.
The assistant coach was on the practice field when his program was officially invited into the Big 12. The staffer was taking part in a team-wide activity when the news trickled out that his school was headed to a new league.
