For the last time, Jim Delany took the stage at Big Ten Football Media Days to address reporters.
After leading the Big Ten Conference for 30 years, first taking the helm in 1989, Delany will be retiring – effective January 1, 2020. But he believes he’s left the conference as a whole in a great position for success.
“I think we’re built to win championships, and I think many of the teams in our conference are built to win National Championships as well as conference championships, ” Delany said during his podium time.
“When you look at what it takes: we recruit nationally, we have national television second to none, we have resources, we’ve reinvented our stadiums, we have world-class – national-class – coaches who have demonstrated success before they ever came here. I think I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see more of a dominating presence for Big Ten football over the next half decade to decade.”
Delany points to the last three conference champions and how those teams have been in the Playoff mix, with Penn State ranking fifth in 2016 while Ohio State won in 2017 and 2018, finishing in fifth and sixth those years, respectively.
Going back further, Ohio State has made two appearances in the college football playoff (2014 and 2016) while Michigan State has made one (2015).
The college football postseason has changed drastically since Delany took over 30 years ago.
“I mean, we had no postseason, and then we had the coalition, and then we had the BCS, and then we had the four-team playoff,” Delany said. “And so there was no one-two game when I first arrived, and then there was kind of a one-two game for a while. Now we have a four-team playoff.
“And sometimes we made the one-two game, sometimes we didn’t. If we didn’t, we were really excited to go to the Rose Bowl.”
But championship success wasn’t all that Delany talked about. The world has changed and digitized, with the Big Ten leading the way for college athletics.
In 1989, the Big Ten would see maybe 16 of its 66 games on television. With the Big Ten Network and streaming options via the internet, 90 games are televised. And instead of one relationship with the Rose Bowl, the conference has 10 total bowl relationships.
Delany will continue to lead the Big Ten through the remainder of 2019, but his successor will be right by his side.
On June 4, the Big Ten announced Kevin Warren would take over as conference commissioner. He’ll be working alongside Delany in the fall as he prepares to take over.
“When he comes in, what we’re trying to do is to use that time in a way that gives him a sense of the rhythm of the conference,” Delany said. “So we’ll have conference Commissioners’ meetings at the Big Ten, we’ll have joined group meetings. He’ll be around for those. We’ve also invited external partners in from all over the country, from television to bowls to other groups.”
