In times of crisis and rapid change in the world of higher education — like a pandemic, swift changes in social awareness and the advent of Name Image Likeness rights — stability and experience are key for navigating the current tsunami of urgent issues. If not paramount.
In the Big Ten Conference, the troika at the top of Penn State intercollegiate athletics stands at the top in stability.
Penn State president Eric Barron, senior VP of intercollegiate athletics Sandy Barbour and head football coach James Franklin have all been on the same #oneteam since August of 2014. That’s almost seven full years of concurrent service, and eight different calendar years.
It’s been 2,502 days. And counting.
And make no mistake, Barron is at the top of PSU’s ICA pyramid. He is Barbour’s boss. He is one of 11 university presidents and chancellors who oversee the College Football Playoff and he is a member of the non-profit Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
(Nick Jones, who has been Penn State’s EVP and provost, and thus its chief academic officer, only adds to the foundation. He has been at PSU since July 2013.)
No other such group of three in the Big Ten has been together longer. Michigan’s triumvirate — Mark Schlissel, Warde Manuel and Jim Harbaugh — has been together for five-and-a-half years. Purdue’s trio of Mitch Daniels, Mike Bobinski and Jeff Brohm has been together in West Lafayette for four-and-a-half years.
Northwestern was the conference leader in that regard until AD Jim Phillips left to become commissioner of the ACC in December 2020. Phillips, president Morton Schapiro and head football coach Pat Fitzgerald had been together for 12 years.
Now, change is the only constant in Evanston. Schapiro is slated to retire by Aug. 31, 2022, and Derrick Gregg — Northwestern’s second AD since Phillips departed — officially starts in a week, on July 1. (As does the new AD at Wisconsin, Pat McIntosh, who succeeds Barry Alvarez.)
Penn State will be facing big changes next year, as Barron has announced he will retire June 30, 2022. Barbour, 61, is signed through Aug. 31, 2023, and Franklin, 49, is under contract until Dec. 31, 2025.
When looking at the tenure of athletic director-head football coach partnerships in the Big Ten, Barbour and Franklin rank No. 2. Franklin was hired in January 2014, and Barbour came to Penn State in August 2014. Again, that is almost seven full years together.
Only at Iowa — where Kirk Ferentz has been head football coach since December 1998 and Gary Barta has been athletic director since 2006 — has the AD-HC combo been together longer. And, that was in at least a bit of doubt last June, when several former football players charged the program with racism and bullying.
In terms of stability, Penn State has come full circle.
A decade ago, Penn State’s athletic leadership looked as rock-solid as there was in all of the Big Ten. President Graham Spanier, AD Tim Curley and football coach Joe Paterno had been together for over 16 years when the Sandusky scandal hit in November 2011. Soon, they were all dismissed, in one form or another.
Three new head football coaches (two of them interim), two new ADs (one a short-term interim, the second an interim-turned-permanent) and one new president soon followed.
Then, in 2014, Penn State made three key hires in a span of 219 days. The firm of Barron, Barbour & Franklin has been together ever since.
Penn State has already put the wheels in motion to find Barron’s successor. Here’s one name it should consider: Edward Montgomery, the president of Western Michigan University who just reeled in a $500 million donation ($50 mil of it for athletics) from an anonymous alum. Montgomery, who is Black, is a 1976 Penn State grad from Pittsburgh, worked in the Obama White House and — key in these financially challenging times — has his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.
Penn State is not alone in its quest for a new university president.
These days in the Big Ten, the head football coach’s job looks more secure than the president’s. Six Big Ten school presidents have been hired since July 2, 2019. (And that’s not even counting the pending retirements of Schapiro and Barron.) On the other hand, the sixth-most recent hire at head football coach in the Big Ten is Scott Frost, who is entering his fourth season at Nebraska despite a 12-20 record with the Cornhuskers.
BIG TEN LONGEVITY LEADERS
Here’s an overview of the Big Ten Conference, highlighting some key categories that point to the stability of a university, its athletic department and football program. Information is gleaned from the schools’ official websites. (Years in position is in parenthesis, counting 2021 as a full year; for head coaches, years includes upcoming 2021 season.)
President — McRobbie, Indiana (15 years); Schapiro, Northwestern (13); Black, Wisconsin (9); Daniels, Purdue (9); Barron, Penn State (8); Schlissel, Michigan (8).
Athletic Director — Smith, Ohio State (17); Barta, Iowa (16); Barbour, Penn State (8); Hobbs, Rutgers (7); Wittman, Illinois (6); Manuel, Michigan (6); Coyle, Minnesota (6); Bobinski, Purdue (6).
Football Head Coach — Ferentz, Iowa (23 years); Fitzgerald, Northwestern (16); Franklin, Penn State (8); Chryst, Wisconsin (7); Harbaugh, Michigan (7); Allen, Indiana (6).
TRIO: President, AD, Football Head Coach together — Penn State (8 years); Michigan (6); Purdue (5); Iowa (3); Minnesota (3).
COMBO: AD, Football Head Coach together — Iowa (16); Penn State (8); Michigan (6); Minnesota (5); Purdue (5).
BIG TEN FOOTBALL RESULTS SINCE 2014 (B10, overall)
1. Ohio State 54-4 (.931) 82-9 (.901)
2. Wisconsin 44-14 (.759) 67-22 (.753)
3. Iowa 39-21 (.650) 60-27 (.690)
4. Michigan 37-21 (.638) 54-29 (.651)
5. Penn State 38-23 (.623) 60-28 (.682)
6. Mich. St. 36-24 (.600) 52-33 (.612)
7. N’western 36-24 (.600) 51-35 (.593)
LEADERSHIP BY UNIVERSITY
ILLINOIS — President: Timothy Killen (7 years), hired May 18, 2015 (7 years). Athletic Director: Josh Wittman (6), Feb. 17, 2016. Football Head Coach: Bret Bielema (1), Dec. 19, 2020. FB HC’s since 2014: 5. Football record since 2014: 28-54 overall, 15-45 Big Ten; 0-2 bowls.
INDIANA — President: Michael McRobbie (15 years), hired July 1, 2007. Athletic Director: Scott Dolson (2), March 17, 2020. Football Head Coach: Tom Allen (6), Jan. 15, 2016. FB HC’s since 2014: 2. Football record since 2014: 40-43 overall, 22-37 Big Ten; 0-4 bowls.
IOWA — President: Bruce Harreld (7 years), hired Nov. 2, 2015. Athletic Director: Gary Barta (16), Aug. 1, 2006. Football Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz (23), Dec. 2, 1998. FB HC’s since 2014: 1. Football record since 2014: 60-27 overall, 39-21 Big Ten; 3-3 bowls.
MARYLAND — President: Darryll J. Pines (2 years), hired July 2, 2020. Athletic Director: Damon Evans (4), June 25, 2018. Football Head Coach: Mike Locksley (3), Dec. 4, 2018. FB HC’s since 2014: 4. Football record since 2014: 30-49 overall, 16-41 Big Ten; 0-2 bowls.
MICHIGAN — President: Mark Schlissel (8 years), hired July 1, 2014. Athletic Director: Warde Manuel (6), March 14, 2016. Football Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh (7), Dec. 30, 2015. FB HC’s since 2014: 2. Football record since 2014: 54-29 overall, 37-21 Big Ten; 1-4 bowls.
MICHIGAN STATE — President: Samuel Stanley Jr., MD (3 years), hired Aug. 1, 2019; Athletic Director: Bill Beekman (4), July 17, 2018. Football Head Coach: Mel Tucker (2), Feb. 12, 2020. FB HC’s since 2014: 2. Football record since 2014: 52-33 overall, 33-26 Big Ten; 3-2 bowls (1 College Football Playoff).
MINNESOTA — President: Joan T.A. Gabel (3 years), hired July 1, 2019. Athletic Director: Mark Coyle (6), May 11, 2016. Football Head Coach: P.J. Fleck (5), Jan. 6, 2017; FB HC’s since 2014: 3. Football record since 2014: 49-35 overall, 27-32 Big Ten; 4-1 bowls.
NEBRASKA — President: Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. (2 years), hired Jan. 1, 2020. Athletic Director: Bill Moos (5), Oct. 17, 2017. Football Head Coach: Scott Frost, Dec. 2, 2017 (4). FB HC’s since 2014: 4. Football record since 2014: 40-43 overall, 26-34 Big Ten; 1-2 bowls.
NORTHWESTERN — President: Morton Schapiro (13 years), hired Sept. 1, 2009 and is scheduled to retire by Aug. 31, 2022. Athletic Director: Derrick Gregg (1), to start on July 1, 2021. Football Head Coach: Pat Fitzgerald (16), July 7, 2006. FB HC’s since 2014: 1. Football record since 2014: 51-35 overall, 36-24 Big Ten; 4-1 bowls.
OHIO STATE — President: Kristina Johnson (2 years), hired Aug. 24, 2020. Athletic Director: Gene Smith (17), March 5, 2005. Head Coach: Ryan Day (3), Jan. 2, 2019. FB HC’s since 2014: 2. Football record since 2014: 82-9 overall, 54-4 Big Ten, 6-3 bowls (4 College Football Playoffs).
PENN STATE — President: Eric Barron (8), hired May 12, 2014 and is scheduled to retire on June 30, 2022. Athletic Director: Sandy Barbour (8), Aug. 18, 2014. Football Head Coach: James Franklin (8), Jan. 11, 2014. FB HC’s since 2014: 1. Football record since 2014: 60-28 overall, 38-23 Big Ten, 3-3 bowls.
PURDUE — President: Mitch Daniels (9), hired Jan. 14, 2013. Athletic Director: Mike Bobinski (6), Aug. 9, 2016. Football Head Coach: Jeff Brohm (5), Dec. 5, 2016. FB HC’s since 2014: 3. Football record since 2014: 27-53 overall, 17-41 Big Ten; 1-1 bowls.
RUTGERS — President: Jonathan Holloway (2), hired July 1, 2020. Athletic Director: Patrick Hobbs (7), Nov. 29, 2015. Football Head Coach: Greg Schiano (2), Dec. 3, 2019. FB HC’s since 2014: 4. Football record since 2014: 24-58 overall, 10-51 Big Ten; 0 bowls.
WISCONSIN — Chancellor: Rebecca Black (9), hired July 22, 2013. Athletic Director: Pat McIntosh (1), starts July 1, 2021. Football Head Coach: Paul Chryst (7), Dec. 17, 2014. FB HC’s since 2014: 3. Football record since 2014: 67-22 overall, 44-14 Big Ten, 6-1 bowls.
