Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
Six months after he failed to keep the Pac-12 together, commissioner George Kliavkoff is being cut loose.
The conference announced Friday that it has agreed to part ways with Kliavkoff, whose disastrous two-and-a-half-year tenure featured the loss of 10 schools, a barrage of strategic miscalculations and hollow public statements and, generally, a poor understanding of the fabric of college sports.
A statement issued at 11:30 a.m. was light on specifics:
"The Pac-12 Board of Directors announced today that the Conference and George Kliavkoff have mutually agreed to part ways, effective February 29, 2024. More details about new leadership of the Pac-12 will be announced next week."
Washington State president Kirk Schulz and Oregon State's Jayathi Murthy constitute the Pac-12 board, although they are required by a court order to provide notice to the other 10 presidents before taking any action.
Kliavkoff did not immediately respond to a request for comment and has not spoken publicly about the demise of the conference since five schools departed in early August.
The Pac-12 board is expected to name Kliavkoff's deputy, Teresa Gould, as his replacement — at least until the departing schools go their separate ways this summer, leaving WSU and OSU as the sole members of a scaled-down entity.
Details of the separation agreement were not disclosed. Kliavkoff is believed to have at least two years remaining on a contract that likely pays about $3.5 million annually, based on data provided in the Pac-12's tax filings for the 2022 fiscal year.
The conference did not explain how the costs will be covered, either. When WSU and OSU settled the lawsuit against the 10 outbound schools in December, their statement included the following line:
"The departing schools have agreed to forfeit a portion of distributions over the remainder of the 2023-2024 year and provide specific guarantees against potential future liabilities."
Kliavkoff's buyout could be considered a liability. A settlement of $7 million split evenly, for example, would cost each school $583,000.
"Sad day for everyone," a source said. "Just another shot."
Kliavkoff was hired in the spring of 2021 as a replacement for Larry Scott and charged by the presidents with positioning the conference for a prosperous future and a lucrative media rights agreement.
He was praised for his collaborative management style and strategic vision, for being affable and engaging — the opposite of Scott in many regards.
Oregon president Michael Schill, chair of the Pac-12 board at the time, described Kliavkoff as an executive with the "ability to see where the hockey puck was going to go."
One year later, the commissioner was on vacation in Montana when news broke that USC and UCLA were leaving for the Big Ten.
His list of accomplishments includes shuttering the Pac-12's expensive San Francisco office and eliminating football divisions for the final two years of the conference's existence.
Kliavkoff was, to a certain extent, a victim of circumstance. He inherited a difficult situation — a conference reeling from years of mismanagement, racked with mistrust and, ultimately, governed by a collection of presidents whose indifference was trumped only by their ignorance and arrogance.
Put another way: Kliavkoff was dealt a bad hand … and played it poorly.
A few weeks into his tenure, in July 2021, Texas and Oklahoma announced they were bolting the Big 12 for the SEC, sparking a realignment wave that would eventually swallow a 108-year-old college sports institution on the West Coast.
Kliavkoff lost the L.A. schools in the summer of 2022, failed to secure a media deal with ESPN that fall, then showed a remarkable lack of urgency through the winter and spring as his presidents and athletic directors grew increasingly nervous.
He lost Colorado in late July, then presented the remaining nine schools with an all-in streaming deal with Apple that failed to satisfy the Northwest powers.
At dawn on Aug. 4, Washington and Oregon broke for the Big Ten.
Hours later, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah jumped to the Big 12.
On the first day of September, Stanford and Cal linked arms with the ACC.
All that remained was Washington State, Oregon State and the zombie commissioner.
Once the Cougars and Beavers reached a mediated settlement with the outbound 10 in late December, it was only a matter of time for Kliavkoff.
When it concludes at the end of the month, his tenure will have lasted 973 days.
Most recent Hotline with Jon Wilner stories
Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP Top 25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree. You can follow him on Twitter @WilnerHotline or send an email at jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Pac-12 Hotline: Subscribe to the Pac-12 Hotline Newsletter. Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.
