Report: NCAA COO Jim Isch to step down
By Cory Buck
The NCAA will lose yet another member of its senior leadership in a couple months. Yahoo Sports is reporting that COO Jim Isch plans to leave the company sooner rather than later. The NCAA has neither confirmed nor denied such a move, but Yahoo has cited several anonymous sources and the writing appears to be on the wall for Isch.
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All has not been sunshine and roses for the massive entity that runs all college sports in this country. While the perception is often centered around the crazy money the NCAA produces off amateur, unpaid athletes, it was still hard to believe the seams were bursting. This latest piece dispels some of that.
"The departure will mark yet another top-tier NCAA position turning over under [President Mark] Emmert since he took over in April of 2010. During that span the association has faced a growing quagmire of high-profile lawsuits, endured the implosion of several prominent investigations and seen its enforcement arm stripped apart through firings, retirements, or employees leaving for other jobs. Emmert, specifically, has had his leadership questioned through the fallout of the University of Miami probe, as well as during mounting challenges to the NCAA’s financial and amateurism model."
It’s that last bit that really rings home for this piece. Many a challenge has been levied against the NCAA’s model of success and it appears to the chickens are finally coming home to roost. Obviously we aren’t going to know much about Isch’s motivation for leaving, but if we look beyond the COO’s decision and instead view the company as a whole, it shouldn’t be too tough. The NCAA is under incredible scrutiny now and one has to wonder when the dam will burst on this lucrative entity. For now, they’ve lost another senior member. For an encore, what’s next?