Condoleezza Rice among leading candidates to replace Mark Emmert as NCAA president
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is reportedly one of the top candidates to replace Mark Emmert as NCAA president.
With Mark Emmert stepping down as NCAA president in 2023, the organization governing college football, college basketball and more needs a new leader.
Emmert’s replacement could end up being a familiar face. According to Nicole Aerback of The Athletic, Condoleezza Rice is one of the leading candidates in consideration for the job.
Obviously, Rice would need to be interested in the job to get it, and her interest is currently unknown.
NCAA president candidates: Condoleezza Rice among leaders
Rice is currently the director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford. She has worked in college sports as a former member of the College Football Playoff selection committee and chair of the Commission on College Basketball.
Along with Rice, there are several other names floated by Auerbach when it comes to replacing Emmert. Those include Clemson president Jim Clements, interim Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, former Robert Morris president Chris Howard, Baylor president Linda Livingstone, former West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, Packers president Mark Murphy, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Washington State president Kirk Schulz.
The new NCAA president will face plenty of challenges as the landscape of college athletics continues to shift dramatically. That’s one of the complications. There are a lot of qualified candidates to point to but the job may not be worth the trouble for most of them.
College sports fans can only cross their fingers and hope the NCAA Board of Governors finds someone with the vision to lead the NCAA from the front. Emmert’s leadership has been widely criticized. A new voice will certainly be welcome. Whether or not it will be better is far more uncertain.
Next. 25 worst head coaching hires this century. dark
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.