Pac-12 Finally Pulls the Plug on the Underachieving Larry Scott
All along, Larry Scott seemed more like a follower than a crusader.
Entrusted with turning the then Pac-10 Conference into a powerful entity, the commissioner was pushed out of his job on Wednesday with the now Pac-12 failing to compete with any regularity for national championships in football or basketball.
The parting of ways between Scott, whose contract runs into 2022, and the conference is described by both as mutual and will go into affect at the end of the academic year in June.
"There's never a perfect time, but this felt pretty good," he said.
It wasn't mutual.
Scott was neither charismatic nor a trend-setter.
He expanded the league by adding Utah and Colorado when everyone wanted Texas and Oklahoma.
Scott forever will be known for booking $7,500-a-night suites in Las Vegas and always traveling by private jet for business.
He was well paid at $40 million over his dozen years, but it didn't translate to the promised riches for conference members, one reason a seemingly well-entrenched defensive coordinator such as Pete Kwiatkowski this week fled Washington for deep-pockets Texas.
Scott was chastised for delaying the 2020 football season to November for stated pandemic reasons that others scoffed at, costing his teams games, players and postseason opportunities.
He agreed to a 12-year, $3 billion TV package with ESPN and FOX, which was thought to be revolutionary when agreed on but trails the SEC and Big Ten in revenue by a wide margin.
Scott spent lavishly to create the Pacific-12 Networks only to significantly cut back the TV channel, which hasn't been as popular as hoped in securing viewership or subscriptions.
In his time as Pac-12 commissioner, Scott has had only Oregon (2015) and Washington (2017) advance to the College Football Playoff, and only Oregon (2017) to the men's basketball's Final Four.
No national titles have been won in these money sports by the so-called, as Bill Walton beats it to death, conference of champions.
When it gets down to it, though, the conference has only itself to blame for these failures in money-making and reputation-building.
The executive committee hired Scott as someone without a high-level sports administration background.
He moved to the Pac-10 in 2009 straight from the Women's Tennis Association.
Full of empty promises.
As a pro tennis player, he was 1-18 and ranked no higher than No. 210, which meant he never was very competitive.
It carried over to the conference.
While expanding the league membership and bring back league basketball tournaments and installing a football title game on his watch, he didn't advance the Pac-12 to any position of power or make it more competitive on the field.
League leaders need to up their game in finding a Scott replacement.
And become the conference of champions.
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