INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kevin Warren on Big Ten Media Day introduced Ohio State’s Ryan Day, the last coach to take the stage at the two-day event, and the two men exchanged a warm hug and smile before stepping for posed a photo.
“I would like to congratulate Commissioner Warren on the great months that have taken this conference into the future,” Day said Wednesday as he began his 15 minutes on the podium to talk about the Buckeyes.
A little less than two years since Warren was pilloried inside and outside the Big Ten over the conference’s decision to postpone the fall football season because of the pandemic, the 58-year-old is now sitting on top of an expanding empire that never was gave more powerful.
Earlier this month, the Big Ten announced that Southern California and UCLA would join the conference in 2024. In the coming weeks, Warren and the Big Ten are expected to announce the conference’s new media rights deal, which could be worth $1 billion annually.
To put it in sporting terms, Warren’s comeback was more impressive than Ohio State, which rebounded from a 14-point deficit to beat Utah in the Rose Bowl.
Given an opportunity to poke the ball and enjoy the redemption of his reputation this week at Lucas Oil Stadium, Warren took a pass.
“The moment you use energy to distract from the energy you need to achieve your goal, it can have a negative impact.” Warren told the AP. “So I have to stay for now.”
Warren’s hiring in 2019 to replace Jim Delany came as an industry surprise. The attorney and former longtime Minnesota Vikings manager with no collegiate experience was an unorthodox choice at a time when so much change was on the horizon.
Then the pandemic hit and any chance Warren had to grow into the job vanished. He needed to transition immediately into managing an unprecedented crisis while also getting to know the university leaders he works for and the athletic directors he works with.
On August 10, 2020, the Big Ten announced they would not play football in the fall. The decision was made by majority vote of the league’s presidents and chancellors, but Warren became the target of critics. Nothing sounds louder than Columbus, Ohio, home of the Buckeyes.
Angry fans, disgruntled parents of players, and frustrated coaches and athletic directors who disagreed with the decision all questioned Warren’s suitability for the job.
And some people have made it a lot worse.
Warren said he received death threats, forcing him to hire security guards and change the way he traveled to ensure his family was safe.
Warren said he had no regrets about the decision but acknowledged that some of the criticism of his leadership was justified.
“I think he really learned that working with the presidents, the chancellors, the athletic directors, the athletic faculty representatives, how important that is in this business.” said Damon Evans, Maryland athletic director.
Eventually, in fall 2020, the conference reversed their decision and played an abbreviated season that put Ohio State in the national championship game.
“It’s a tough job to start with,” said former Wisconsin coach and athletic director Barry Alvarez, who now works in an advisory capacity for Warren on Big Ten football. “To get through that, I don’t care who would have been there, it would have been a difficult situation. I just think Kevin is a grinder.”
As the pandemic woes receded, Warren was able to turn his attention to the business of making his mark on the Big Ten.
No deal for a college sports conference is bigger than a media rights deal.
While the TV deal was always designed to be a win for Warren, the addition of USC and UCLA from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten was a bolt of lightning few saw coming. One that will reshape the landscape of college sports – Warren’s legacy.
But just as Warren wasn’t solely responsible for the postponement to 2020, adding a West Coast wing to the Big Ten wasn’t one man’s vision and execution.
The realignment will also be a boon to Fox, which is already the Big Ten’s main television partner and is expected to get a larger share of the conference as part of the upcoming deal.
Warren said the people he respects as leaders, from the Rev. Martin Luther King to CEOs like Richard Davis and Shelly Ibach, have a common belief that he tries to live by.
“First, not only do they never take credit, they really never believe in their hearts that they deserve the credit. And so I believe.” Warren said. “And I think the real leaders, the great leaders, actually want to take the blame. They don’t want others around them to take the blame.”
Warren said Day’s words of praise were appreciated but also meaningful.
“It shows that we are a united front” Warren said. “And I admit I didn’t.”
“I think probably what excites me the most is that people are starting to really understand that when the Big Ten are united, we are a dominant, powerful force in collegiate athletics. And we are a strong and dominant force in all of athletics.”
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