Last week Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren became Iron Man and snatched all of the Infinity Stones away from the SEC to form the most powerful conference in college sports.
When news dropped on Thursday that Pac-12 stalwarts USC and UCLA would leave the conference for the Big Ten in 2024, jaws dropped and the power paradigm immediately shifted north to Chicago, home of the Big 10.
While most expected the Big 10 to make headlines soon, the acquisition of the two California institutions was not on most’s immediate radars.
Even crazier, it’s most likely just the start of the conference’s power grab.
Leading the charge is now the most powerful person in all of college sports, Kevin Warren, the Big Ten’s sixth commissioner and its first Black commissioner in conference history.
Warren’s background isn’t a traditional one of a college athletics administrator.
He graduated from Grand Canyon University in 1986, received his MBA from Arizona State in 1988 and earned his JD from Notre Dame in 1990. The latter is important to note as it, ironically, establishes a connection to a potential Big 10 partner.
Warren then spent his career in the legal field and professional football.
He worked for the St. Louis Rams as VP of Football Administration, the Detroit Lions as the SVP of Business Operations and General Counsel and then the Minnesota Vikings, where he worked for 15 years, eventually rising to become their COO.
That made Warren the highest-ranking Black NFL team executive and the first Black COO in NFL history.
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