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Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby announced Tuesday that he will step away from his role later this year, according to a news release from the league.
Bowlsby will remain leader of the Big 12 until a new commissioner is appointed, at which point he will transition to a new interim role within the Power 5 conference, the release stated.
"After more than 40 years of serving in leadership roles in intercollegiate athletics, including the last 10 with the Big 12, and given the major issues that college sports in general and the Big 12 specifically will address in the next several years, I have reached a natural transition point in my tenure as Commissioner, as well as in my career," said Bowlsby.
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Big 12 Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby takes the stage on the first day of Big 12 Conference NCAA college football media days on July 15, 2019, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/David Kent, File)
Bowlsby, 70, has served as the Big 12 commissioner since 2012, and he helped the conference add BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston, which will join no later than the 2024-25 academic year. Those additions came after Texas and Oklahoma — two of the league's most prominent members — announced they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.
"The Big 12 will soon bring in our four new members and negotiate a new grant of rights and media rights agreements," Bowlsby said. "I truly believe the Big 12 and our member institutions are in a strong position now and as we look into the future. As such, this is an appropriate time for me to step away from the Commissioner’s role so that the next leader of the Conference can take the reins on these significant matters that will come to the forefront before the end of the term of my employment agreement in 2025 to set the stage for the Big 12’s future ongoing success."
Bowlsby announced his decision the morning after the Kansas Jayhawks won the men’s basketball national championship, the 25th national title by a Big 12 program under his tenure. Last year, Baylor, another Big 12 school, won the national title.
Christian Braun #2 of the Kansas Jayhawks drives to the basket against Brady Manek #45 and R.J. Davis #4 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first half of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament National Championship game at Caesars Superdome on April 4, 2022, in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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Bowlsby became commissioner after Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado and Texas A&M defected to other leagues. Bowlsby managed to add TCU and West Virginia, and he helped to reinstate the Big 12 Football Championship Game in 2017.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to reporters during the Big 12 NCAA college football media day in Frisco, Texas on July 17, 2017. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
Before he became commissioner, Bowlsby spent six years as the athletics director at Stanford University. Prior to Stanford, he had been the athletics director at the University of Iowa since 1991, overseeing its athletic program.
The conference said an "extensive" national search process for the new commissioner will begin in "the next few weeks."
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"I have been honored to serve the Big 12 Conference membership, and I am tremendously proud of the incredible professionals in the Conference office and in the extraordinary coaches and athletics departments of our member institutions with whom I have worked to serve the student-athletes who participate in our member’s sports programs," added Bowlsby. "When my transition is complete, I will miss the daily interaction with these wonderful colleagues and with the student-athletes but will welcome the opportunity to spend more time with my wife, my children, and my ten grandchildren."
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