Canzano: Pac-12's leadership comes from the bench

The lack of leadership in the Pac-12 Conference was on display this week. A small-town courtroom setting in rural Washington provided the perfect sand box, too. The place was plenty big enough for all the small-time thinking the conference has been doing.

George Kliavkoff, paid $3.6 million this year to serve as commissioner, was a no-show. He was in Montana, presumably absent on the advice of outside counsel. According to a letter Kliavkoff sent to Washington State and Oregon State — he doesn't have a dog in the fight.

"Neither the Conference nor I have a position with respect to the proper composition of the Pac-12 Board," he wrote in the letter first obtained by The San Jose Mercury News.

The conference office itself is in a complex position. It will take some careful thought to navigate the football and basketball season. But as Don Draper once said: "That's what the money is for!"

There are matters of governance and operations in the next six to nine months that pertain to all 12 schools. There are some longer term issues that are definitely only of concern to OSU and WSU. And as one conference staff member told me: "There's also a third bucket of disputed issues."

What's not disputed is how much of a bureaucrat Kliavkoff looks like right now.

Leaders lead, folks.

Kliavkoff and his board appeared strong in booting UCLA and USC from CEO Group meetings in the summer of 2022 after those schools announced they were leaving for the Big Ten. The commissioner was just as clear in removing Colorado's chancellor from decisions after the school announced it was leaving for the Big 12. And after the defections of five more schools in early August, Kliavkoff told at least one person that his conference was down to only four board seats — Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State.

Now, with only two members left, he's gone neutral?

Here's a fun fact: Two Pac-12 schools signed the Grant of Rights via DocuSign and agreed to the Apple deal the night before that fateful August board meeting. While Oregon and Washington were entertaining the Big Ten's final offer and the "four-corners" schools were making contingency plans in the Big 12, two of Kliavkoff's members went all-in.

I suspect we know which two.

The two that Kliavkoff should be providing concierge-level service to right now. But given how upset OSU and WSU were with the commissioner in the wake of that unforgettable Friday meltdown I wonder if he thinks their first order of business would be to terminate him. Both schools tell me Kliavkoff is not involved in their plans to move forward.

I'm not a legal expert. But I've reached out to several in recent days. I can't find anyone who has a solid notion that a court will come down against WSU and Oregon State on the matter of board composition. I also think there's a reasonable expectation that the 10 departing members should be treated fairly by the Beavers and Cougars.

That's the irony, isn't it?

WSU and OSU were left behind by schools that acted with their individual fiduciary duty. Every one of them did what was in their own best interest, regardless of the consequence to others. Because of it the Cougars and Beavers find themselves in an uncomfortable corner of realignment hell, financially disadvantaged, jilted and betrayed.

Yet, Eric MacMichael — the lawyer representing OSU and WSU — went out of his way in court to reassure those same 10 'frenemies' that his clients aimed to treat the departing members fairly.

The Pac-12 needs a court to draw some boundaries and lead. But only because it doesn't have a commissioner capable of doing it himself. Kliavkoff has encouraged the members to mediate, but he long ago lost the room.

Thank goodness for Judge Gary Libey. He performed with surgical precision in Whitman County Superior Court on Monday. He halted this week's proposed board meeting and instructed conference members that they could work together to unanimously approve an employee retention plan. That plan was pieced together and approved by all 12 members on Tuesday evening — no problem.

It includes severance packages, salary guarantees, and retention bonuses for employees who stay through the end of their assignments. All of it was done, per a source directly involved, "with creating optionality for OSU and WSU to reconstitute the conference after July 1, 2024."

The Beavers and Cougars would very much like to rebuild the conference. That has become evident in recent weeks. The two schools could try to live off the conference's leftover assets and be the Pac-2 for the 2024 college football season.

I've asked a number of college athletic directors about scheduling and they believe OSU and WSU could piece together a viable 2024 football schedule (featuring a home-and-home series?) and create a partnership with Big West, Mountain West and WCC for the other sports.

What's next?

A preliminary hearing, of course. More leadership from the courts while the Pac-12 fashions itself as Switzerland. The menu includes an order for some old-fashioned discovery. And the judge asked that the parties involved expedite that.

Do the Pac-12 presidents and chancellors really want to reveal documents and their private correspondence? Do they want the term sheets involved with their new media-rights deals to go public? What else might get some sunshine? It's why I smell a settlement coming. One that will draw some clear boundaries and let everyone get focused again.

As one Pac-12 executive told me on Thursday: "I'll bet the Big Ten, FOX and Big 12 all don't want discovery either."

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