Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
George Kliavkoff was in Las Vegas, where he handed Washington coach Kalen DeBoer the championship trophy, then ducked between UW's mascot and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and disappeared into the crowd.
It was an impressive escape.
I've watched the video more times than the Zapruder film. Kliavkoff must have rehearsed the exit. He said nothing. His footwork was flawless, he kept his back facing the television cameras, and avoided being booed.
I approached Kliavkoff on the field before kickoff. We spoke, briefly. Kliavkoff told me he'd be around later. I now regret that I wasn't wearing the "Harry the Husky" mascot outfit, where I'd have been better positioned to talk with him after the game.
Kliavkoff will make $3.6 million in salary this year. He conducts a monthly 'all-staff' meeting with full-time employees of the conference and network. He also meets via Zoom with his executive team. I've talked with sponsors and Pac-12 partners who say they've been on conference calls with Kliavkoff, too.
He's still working.
Just not for Oregon State and Washington State.
The biggest question I have for the commissioner is what caused him to flip his stance on OSU and WSU in August. The two schools would like to know, too.
The commissioner expelled USC and UCLA from the board in the summer of 2022 when the Trojans and Bruins announced they were leaving for the Big Ten. The Pac-12's board subsequently met 20 times without the two LA schools.
Nobody objected.
One summer later, Kliavkoff removed Colorado from the board room when the Buffaloes announced they planned to exit to the Big 12. His board met five times without Colorado present.
Again, nobody objected.
It's clear, consistent behavior, right?
Kliavkoff even fired a shot at CU at the time, announcing the defection presented a chance for the Pac-12 to "upgrade." Kliavkoff was knee-deep in negotiations to add San Diego State to the conference. And on August 9, the morning after the conference splintered, Kliavkoff texted me: "As of today we have 4 board members."
That text message showed up in discovery in the ongoing lawsuit. It has been cited multiple times in the legal filings as evidence of the commissioner's public position on the board's composition. His board had only four members — OSU, WSU, Stanford and Cal. That is, until Stanford and Cal announced they were leaving for the ACC.
That left just two members, right?
Except, then Kliavkoff flipped his stance. He instead sided with the 10 departing schools and acted like he had 12 board members. He later attempted to call a meeting that would have brought USC and UCLA back to the table and given them a voice in the room.
Why?
It's possible that Kliavkoff is incompetent. Some of the Pac-12 presidents/ADs have suggested this to me. Or maybe the commissioner's attorney believed there was about to be a legal battle and was trying to position Kliavkoff as a neutral party. Or maybe the commissioner heard multiple Washington State and Oregon State officials indicate publicly that Kliavkoff wasn't part of their future.
Did Kliavkoff fear OSU and WSU were going to fire him?
With cause, maybe?
It's the $3.6 million question.
Mike Aresco, the 74-year-old American Athletic Conference commissioner, announced on Thursday that he's retiring. His last day on the job will be May 31, 2024. He presents an interesting leadership contrast to Kliavkoff.
Aresco was hired as the Big East commissioner in 2012 and was the guy in charge when that conference fell apart. I was in frequent contact with Aresco while the Pac-12 was teetering last summer.
He told me then: "It's a tough thing, I've been through it. I kind of envied the so-called 'Power 5' because they didn't have to worry about the things I had to worry about. We were a 'P5' in the Big East, but lost too many members. I know what George (Kliavkoff) might be going through. I know what (ACC commissioner) Jim Phillips might be going through."
Aresco's conference — the Big East — imploded. He didn't take sides with the departing schools. He stood with his holdovers, regrouped, rebranded the conference as the AAC, added new members, and negotiated a television contract with CBS and ESPN.
Basically, amid horrible circumstances, Aresco put his head down and kept leading.
In recent years, whenever Aresco lost teams to other conferences, he replaced them like divots on a golf course. He wasn't running a 'Power 5' conference anymore. Maybe it's much easier to replace brands such as SMU/Houston vs. UCLA/USC, but I admire Aresco's resiliency and drive.
On Thursday, the attorneys for Oregon State and Washington State filed three briefs in the Supreme Court in the state of Washington (1, 2 and 3). Their arguments are solid, logical and well reasoned. OSU and WSU believe they should have control of the Pac-12's board. They'd like to rebuild the conference. The court will soon weigh in.
The Beavers and Cougars were the only schools who actually signed the grant of rights with the Pac-12 last August. Did you know that? The evening before Oregon and Washington announced they were out, those two schools used DocuSign to commit to Kliavkoff's conference. They were all-in on the Apple deal.
Last Friday in Las Vegas, Kliavkoff got off the stage and out of sight as quickly as he could. He turned his back on the TV cameras. I'm left wondering why he did the same to Oregon State and Washington State.
Read more of columnist John Canzano exclusively at JohnCanzano.com.
