Interesting post on the Press-Enterprise college blog:
With longtime Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen, a decent, solid and honorable guy, announcing his retirement a year from now, the usual suspects are getting pushed out there to succeed him. They start with the likes of Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby and maybe even ex-Notre Dame AD on his way to Duke, Kevin White.
Then there's the usual "some guy from the SEC'' since the Southeastern Conference seems to have learned how to work the system, certainly the BCS and college baseball part of it, better than anyone.
But the Pac-10 should look USC's way, although not the way that usually works. I'm not talking about an administrator here, but a parent.
That's right. A USC football parent, Dave Baker, the former mayor of Irvine and current commissioner of the Arena Football League, would be an unstoppable force in college athletics…
That would be an interesting choice.
As the post also notes, Baker’s running of the Arena Football League and his successful negotiations with ESPN would be a huge asset in trying to increase the Pac-10’s exposure especially in basketball.
While I’m at it Dave over at Addicted to Quack has a great write-up on the Hansen retirement. You should give it a read!