Northwestern AD Jim Phillips this month began serving a two-year term as Chair of the NCAA's new D-I Council, "putting him squarely in the spotlight," according to Danny Ecker of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. The new council is "designed to be the vehicle through which new NCAA rules about everything from recruiting and transfers to player safety protocol will be evaluated." The move makes Phillips "the shepherd of college sports' new policy-making body at a time when the NCAA's long-standing foundation of amateurism is being dealt crushing blows." Phillips: "What's frustrated folks is how long it's taken for rules and adoptions to take place that people think are really sensible. They just get bogged down in the system. The request from the board is to have a more nimble, strategic and very much less bureaucratic structure that allows rules to be handled quickly and efficiently." Ecker wrote leading the group, which is slated to meet every other month to discuss potential NCAA rule changes, will mean "building a consensus among members about things like how NCAA legislation is enacted, championships and student-athlete rights, and coming up with recommendations" to the BOD. Further complicating that will be "balancing a lot of different viewpoints from schools of various sizes and conferences." Akron AD Tom Wistrcill is "one of many council members who thought Phillips fit the bill for the chairman role because of his leadership track record." Wistrcill said of Phillips, "He understands the big-picture things happening within Division I. And he can speak very concisely about what the issues are facing (athletic directors), but also represent that in a way that the [NCAA BOD] will respond to, as well." Ecker noted other ADs who did not know Phillips personally prior to serving on the council said that he "earned the role in part by his public handling of the Northwestern football unionization movement." Richmond AD and council member Keith Gill: "He has handled that as well as anyone could. What's shaped my thinking about him is what is in the public discourse and how impressed I've been by how he's managed (the situation)" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 2/26).
