Big Ten ADs were not in the same Zoom meetings as presidents, chancellors or medical personnel, meaning "seasoned athletic veterans" like Nebraska's Bill Moos, Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez, Penn State's Sandy Barbour and Ohio State's Gene Smith were "left out of key discussions" that shaped the league’s decision to postpone fall sports, according to Sam McKewon of the OHAMA WORLD-HERALD. Instead, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren was in those meetings as the "athletic directors' voice." Warren was "aware, for example, that every Big Ten athletic director was in favor of playing a fall football season." Moos said that he, Smith, Barbour and Michigan AD Warde Manuel "pushed hardest, but there was unanimous agreement ... in wanting to play." Moos said, "I knew where our people stood, but I would have liked to have been in the room when they expressed it to the commissioner and our presidents and chancellors. The commissioner was operating in silos, and the silos weren't connected." McKewon noted "rampant confusion" over the past week was a "byproduct of Warren's approach." Moos: "Kevin's still learning -- he's never been involved in college athletics. To walk in as a commissioner of one of the most prestigious and storied conferences, and to be faced with this challenge, I think we're all learning. But he has a room full of athletic directors who had, all told, hundreds of years of experience that I think maybe he would have drawn upon more than he did" (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 8/23).
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: ESPN's Desmond Howard said none of the actions that have taken place over the last couple weeks would have happened if former Big Ten Commissioner) Jim Delany "was still sitting in the seat as the man in charge." Howard said, "This is not a Kevin Warren decision. By job title, he has to take the arrows and fall on the sword, so to speak. But you don't get all of this with Jim [Delany] in charge. You don't have Scott Frost as the head coach of Nebraska coming out against [Delany] before the decision is made." Howard speculated Frost would have "gotten a stern phone call within minutes" from Delany after he made his comments. Howard: "A lot of people are taking Kevin's kindness for weakness. ... How can Sandy come out and say she didn't know if there was a vote? The athletic director reports directly to the president. All she had to do was make a phone call. If [Delany] is in that seat, Sandy isn't going to break breath to make such a comment" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/22).
