Big East Will Reportedly Name New Commissioner Today

Mark Blaudschun, a long time college sportswriter reported Monday night on his website, ajersey.com, that the Big East “apparently is ready to introduce its new commissioner.”  Blaudschun, a former Boston Globe reporter wrote that, according to sources, the Big East presidents will conduct a conference call Tuesday morning to “give final approval of the selection” but the final candidate was not named in the report.

It sounds like if the announcement isn’t made on Tuesday, it will be made at some point throughout the week.

Dennis Dodd, football columnist for CBSSports.com, reported Monday that Major League Soccer president Mark Abbott and UNLV AD Jim Livengood are serious candidates. That report also indicated that the only candidate known to interview with the Big East search firm is former New England Patriots’ general counsel Jack Mula. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick is also being mentioned as a candidate. Swarbrick has been one of the more vocal voices about the Big East future in the past several months.

I personally had hoped interim commissioner Nick Carparelli would get the gig, but sources are confirming with national outlets that he is not a candidate at this point.  Regardless of who it is, hiring a commissioner is step one in building this league back to relevancy. Once a commissioner is hired, the negotiations for a TV contract will likely begin.