What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
Today’s it’s a Big 12 episode of “Twins.”
The “Athletic Director Trap”
For conspiracy-minded people, the news that Brett Yormark — I mean Michael Yormark — might take over the athletic department at the University of Miami is all kinds of fun.
It’s well known that Brett Yormark, the Big 12 commissioner, has an identical twin, Michael, and has had one since, well, you know, birth. So, it’s not a “Twins” situation like Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny DeVito. After all, Brett and Michael look alike.
Nor is this a Hayley Mills/Lindsay Lohan “Parent Trap” situation. No split screen or separate camera angles required. I’ve seen them in person. They’re definitely two different dudes.
But, does that really stop people these days? Nah. But this has the potential to get quite intriguing even without conspiracy theories.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel dropped some info on Friday and I’ll admit — went back and forth with his X account before I reposted it. But it’s legit and here’s why.
Barry Jackson, a Miami Herald staffer who’s been working there for decades, posted the same information with one addition nugget. He and another reporter, Michelle Kaufman, have known that Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich might retire since January. They asked UM for comment seven weeks ago and they refused. In fact, UM officials told the pair that if they wrote about it, they would be 100% wrong.
So, now it appears the two parties are moving toward a Radakovich retirement and Miami is looking for a modern deal-maker type of athletic director. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
If you know Brett Yormark’s history, you know it didn’t include college athletics. He cut his teeth in NASCAR, the Brooklyn Nets, followed by being named president and CEO of Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment. That was followed by three years as the COO of Roc Nation and Co-CEO of Roc Nation Unified.
Michael Yormark came up in a similar fashion, also on the business side. Right now, he’s the president and chief of branding and strategy for Roc Nation. Before that, he was the president and CEO of Sunrise Sports and Entertainment, which runs the NHL’s Florida Panthers. He also worked on the business side for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Yankees.
Brett Yormark has certainly left no stone unturned in trying to drive more revenue and recognition for the Big 12. But he’s only able to do SO much. For instance, the league hasn’t been willing to take up the level of private equity investment that Brett Yormark has proposed. When you’re dealing with 16 different schools, it’s hard to build a consensus.
Michael Yormark might have more leverage as a single athletic director at a single institution. Some schools have already tapped into PE to help with revenue for NIL or other endeavors. With Miami being a private institution, that gives him even more latitude to do some of the things that his brother hasn’t been able to implement in the Big 12.
As for the conspiracy stuff, well, save it for realignment. Now that’s the fun stuff. I’m not sure I can remember one brother being the commissioner of a conference and the other brother being an athletic director at a school in another conference that would be a legitimate target for other conferences in a realignment scenario. I don’t think the ACC is as vulnerable as others do. But, if the league does start taking on water, where do you think Michael Yormark will go to first for help?
His brother, for sure. So long as Brett Yormark is commissioner of the Big 12, that makes the league a player to take on one of the ACC’s biggest brands if it comes to that. I’m not so conspiracy-minded to believe that this is strategy between two brothers. Michael Yormark is well-respected and well liked in South Florida and knows the lay of the land. He gives the U a home-field advantage.
But my guess is that Brett Yormark has been telling his brother just how much fun he’s had running a college conference and that’s piqued Michael’s interest. Until the job is his, we can all debate about the why.
But, assuming he takes the job, then it certainly makes the Big 12-ACC-Miami dynamic much more interesting. And fun for those of us that have to write about it.
