Brett Yormark is leaving the Big 12 after more than four years as commissioner, and the search is officially underway to find the next person to lead the conference.
Yormark will step down on Jan. 31, 2027, ending a tenure that transformed the Big 12 through conference realignment, a new media rights agreement and an aggressive push to grow the league’s revenue and national profile.
Now comes the difficult part: finding his replacement.
Kansas Chancellor and Big 12 Board Chair Douglas Girod has made it clear the league isn’t necessarily looking for another version of Yormark. But with college athletics continuing to change rapidly, the next commissioner will need to navigate media rights, revenue growth, conference realignment and the widening financial gap between the Big 12 and the SEC and Big Ten.
The Big 12 Board of Directors has already launched a national search, and there should be no shortage of intriguing options.
Here are five candidates who could replace Brett Yormark as the next Big 12 commissioner.
Tim Pernetti, American Conference Commissioner
Tim Pernetti is probably the leader in the clubhouse to be the next commissioner. He was one of the finalists for the job when Yormark got it in 2022.
He was the athletic director at Rutgers, the chief business officer at New York City FC in MLS and was the president at IMG Academy before getting the job with The American. He also worked in TV at both ABC and CBS.
He has made of the qualities that University of Kansas president Doug Girad outlined in a quote he gave to ESPN. Pernetti has run a conference, has relationships with campuses, knows how to generate revenue and knows how to build consensus among athletic directors and presidents. He’s been out of the loudest voices among the Group of Six conferences. The Big 12 could use that.
He’s the most likely non-Big 12 employee who can hit the ground running from Day 1.
Brian Thornton, Chief Basketball Officer, Big 12
He’s an internal candidate with experience as a league commissioner. He led the Western Athletic Conference for a few years before he joined the Big 12 in his basketball role.
He was a basketball player at Xavier, was an assistant basketball coach in the college ranks, worked in the NCAA basketball office and was an associate commissioner for basketball with The American. If the Big 12 has dominant basketball ambitions — and Yormark certainly did — he should be considered.
The one question I have is his time at the WAC. He joined the league after his predecessor cast his lot in trying to rebuild it as an FCS football conference with mid-major basketball ambitions and it fell apart in realignment. The WAC no longer exists. The Big 12’s board will likely make some phone calls to WAC athletic directors to get a sense of his skill set in that role.
Garth Glissman, Associate Commissioner, SEC
Something tells me that Yormark might go to bat for this guy if asked. Before he joined the SEC to work for Greg Sankey, he was in the NBA’s front office for seven years, most recently as the VP for basketball operations. His path likely crossed with Yormark when he was the CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which included the NBA’s Nets.
Along with his basketball experience, he’s a lawyer, with a JD from Nebraska, which gives him some unique insight into what is happening in the game off the field. He went to Nebraska in the Big 12 days and was a backup quarterback. Maybe it’s time to call him home?
Ben Tario, COO, Atlantic Coast Conference
He’s probably the second-most powerful person in the ACC behind commissioner Jim Phillips. Perhaps he’s waiting for Phillips to retire. But this might be the right job to get him out of the Charlotte office.
He’s been with the ACC since 2007, and he currently manages budget strategy, revenue distribution, media partnerships and long-term financial planning. He works with athletic directors and is one of ESPN’s primary contacts. He was also in football administration in the Big EAST.
He has the right skill set to take on the job. The reality is he already has a really good job.
Jessica Presnall, Chief Legal Officer, SEC
Presnall has Big 12 ties. Before she left for the SEC she was in the Big 12’s office where she was the COO and the general counsel. She was involved in the Big 12’s media rights negotiations, vetting new sponsorship and was responsible for ensuring the four corner schools had a smooth transition. She was given more responsibility than most general counsels.
She’s an Oklahoma State alum, got her law degree at Oklahoma and worked in compliance at Baylor. She has significant Big 12 ties. She has the foundation to level up into a job like this. Working for both Yormark and Sankey, two very different leadership styles, should help, too.
