The University of Oregon officially hired John Karl Scholz as the 19th president of the university on Monday. Scholz will take over for Michael Schill, who left to take the job of president at Northwestern University last year.
While this is a story that is much bigger than just sports, it certainly reaches the world of football, and could potentially have some ramifications down the road for the Ducks. Before coming to Eugene, Scholz was the provost at the University of Wisconsin, a prominent member of the Big Ten Conference. Scholz is a sports fan, and he has been very vocal about his respect for the Big Ten in the past. He also had a role to play in the conference expansion that took place a year ago, leading to USC and UCLA leaving the Pac-12.
So now that Scholz is in Eugene, does that mean that Oregon will be announcing its departure to the Big Ten in the coming week? It’s not all that simple. However, Scholz could end up playing a key role in the continued conference realignment talks out west. Here are some interesting notes about him, and how it could impact Oregon’s standing in the Pac-12 going forward.
Scholz was a fan of the Big Ten expansion
Last year, when USC and UCLA were officially accepted by the Big Ten, Scholz released a statement praising the move, lauding how smart it was for the conference to expand out west.
“This expansion helps solidify the Big Ten Conference as the one, true national powerhouse conference, with member universities, teams, and fans stretching from coast to coast,” Scholz said. “As importantly, it adds two outstanding academic institutions to the Big Ten, the premier Power Five academic conference in the country.”
You don’t have to read between any lines to see that Scholz is a fan of the Big Ten moving out west and working to upend the SEC as the preeminent conference in the nation.
Scholz had a vote
Last year when the presidents and chancellors of the Big Ten voted to approve the expansion and bring in both USC and UCLA, Scholz played a direct part. He served as Wisconsin’s interim chancellor last summer when the Big Ten voted to expand.
Unable to comment on UO move
During the introductory press conference at Oregon on Monday, Scholz was asked about the potential of the Ducks leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, following in the footsteps of USC and UCLA.
“I cannot answer that question right now,” he said, according to The Oregonian. “I am a hardcore Oregon Duck now; so I very much want to see what’s in the best interest of this university.”
If you put two and two together...
If you take what Scholz has said about the Big Ten conference in the past, and match it with what he says about wanting to do what is in the best interest for Oregon, then it’s not too hard to believe that somewhere down the line, the new UO president would be in favor of conference realignment if it were to be on the table.
A lot has to happen between now and then, but I think that Scholz’s background and stated opinions on the Big Ten and conference realignment, in general, are certainly notable.
July 1 is important
Scholz’s term as the next president of the University of Oregon doesn’t officially start until July 1 of 2023. That may be incredibly important because a lot could happen between now and then. Notably, the Pac-12 is working to finalize a new media rights deal, and it is expected to be brought to university presidents and chancellors in the coming months. According to James Crepea, it’s still unclear who will cast the vote for Oregon if Scholz is not yet in office.
Patrick Phillips, who has been serving as UO’s interim president since Aug. 20, is returning to his role on the faculty effective Tuesday and UO senior vice president and chief financial officer Jamie Moffitt will take over as interim president until Scholz arrives. Phillips has attended meetings of the Pac-12 presidents and chancellors for several months; interim president and Moffitt has not.
I’m not saying that Scholz would vote against a media deal for the Pac-12 simply because he may have ambitions of moving Oregon to the Big Ten down the road, but the fact that he may miss out on the vote altogether feels notable.
What all of this means
In a short-term view of things, this doesn’t mean much when it comes to the world of conference realignment. Scholz isn’t taking over at Oregon until July, and he won’t be able to throw his weight around in a major way immediately.
In a long-term view of things, though, this certainly could be something that inches the University of Oregon on when it comes to the notion of leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. There are, of course, a ton of moving pieces, and it takes more than just the actions of one university president to make that sort of move happen. However, based on his track record, and his stated opinions on both realignment and the status of the Big Ten, it feels like fans who are in the camp of “Oregon needs to leave the Pac-12” should be happy with this hire.
