FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas Chancellor Dave Gearhart was selected Thursday to chair the committee that will search for the successor to retiring SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.
Gearhart, appointed by Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos, chairman of the SEC's presidents and chancellors, will lead the five-man committee and put another Arkansas official into the national spotlight this fall.
Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long is chairman of the inaugural College Football Playoff selection committee, which will release its first rankings Tuesday and in December will choose the members of the four-team playoff and other top bowls.
"It speaks well perhaps for the university, and certainly it does for Jeff, because he's got a monumental task ahead of him," Gearhart told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "Of course this is going to be a tough task too, to find somebody that replaces an athletic icon. I think most people feel that Mike Slive is certainly one of the best or maybe the best commissioner that there ever has been in college sports. It's a tough, tough job to find somebody that can step into his shoes."
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Slive, the SEC commissioner since 2002, announced his retirement Oct. 14 at the same time he said he was going into treatment for a recurrence of prostate cancer. Slive's last day as commissioner will be July 31, 2015.
The SEC won seven consecutive BCS national championships, played for an eighth last season, and launched the SEC Network last summer in partnership with ESPN during Slive's tenure. His leadership has helped grow the SEC commissioner's role into one of the most powerful positions in college athletics.
"It is critical to have an efficient transition of leadership in order to continue our success on the fields of play as well as to identify a staunch advocate for academic achievement, integrity and sportsmanship," Zeppos said in a news release. "Our objective is to seamlessly maintain our conference's participation in shaping the future of intercollegiate athletics."
The committee seeking Slive's successor will conduct a national search.
"I suspect there will be a lot of people that are associate commissioners, maybe even sitting commissioners of other leagues, that will apply," Gearhart said. "I suspect there will be some athletic directors as well."
The SEC's two executive associate commissioners, Greg Sankey and Mark Womack, are considered strong candidates for the post. Long's name has surfaced as an athletic director with enough clout to warrant consideration.
Gearhart said he had a humorous conversation with Long when he called to tell Long about his appointment.
"He said congratulations and he'll help in any way he can," Gearhart said. "I said the best way is for you to not think you're going to be an applicant. He laughed.
"I will say that I've heard his name bounced around. But just teasing him, I said if you decided to do that, you may have to guard your house because I may burn it down. Just joking with him.
"I don't anticipate that's going to be an issue. I think he loves it here at the university."
Gearhart, 62, said he was asked by Zeppos a week to 10 days ago if he would chair the committee. Gearhart has been asked to consult with athletic directors, faculty representatives, senior women administrators and student-athletes as he and the search committee seek the SEC's eighth commissioner.
The committee's other members are University of Alabama President Dr. Judith Bonner, University of Kentucky President Dr. Eli Capilouto, Mississippi State President Dr. Mark Keenum and University of Missouri Chancellor Dr. R. Bowen Loftin.
Gearhart said he and the other committee members have been trying to find a date to conduct their first meeting.
"We might have to have an initial phone conversation because the schedules are so tough," Gearhart said. "I would like to have something within the next few weeks.
"I think it's important to set the parameters and get a sense from the committee. I'm just the chair. I want the committee to buy in to everything that we do. They need to be in the decision flow."
Sports on 10/24/2014