FIRST WORD
He was a friend before he was my boss. I lost a friend who was an incredible person. ... He did great work leading this league, and he transformed college athletics in what he did in his law practice, what he did in leading three different conferences. It was a remarkable life.”
Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey, on Mike Slive, his successor and one of the most influential power brokers of his generation, who died Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala. He was 77. Best known for his work at the SEC from 2002 to 2015, Slive was one of the chief catalysts in creating the College Football Playoff and achieving increased autonomy for Power Five conference schools. He retired in 2015 after battling prostate cancer. In recent months, he had served as the face of the Mike Slive Foundation for Prostate Research.