Former SEC Commissioner Slive dies
With bold vision, keen intellect and a gentle manner, Mike Slive guided the Southeastern Conference to unprecedented success and prosperity in 13 years as commissioner. He pushed for a college football playoff years before others embraced it and was a steadying force during a time of enormous growth and volatility throughout college athletics.
Slive died Wednesday at the age of 77 in Birmingham, Alabama, where he lived with his wife, Liz, three years after retiring to battle prostate cancer. The Southeastern Conference did not provide the cause of death.
"It's shocking," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, who replaced Slive, told the AP. "So many people cared for Mike, worked with Mike, knew Mike that I think it's shocking to everyone. And that's because of the impact he made on individuals and on conferences and on people across this country. He left a legacy certainly in this league of success and stability and growth that will always be remembered."
Slive replaced Roy Kramer as SEC commissioner in 2002, coming from Conference USA to help clean up an SEC that was beset by NCAA compliance issues. Soon after the SEC became the most powerful conference in college football, winning seven straight national championships and landing television contracts with the ESPN and CBS worth billions.
Mississippi State President Mark Keenum said it's clear the impact that Slive made on the SEC.
“His leadership singularly transformed the SEC into the premier athletic conference in the NCAA," Keenum said in a statement. "It is not hyperbole to state that no individual has had more impact on intercollegiate athletics in America over the past quarter-century than Mike Slive.
"On a personal level, it has been one of the great privileges of my life to have known Commissioner Slive and to have closely observed his leadership, his kindness, and his nurturing spirit. Mike's profound influence on my life and work will abide and I remain grateful for it. My thoughts and prayers are with Liz and their wonderful family in these difficult hours.”
The SEC's success was not limited to football under Slive. Overall, the conference won 81 national championships in 17 sports during his tenure.
Other commissioners from other conferences recalled what Slive meant to college athletics.
"Mike was a giant in our industry and as remarkable as he was professionally, he was an even better person," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement.
Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby called Slive "a true visionary."
Slive played a pivotal role in the creation of the College Football Playoff. He first formally proposed the idea of a four-team playoff for college football in 2008, but it was shot down by most of the other conference commissioners.
"I think there were many who were not all the way supportive, some wanted larger and some not at all," Bowlsby told AP. "Mike's position was known and not everybody agreed with it. But he was statesman."
Associated Press sports writers and Starkville Daily News sports editor Danny P. Smith contributed.