Dec. 16, 2004
University of Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White has been named the 15th most influential individual in collegiate sports by Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal (Dec. 6-12, 2004, issue).
Here’s what the publication had to say about White: “There’s a lot of influence that comes from being head of Division I-A’s most powerful independent football program. Earlier this year White negotiated a five-year extension with NBC to carry Notre Dame football, a deal estimated to be worth about $9 million a year. He also has a seat around the BCS table. He is well respected on campus and among his peers and has been involved nationally at the NCAA level. This year he is president of the Division I-A athletic directors association.”
Here’s the list of the 20 most influential people in collegiate sports:
1. Myles Brand, NCAA president
2. Jim Delany, Big Ten Conference commissioner
3. George Bodenheimer, ESPN/ABC Sports president
4. Kevin Weiberg, Big 12 Conference commissioner
5. Sean McManus, CBS Sports president
6. John Swofford, Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner
7. Robert Hemenway, University of Kansas chancellor, NCAA Division I board of directors chair
8. Mike Slive, Southeastern Conference commissioner
9. Tom Hansen, Pacific-10 Conference commissioner
10. Ted Leland, Stanford University athletics director
11. Tom Jernstedt, NCAA executive vice president
12. Bob Bowlsby, University of Iowa athletics director
13. Andy Geiger, Ohio State University athletics director
14. Mary Sue Coleman, University of Michigan president, NCAA board of directors member
15. Kevin White, University of Notre Dame athletics director
16. Mike Tranghese, Big East Conference commissioner
17. Debbie Yow, University of Maryland athletics director
18. Brian Bedol, CSTV president
19. Bill Battle, Collegiate Licensing Company chairman
20. Grant Teaff, American Football Coaches Association executive director
White is in his fifth year as athletics director at Notre Dame, following four years in that same position at Arizona State, five at Tulane, four at Maine and five at Loras (three as athletics director, two as a university vice president).
White’s tenure at Notre Dame has included the addition of 64 scholarships, providing all 26 varsity sports with the full NCAA complement, as well as creation of a comprehensive long-term facilities master plan.
He’s also the current third vice president of NACDA, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He’s a member of the NCAA Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) that deals with academics, fiscal reform and student-athlete well-being. He’s also an ex-officio member of the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance and a member of its Penalty and Rewards subcommittee. White originally signed a five-year contract and since has received a five-year extension and then another two-year extension that takes him to 2012.