Mike Aresco (7/16/2019) College Football Media Day Quote, 07/16/2019

Thank you, Verne, for your very kind introduction. Verne and his wife, Nancy, are extremely close friends, and we are glad to have them here.

I first want to welcome everyone; we are delighted to have you here to meet with our outstanding football student-athletes and coaches in this beautiful setting. I hope you all enjoyed the clambake last night. Our string of good weather continues and I am sure some lobster consumption records were broken last night.

We are again honored to have the great Verne Lundquist as our host and emcee. Verne has had one of the greatest careers in the history of sports broadcasting, and that is not hyperbole. What adds to his towering stature, however, is his humanity – he is genuine and personable, and has never let his immense fame affect how he conducts himself. He is a consummate gentleman; we have often called him a national treasure, and we are privileged to have him and his lovely wife Nancy here with us again in Newport.

There is tremendous excitement surrounding this year’s media day, as there has been over the years, but I believe it is heightened this year. We have just concluded a landmark 12-year TV/media deal with ESPN which validates our success over the past six years, and which gives us a strong tailwind into an even more successful future. We will have the means to continue to make a significant national impact and our student-athletes will continue to compete at the highest levels.

We have also solidified our position as a P6 conference and our P6 campaign will be energized as a result of our TV/media deal and, of course, our numerous and impressive competitive successes on the field and court.

We have had a remarkable six years, and although we will clearly focus on our very bright future, this is also a time to reflect on where we have been and how we have achieved as much as we have.

It is fitting, then, that I pay tribute to individuals within and outside our conference who have been instrumental in our success or have been friends of the conference.

Judy Genshaft is leaving USF after almost 20 years of spectacular service which has seen phenomenal growth academically and athletically. Judy has also served a term as our conference chair and as our NCAA Board of Directors and Board of Governors representative. She was instrumental in holding the conference together in the turbulent days of 2012 and 2013, a period, which, thanks in large part to her efforts, now seems like a distant memory. Recently, she and her husband Steve donated $20 million to USF to fund an Honors College, the largest donation ever made by a university president to a school.

Vice Admiral Ted Carter will be leaving his post as superintendent of the United States Naval Academy later this month, his defined term having come to an end. He has made an enormous contribution to the conference and to the college community. He has represented the Patriot League, where Navy plays basketball and Olympic sports, on the NCAA Board of Directors, and has been an important voice on our conference executive committee. Navy athletics have prospered under his leadership. But far more important has been his extraordinary service to our country in combat and in peacetime.

Among many other things, he holds the record for successful landings on 19 different aircraft carriers, more than anyone in the history of Naval aviation, and has commanded an aircraft squadron, an oil replenishment ship, an aircraft carrier, and an aircraft carrier strike group. And despite this magnificent record, he remains as unpretentious an individual as you will ever meet. We wish the Admiral and his lovely wife Lynda all the best in their next chapter.

And speaking of Navy, the academy’s sports information department received the Super 11 Award, recognizing them for their outstanding work in servicing the media. Congratulations to both Scott Strasemeier and Stacie Michaud on this terrific honor.

Susan Herbst of UConn has served as our conference chair, and as our representative on the NCAA Board of Directors and the NCAA Board of Governors. We appreciate her service and her many contributions to the Conference and wish her and her husband Doug all the best in their next chapter.

I want to take a moment to thank and applaud Renu Khator, our prior conference chair, and David Rudd, our new chair, for their outstanding contributions to our conference and to their universities, Houston and Memphis, respectively. They provided unrelenting support during our lengthy TV/media negotiations and their leadership has this conference knocking on the P6 door. Renu was also instrumental in holding the conference together back in 2012-13.

As I mentioned, because it is a good time to reflect on our remarkable 6-year history, I want to recognize others who have been vital to our success. Gerald Turner of SMU, who has had terms as our first conference board chair and is currently our CFP Management Committee representative, has meant a great deal to the conference. Without his guidance and support back in 2012 and 2013, I do not know where we would be. And I think of presidents who have retired or moved on who helped us reach these milestones – the late Stead Upham of Tulsa, the late John Bardo of Wichita State, John Hitt of UCF, Steve Ballard of ECU, Scott Cowen of Tulane, Santa Ono of Cincinnati, Vice Admiral Mike Miller of the Naval Academy, Shirley Raines of Memphis, Cecil Staton of ECU, Dale Whittaker of UCF and Neal Theobald of Temple, among many others.

I also want to recognize our current AD chair, Troy Dannen of Tulane, who does an outstanding job and provides me with valued guidance and support, as well as our vice chair, Pat Kraft of Temple, who does the same. Kudos also to former AAC ADs such as Mark Harlan, formerly of USF, Tom Bowen, formerly of Memphis, Mack Rhodes, formerly of Houston, Warde Manuel, formerly of UConn, and Todd Stansbury, formerly of UCF, among others, who were instrumental in building this conference.

Our group of presidents and athletic directors are outstanding, their leadership has been the foundation of all that we are doing, and without their commitment, nothing would be possible. We have high expectations for this conference, but to paraphrase former Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson, also formerly a successful Navy coach, it is pointless to have expectations without commitment, it just won’t work.

We are all thinking of McKenzie Milton as he continues on his road to a full recovery. We wish him well and hope to see him here in Newport next year. We welcome today several new coaches who will strengthen our league. Dana Holgorsen of Houston, Rod Carey of Temple and Mike Houston of ECU.

We also welcome ECU’s new athletic director Jon Gilbert, who has already had an impact on the ECU athletic department and football program. We welcome Memphis’s interim athletic director Allie Prescott, who has had a long and distinguished history with his alma mater as a student-athlete and as an active alumnus.

As I do every year, I also want to recognize friends of our conference.

Jim Delany is retiring later this year after 30 years as commissioner of the Big Ten. Jim’s accomplishments, too numerous to list here, include the founding of the Big Ten Network and putting the Big Ten in the best position financially in college sports.

I have known Jim and his family for 30-plus years; he is a close friend and colleague. I worked with him when I was at ESPN and CBS and for the past seven years as AAC commissioner. Jim has occupied a unique place as one of the most intelligent and thoughtful leaders in college sports and or in any profession, a supreme strategist, very analytical, decisive and bold. No one has made a greater overall contribution to the NCAA dialogue. The Big Ten Network was revolutionary and a real struggle to obtain the necessary distribution, but Jim had a vision and saw it through. More important, Jim has been a powerful advocate for student-athlete well-being and has also kept winning and losing in perspective over the years. He also has been complimentary of our league’s progress and he was instrumental in the Big Ten’s designation of our conference teams as quality nonconference opponents, which has helped us schedule many Big Ten teams over the next decade. We wish him and his lovely wife Kitty, an accomplished professional in her own right, a wonderful next chapter. Jim will continue to make contributions to college sports in various roles for years to come.

I also want to recognize Karl Benson, the longtime commissioner of the WAC and then the Sun Belt. Karl is also a close friend and has made significant contributions to college sports over the years. He did a tremendous job with the Sun Belt and left a stable and competitive league to his successor. We wish Karl and his lovely wife Sarah a well-deserved retirement.

I want to salute Steve Hatchell, president and CEO of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame for his tireless efforts on behalf the of college football. Steve has recognized the issues facing our game and has mobilized the NFF’s resources to address these. The award-winning ‚ÄúFootball Matters‚Äù initiative, which we and our fellow FBS conferences support, has had a real impact. The sport is safer than ever before and we will never stop striving to make it as safe as humanly possible. I applaud Steve’s efforts and thank him for his annual support and presence at our media days.

Bill Hancock is a worthy steward of the CFP and has overseen an event that instantly became one of the platinum events on the sports calendar. We welcome Gina Lehe, senior director of external relations and branding at the CFP. We always enjoy having her at our Media Days; she does a terrific job at the CFP.

Because, as I said earlier, this is a good time to reflect on our success as a conference, I want to recognize the efforts of LeslieAnne Wade, my friend and former colleague at CBS Sports, whose group designed our logo and assisted with the rollout of our name almost seven years ago. It is easy to forget our predicament at that time. After our settlement with the departing Catholic 7 basketball schools, we had no name, no logo, no graphic identity. Shakespeare famously asked, ‚ÄúWhat’s in a name?‚Äù and for our purposes, an awful lot. Finding a good name and gaining acceptance for it was critical and LeslieAnne’s assistance in that process was invaluable. A conference logo is equally important, that is what our student-athletes proudly wear, and it is attached to everything we put out. It was well-received and it has stood the test of time.

I would be remiss in not thanking our outstanding staff led by our COO Donna DeMarco. Donna, Eric Ziady, our CFO, and Tom Odjakjian, our TV/media expert, were part of my team during the ESPN negotiation and provided valuable counsel. Scott Draper and Ryan Kelly do a great job with our football and Bernie Cafarelli and Chuck Sullivan do a great job handling our communications and organizing our media days. Special kudos to Lisa Zanecchia for her always outstanding logistical work and hospitality for our guests.

I want to thank and recognize our friends from ESPN, President Jimmy Pitaro and Executive Vice President Burke Magnus, along with Nick Dawson, Pete Derzis and Kurt Dargis. Without the confidence they showed in us, our new deal would not have been possible. Jimmy Pitaro’s support was crucial, and his vision for ESPN and his executive skill are transforming the company. And I want to single out Burke Magnus, who spearheaded ESPN’s side of our negotiation and who was responsible for its successful outcome. Burke has had a remarkable career, he is an old friend from my days at ESPN, he is an incredibly accomplished executive who believed in us.

One last recognition. Joe Bellino, the great Navy running back and Heisman trophy winner, passed away in March. I got to know Joe when I attended the Army-Navy game over the years and there has never been a finer gentleman, which is how everyone he ever met or dealt with would describe him. Humble and self-effacing, he was a great man and a great representative of the Naval Academy. I know he was also a close friend of Chet Gladchuk’s and we will all miss him. He has left an enduring legacy.

As you know, in the wake of recent events, there has been much speculation regarding our membership going forward. It is important, for the sake of comity in college athletics, and among our friends in other conferences, to tamp down that speculation. At this point we are comfortable with 12 teams, 11 in football and in men’s and women’s basketball, and have no plans to add a member to replace UConn. We are not targeting anyone. We are not even sure at this point when UConn will be exiting, negotiations are ongoing. Down the road, if there is someone interested in us who could enhance our strength and brand, we would consider it. And I would reiterate what I have said in numerous recent media interviews – we are a powerful conference in both major sports and Olympic sports and will continue our Power 6 campaign with renewed energy and determination.

This is an historic year for college football – the 150th anniversary of the college game. From the first contest on November 6, 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers in New Brunswick, New Jersey through the thousands of games that have been played since, college football has enriched the nation, touched the lives of those who played, those who coached and those who watched, and provided educational opportunities to thousands of young men over the years, many of them first generation college students.

Our conference will celebrate this milestone all season long. Our teams will wear the 150th anniversary logo, our telecasts will contain unique content about the anniversary and the sport’s rich history. ESPN will play a central role in this celebration and we applaud their efforts and their devotion to our great game.

Today is devoted to college football and to the American Athletic Conference.

And if you want to see what a P6 football league looks like, I invite you to check out our first week of games in the upcoming season.

UCLA at Cincinnati on Thursday August 29 on ESPN, Wisconsin at USF on Friday, August 30 on ESPN, Ole Miss at Memphis on Saturday August 31 on ABC and Houston at Oklahoma on Sunday, September 1 in prime time on ABC, a coveted time slot and arguably the premier window of the entire first weekend of college football. And this is not to slight in any way Tulsa at Michigan State on Saturday August 31 and Tulane at Auburn on September 7. Also, the first football game under our new ESPN TV deal will be Notre Dame-Navy in Dublin, Ireland, on August 24, 2020.

The several weeks that follow in 2019 are also rich in marquee nonconference games against opponents such as Ohio State, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State, Pitt, TCU, Illinois, Maryland, Indiana, BYU, Air Force and others. An article this spring talked about intriguing P5 vs G5 matchups in the upcoming season, and no fewer than 10 of the 15 games mentioned involved our teams. I challenge anyone to tell me that this is not Power 6 scheduling, or to tell me we won’t be extremely competitive in these games. This packed slate leads into a tremendous conference schedule featuring multiple marquee games and our championship game, which will again be televised nationally on ABC.

In addition, we have a new upgraded bowl lineup that spans a six-year cycle from 2020-25, of which I am extremely pleased. Our teams will continue to have postseason opportunities against other Power 6 opponents, including from the ACC, SEC and Big 12, which was a priority for us. Additionally, we will be playing bowl games in desirable destinations that are easily accessible to our schools and their fans. This lineup provides more revenue that the previous bowl cycle and I am especially proud to partner with bowls that are deeply rooted in their communities and whose missions go beyond the game of football.

I congratulate our schools for challenging themselves, and the next decade will see 150 plus games against so-called P5, other P6 opponents, including Florida, Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Penn State. We are the only conference in the country that will have Alabama, Florida and Miami coming into our home stadiums as USF will host all three. And if you look around our league, you see upgraded recruiting, upgraded facilities, attendance increases, increased TV ratings and a palpable excitement among our fans and the public.

We still face headwinds, mainly the result of the G5 label we are currently saddled with, but mark my words, that will change. Non-P6 teams do not do landmark TV/media deals, do not finish in or near the top 10 in football four out of six years, have multiple teams annually in the top 25, play a New Year’s Six Bowl game four times in six years and win three of them against top-10 teams, win national championships in football, (UCF’s in 2017 was recognized by the NCAA, which recognizes the Colley Matrix) and also in men’s and women’s basketball, and have Olympic sports success and individual NCAA champions.

Change is a constant in life as well as in college athletics, and we are an agent of change. This league reflects and embodies what contemporary college football is Рa more egalitarian environment that affords greater opportunity to schools that have not had past opportunities, but who have worked and strived to be elite and have succeeded. ESPN exposure, social media, sophisticated recruiting – all these things contribute to an atmosphere replete with opportunity, which we have seized. We have become a power conference.

Our conference is of course called the American Athletic Conference, and our name suggests that to which I have alluded. We represent opportunity, upward mobility, success based on hard and intelligent work and grit. Fearless in the face of challenges – we are what America is all about, the American ethic, we are battle-hardened, resolute and confident. College football has great tradition, and that tradition is one of its glories, we all remember the many golden autumns with their thrilling moments and great rivalries. But there is room for new traditions, the emergence of new and different teams, and new rivalries. College football is not feudalism, it is a meritocracy. Otherwise, why bother to play the games?

We sometimes say that one of our mottos is ‚Äúforget tradition.‚Äù Let’s focus on some of the remarkable things that have happened in the past five years in college football, many of which include our teams. College football has seen renewed excitement and competitiveness, and we have led the way. We have upset victories over sixth-ranked Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl, over ninth-ranked Florida State in the 2015 Peach Bowl, over seventh-ranked Auburn in the 2017 Peach Bowl, UCF’s 25 straight wins, Temple’s win over Penn State and near-upset of ninth-ranked ND in 2015, Memphis’s impressive wins against Ole Miss in 2015 and UCLA in 2017 on brilliant sunny afternoons in the Liberty Bowl on ABC national TV which helped put our league on the map. Houston’s impressive wins against No. 3- ranked Oklahoma and No. 3-ranked Louisville in 2016, The UCF-USF War on I-4 game in 2017, considered by many one of the best college football games ever played. We have 34 P6 victories since 2015, including wins over Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Penn State, Auburn and Florida State. Any naysayers remaining will be swamped by this continuing tidal wave.

Our league has featured wonderfully talented players, McKenzie Milton, Keenan Reynolds, Quinton Flowers, Marlon Mack, Ed Oliver, Shaquem Griffin, Zay Jones, Justin Hardy, Tre’Quan Smith, Anthony Miller, Paxton Lynch, Greg Ward, Darrell Henderson, Tyler Matakevich, Blake Bortles, Storm Johnson, Breshad Perriman, Shane Carden, Matt Ioannidis, Haason Reddick, Elandon Roberts, Dane Evans, William Jackson, Courtland Sutton, Tanzel Smart, Marquise Copeland, Jake Elliott, Byron Jones and Obi Melifonwu, among many, many more. Quite a list.

The Power 6 narrative emerged and coalesced around our very quick success as the reinvented American Athletic Conference, and was conceived as a way to bring deserved attention to our league and to position it for the next steps, which would be to regain our status as a contract bowl conference, which the Big East football conference, our predecessor, possessed as a BCS conference. Remember, we have seven, count them, seven schools that were once in either in the old Big East, the old Southwest Conference and even the SEC (Tulane). Several of our other schools were on the cusp of that status.

The foundation of our P6 push was in place, but all this would be have been meaningless had not the performance of our schools matched our rhetoric. We now stand on the precipice of the next step which I described – wide acceptance as a P6 conference and entry into the autonomous group of conferences. We are much more like them than we are different – and they know it. Moses did not send down a tablet with P5 written on it. We will navigate the shoals on our way to this destination, and when we arrive, we will have done it, as the late great John Houseman used to say in those old Merrill Lynch commercials, “the old fashioned way”, we will have earned it.

Although we have a landmark new TV/media deal, this P6 designation is decidedly not just about money, it is about performance. We have shown in the regular season and on New Year’s Day that we belong. And we are stronger top to bottom than we have ever been, with the best players we have ever had and the best roster of head coaches, and assistant coaches, that we have ever had.

And speaking of our new television/media deal, as I mentioned earlier, we are delighted to have renewed with ESPN, and although we will receive in the future more exposure on ESPN’s primary linear platforms for football and men’s and women’s basketball than in our prior deal, we are also embracing ESPN+, ESPN’s vision of the digital direct-to-consumer future, not fleeing it. We are excited to be part of what president Jimmy Pitaro is doing with the company and we value our outstanding relationship with him and with Burke Magnus and his team.

And we still have enormous upside – just look at our TV ratings – over 60 ESPN/ABC games with 2 million viewers over the past six years, and over 100 games with over 1 million viewers – these kinds of numbers, I might add, do not grow on trees. We are approaching 3 million alumni, we have 350,000-plus current students and significant fan engagement, we are a force on social media. Success breeds success, and instills confidence and optimism. We are now attracting more four-star student-athletes with multiple P6 offers, P6 transfers who are sought after, top coaches who recognize our quality.

In evaluating our league, I think of the famous statement by President Theodore Roosevelt wherein he extolls the man in the arena who strives valiantly, who knows great enthusiasm and great devotion and who extends himself in a worthy cause. We may come up short from time to time, we will not win every nonconference game, but we will dare greatly and we will more often than not “know the triumph of high achievement,” in his words.

President Roosevelt talked about what he called the “strenuous life,” which is about striving, seeking to do things that are hard, just as President Kennedy once said that we wanted to reach the moon not because it was easy, but because it was hard. And 50 years ago, we landed men on the moon. Our football teams and our other conference sport teams have not embraced low expectations, have not accepted only challenges they know they can meet. They have tested themselves on a regular basis, and all they have done is compete and win more than their share.

Our aspirations are lofty, but eminently attainable. We can and should continue to aspire to NCAA autonomy status, to contract bowl status, and to widespread acceptance as a P6 conference. We will never stop fighting, and I am confident that we will achieve our goals. Thank you and please enjoy the rest of media day.