Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens will become the new chairman of the College Football Playoff selection committee starting next season, and three new Power Five ADs will join the 13-member panel.
Mullens will be the third chairman, replacing Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt, who has led the committee the last two seasons.
Hocutt replaced Jeff Long, who held the position for the first two seasons of the playoff. A chairman is chosen each season. Mullens will be entering his third season on the committee.
“He is an experienced committee member, extremely passionate about college football, detail-oriented and brings a high level of energy that is perfectly suited to chairing the committee,” College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement.
College Football Playoff also announced the addition of six new committee members, replacing those whose terms ended. Joining the committee in 2018 will be Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin, Georgia Tech AD Todd Stansbury, Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione, former Clemson and Rice coach Ken Hatfield; former Southern California star and Pro Football Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and former Arizona Republic sports columnist Paola Boivin.
New members will serve three-year terms. The committee is made up of sitting athletic directors, former players, coaches and administrators and former media members who have covered college sports.
Cycling off the committee were Hocutt, Long, Clemson AD Dan Radakovich, former Notre Dame, Stanford and Washington coach Tyrone Willingham, former NCAA executive vice president Tom Jernstedt and former USA Today college sports reporter Steve Wieberg.
Mullens, a West Virginia graduate, has been athletic director of Oregon since 2010. As chairman, Mullens will run the weekly meetings of the committee that produce rankings over the final six weeks of the season, concluding with the selection of the four teams in the playoff. Mullens also becomes the face of the committee, appearing on ESPN’s weekly rankings show to answer questions about the committee’s decisions.
The other holdovers on the committee are: former Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer; former Southern Mississippi coach Jeff Bower; former Central Michigan coach Herb Deromedi; Robert Morris University President and former Air Force football player Chris Howard; former Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson; and Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith.
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